Kangana Ranaut calls The Kashmir Files ‘sachi wali blockbuster’, targets ‘movie mafia’: ‘I am doing my bit’
Actor Kangana Ranaut is celebrating the success of The Kashmir Files, the provocative new drama directed Vivek Agnihotri. Using it as a launchpad to voice her own resentment towards the mainstream Hindi film industry, Kangana wrote, “Isko kehte hain sachi wali blockbuster (Now this is what we call a true blockbuster),” and called The Kashmir Files the ‘first successful film of the pandemic’.
Kangana had recently implied that the box office numbers for Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi were cooked, although she didn’t cite a source for her claims. In another Instagram Story, she added, “The Kashmir Files is the first successful and profitable film in theatres post pandemic… I am telling you all this because movie mafia and their chatikaar and bikau media won’t tell you… No one from the industry will applaud or appreciate it so I am doing my bit.”
A screenshot of Kangana Ranaut’s note on The Kashmir Files.
In fact, several others from the industry have applauded the film’s success, even those whose political ideologies don’t align with Agnihotri’s. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta tweeted, “Congratulations @vivekagnihotri for #TheKashmirFiles. You have succeeded outside the system, on your own terms. Ideologically or otherwise I might disagree with your views and films but as a colleague I must commend you.”
Congratulations @vivekagnihotri for #TheKashmirFiles. You have succeeded outside the system, on your own terms. Ideologically or otherwise I might disagree with your views and films but as a colleague I must commend you.
— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) March 13, 2022
The Kashmir Files has grown from strength-to-strength at the box office; in four days of release, the film has made Rs 42 crore, through sheer word of mouth.
Actor-director couple Yami Gautam and Aditya Dhar also came out in praise of the film. In a Twitter thread, the Uri: The Surgical Strike filmmaker wrote, “You might have seen numerous videos of Kashmiri Pandits breaking down in the theatres after watching #TheKashmirFiles. The emotion is real. It shows how long we kept our pain and tragedy repressed as a community. We didn’t have any shoulder to cry on and no ear to hear our pleas. This film is a brave attempt to show our TRUTH! We were forced to keep this tragedy a secret. We tried moving on hoping that time will heal our wounds. But we were seriously wrong. The wounds still remain. Almost all of us till date are still suffering mentally, emotionally and even physically. It was not just the terrorism that killed so many, it was also what followed the migration. Hats off to our elders for bringing us up with so much dignity. Against all odds and atrocities, they made sure we get the best of education, and make our country proud.”
Yami added, “Being married to a Kashmiri Pandit, I know first hand of the atrocities that this peace-loving community has gone through. But majority of the nation is still unaware. It took us 32 years and a film to get to know the truth. Please watch and support #TheKashmirFiles. Huge respect to @AnupamPKher sir, @vivekagnihotri and the entire team.”
Being married to a Kashmiri Pandit, I know first hand of the atrocities that this peace-loving community has gone through. But majority of the nation is still unaware. It took us 32 years and a film to get to know the truth. Please watch and support #TheKashmirFiles . 🙏 https://t.co/rjHmKVmiXZ
— Yami Gautam Dhar (@yamigautam) March 14, 2022
Comedian Samay Raina shared a screenshot of a message that his father sent him after watching the film. Raina’s dad recalled witnessing a massacre that was shown in the film, and wrote that he left the theatre in tears.
Others who congratulated Agnihotri and his team include Akshay Kumar, Ranvir Shorey, Arjun Rampal, cricketer Suresh Raina and others. The film has received mixed professional reviews. The Indian Express’ Shubhra Gupta wrote in her review, “With all its propagand verve, and cementing the current dispensation’s favoured discourse, it does manage to tap into the grief of the displaced Pandits. What stays with us are the flashes of genuine pain that envelopes Pushkar Nath (Anupam Kher in a credible turn, even if some of his portions are overwrought), damaged and suffering from dementia, but who has never forgotten his beloved Habba Kadal.”
