After The Tashkent Files (2019), director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s next is titled The Kashmir Files. The film, which was announced earlier this year, has gone on floors today, 6 November. It is based on the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits that happened during the 1990s in Jammu and Kashmir which forced them to leave the valley.
The first schedule of the film will involve Agnihotri speaking with victims and survivors of the genocide who are now based in UK, USA, Canada, and Germany.
Speaking about the film, the makers said in an official statement, "The Kashmir Files dubbed as 'Kashmir Unreported' is a deep dive into the story of the biggest genocide in India’s history ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits, which has been unreported or under-reported. Vivek Ranjan Agnihorti and [wife] Pallavi Joshi now embark on a journey to unveil the underlying truth of this catastrophe that took place in India decades back."
The filmmaker further said that there have been lots of demands to make a film on this subject. “A film like The Kashmir Files has to bring out the truth or else it will be just another film that will come and go. I’m making this film by demand. I have numerous well-wishers who have urged me to pick up this subject. I have had people calling me on phone and breaking down, telling me about how they have been witness to their father being butchered into 50 pieces or mother being raped. I owe them the truth," Agnihotri added.
The filmmaker also expressed surprise as to why the genocide hasn’t been talked about all these years. “This incident should have gone down in the annals of history, but where is it? How many people know about the magnitude of it?" he asked.