The Kashmir Files

The Kashmir Files is based on true events as narrated by displaced Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990 exodus (genocide) - claims the disclaimer at the start of the film. The cinematography creates a hostile, snowy, bitter cold and melancholic mood throughout. The passionate, almost aggressive story, narrates the barbaric massacre of thousands of docile Kashmiri pandits in 1990. The film's ambition is to give a voice to the Kashmiri pandit women and children who were raped and butchered like animals. The satanic and demonic avatar of Pakistani militants celebrating the brutal bloodshed mania sends a chill through the viewer's spine. The narrative connects the freedom movement of Kashmir instigated by Pakistani source, to the anti-establishment, agenda-driven, woke communist propaganda brewing deep within the walls of JNU in Delhi. Under the rhetoric of repression and victimhood, the story claims that extremists have a vitriolic propaganda to capture Kashmir via religious superiority. The apathy and silence of the then ruling government is the final nail in the coffins of the thousands of pandits who lost their homes forever. It also is said to have under-reported the number of deaths.

The narrative is deeply moving and poignant.  The character build-up of Krishna, a young pandit is intense. He is trying to find the truth about his parents who are lost during the exodus during which his emotions are played about by ideologies; ideologies that are trying hard to cover up his parent's slaughter. In his final revelation of truth, his speech describing the barbarism of Islamic tyrants slaughtering Hindu clergy to gain communal dominance will boil any Indian's patriotic blood.   The last scene shook the audience in the cinema hall by its core and the stillness was as if a bomb had just exploded. I won't forget this experience. Anupam Kher is a class act as the pivot of the film at the center of events. He is the unrelenting voice of the filmmaker.

Rating :- 4 / 5

Jhund

One word that comes to my mind after watching this film is 'threshold'. The dictionary meaning of 'threshold' is :

Threshold: The magnitude or intensity that must be exceeded for a certain reaction, phenomenon, result, or condition to occur to be manifested. 

The trailer gives away the essence of the story. If you have watched it you will see that it is about a bunch of underprivileged kids prone to crime due to their circumstances. A sports teacher (#Amitabh Bachan) finds a way to channel their energies into something more productive, like football. The devil that had its roots deep into the troubled, impoverished, and depressed minds, was slowly thrown out root and stem. The once idle minds were now basking in the more positive light of sports and competition that ignited the machines of its workshop with purpose, meaning, and an outlet for youthful energies. We have seen several films in Hollywood with the same storyline. An influential kind teacher changes the lives of the impoverished through lessons of life to be good and creates positivity so they cross their threshold of negativity and emerge as heroes. Here too, like Gandalf from Lord of The Rings, Mr Bachan's enigma as Vijay Borade creates magic that turns devils to sportsmen. 

The first half is very predictable and one wonders if there is anything else the film can offer other than funny one-liners in tapori language and gunda gardi. But the second half changes seriously. It is the real struggle of these kids desperately breaking the chains that hold them back to cross their threshold. To overcome limits set not just by circmstances but also the ones that society heavily weighing them down. They fight to emerge from their misery in the downtrodden bastis and scavenging lives. And its not the story of kids from just one basti. The revolution spreads on all over the country engaging talent in basti football tournament. 

Nagraj Manjule created Jhund in his true style engaging a non-filmy cast to play real and authentic roles peeling away layers of pretense, stardom, and glamour. But has he overdone it this time ? The film edges on becoming a documentary as some parts lose the mainsteam cinematic sheen. In Sairat, he managed to strike a perfect balance between hardcore village dynamics with cinematic mastery; in Jhund there are a few gaps.  Ankush Gedam's performance as 'Don'/Ankush is the most noteworthy aspect of the film and we can see a star being born. I hope justice is done to his talent and performance.

A good family watch. 

Rating  3.5 / 5