Actor Anupam Kher attended the press conference of his recently released film 'The Kashmir Files' in New Delhi on Monday, along with the film's director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri and actor-producer Pallavi Joshi.
The film has brought the spotlight on the killings and forced exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the late 1980s and afterwards. Amid the buzz, the Kerala unit of Congress claimed in a tweet, now deleted, that more Muslims were killed in Jammu and Kashmir during 1990-2007 than Pandits.
Responding to this after the press conference, Kher told ANI, "The kind of love that the storm has created from this film, the kind of people who are going to watch this film, what Kerala Congress has said is not important. I think they are trying to find what are the opinions of the actors or director of the film. I don't want to give them that pleasure."
He added, "There is a democracy in our country, everyone has constitutional rights, so let them speak. But slowly, it seems like no one is listening to them because they do not talk about anything in the nation's interest. They do not talk about how to take the country forward. There is destruction in everything they say, there is no constructive thing. So, why should we talk about such people who have no love for the country and have no love for the people who have been living as refugees in their own country? I pity them. Unfortunately, they are in very pathetic condition."Kher also talked about his crucial role in representing the Kashmiri Pandits.
He said, "'Kashmir Files' is not just a film for me, it is a wound for me that has not been filled in life for years and it might never be filled. The kind of lives my relatives, friends have lived 32 years back, when they were thrown out from their houses, environment, jobs, city, and villages. Later their tragedy was not acknowledged by the people in the country. I was representing all those 5 lakh people whose exodus took place on January 19, 1990." He also shared his acting process of taking inspiration from his personal life.
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He said, "Pushkar Nath was my father's name and I kept this name in the movie so before every shot, I thought of him that if he would`ve been in this situation then how he would`ve reacted. This thought process became realistic for me."
Kher concluded by sharing that he tried his best to feel the pain of the people he portrayed. "I say without any diffidence that my tears in every shot were real. After every shot, I have cried dreadfully. Not because of me, but because of all those people. After doing a scene, I would go to the hotel, eat food and take shower, but what about the people who I have portrayed. Were they killed or did they flee away in that truck or were their sisters and mothers were raped? That thought used to make my heart tremble," he signed off.
The film, which was released in theatres on March 11, also stars Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi in pivotal roles.
