The Kashmir Files, directed and produced by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, is now tax-free in Karnataka to encourage more people to see the Anupam Kher-starrer film. Previously, the film had been tax-free in Gujarat, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh. According to reports, that’s not all; several other states, including Maharashtra, may follow suit shortly.
According to Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai, the Agnihotri-directed film is a “blood-curdling, emotional, and honest tale of the plight of Kashmiri Pandits from their ancestral country.”
The States
The state administration has chosen to make The Kashmir Files tax-free to encourage people to watch it, according to Bommai’s tweet.
Kudos to @vivekagnihotri for #TheKashmirFiles, a blood-curdling, poignant & honest narrative of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their home land.
To lend our support to the movie & encourage our people to watch it, we will make the movie tax-free in Karnataka.
— Basavaraj S Bommai (Modi Ka Parivar) (@BSBommai) March 13, 2022
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also viewed the film and shared his memories of working in the Kashmir Valley in 1990 on Twitter. The film is a “living and poignant picture of the human catastrophe that occurred in the Kashmir Valley in 1990,” according to Khattar. He tweeted:
1990 में कश्मीर घाटी में जो मानवीय त्रासदी हुई थी, फिल्म 'द कश्मीर फाइल्स' उसका सजीव और मार्मिक चित्रण है।
मेरा सौभाग्य रहा है कि मैंने लंबे अरसे तक जम्मू-कश्मीर में संगठन के लिए काम किया है, वहां के लोगों की पीड़ा और हालातों को करीब से देखा और समझा है।#TheKashmirFiles pic.twitter.com/HqMWV1eCTA— Manohar Lal (मोदी का परिवार) (@mlkhattar) March 13, 2022
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Bhupesh Patel and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupesh Patel have stated that the Anupam Kher-starrer would be tax-free in their states.
Movie #TheKashmirFiles is heart-wrenching narration of the pain, suffering, struggle, and trauma faced by Kashmiri Hindus in the 90s.
This needs to be watched by maximum people, hence we have decided to make it a tax-free in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (मोदी का परिवार ) (@ChouhanShivraj) March 13, 2022
Meanwhile, the film’s creators visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, including director Agnihotri, his wife, award-winning national actress Pallavi Joshi, and producer Abhishek Agarwal. The Prime Minister complimented the film’s crew and expressed his appreciation.
મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલે 'ધી કાશ્મીર ફાઇલ્સ' ફિલ્મને રાજ્યમાં કરમુક્તિ આપવાનો નિર્ણય કર્યો છે.
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) March 13, 2022
Review of The Kashmir Files
Taran Adarsh, a film critic, and trade analyst awarded this film a 4-and-a-half star rating and glowing one-word review. Adarsh has also praised the film’s ensemble for its captivating acting talents.
#TheKashmirFiles – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
MOST BRUTAL CHAPTER OF INDEPENDENT INDIA – The MASS GENOCIDE OF KASHMIRI PANDITS manifested with UNFILTERED FACTS in this @vivekagnihotri directorial. Every Indian must watch this masterpiece to know the TRUTH which were pushed under the carpet. pic.twitter.com/mnBvqCsUpX
— Sumit Kadel (@SumitkadeI) March 10, 2022
#OneWordReview…#TheKashmirFiles: BRILLIANT.
Rating: ⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️½#TheKashmirFiles is the most powerful film on #Kashmir and the genocide and exodus of #KashmiriPandits… Hard-hitting, blunt, brutally honest… JUST DON’T MISS IT. #TheKashmirFilesReview pic.twitter.com/FPnw7OidMK— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 11, 2022
The cast of The Kashmir Files
Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Puneet Issar, Puneet Issar, Prakash Belawadi, Chinmay Mandlekar, Puneet Issar, Bhasha Sumbli, Atul Srivastava, and Mrinal Kulkarni play significant parts in the film. Pallavi Joshi, Abhishek Agarwal, Tej Narayan Agarwal, and Vivek Agnihotri have co-financed the project under the labels of ZeeStudios, IAmBuddha, and Abhishek Agarwal Arts.