'The Kashmir Files' has crossed more than Rs 108 Cr (worldwide) in its first week. In this interview, producer Abhishek Agarwal talks about the reception to the Bollywood blockbuster, working with director Vivek Agnihotri, his upcoming movies, and more.
I would like to thank the audience for handing over this great success. Five days before the theatrical release of 'The Kashmir Files', a woman from Delhi travelled by air to Hyderabad just to meet me. She held my hands and started crying. She spent Rs 20,000 to thank me for producing a movie that exposes how the Kashmiri Pandits were evicted from their homeland. She said that nobody has made an honest film of this sort about hidden history in 32 years. Since then, thousands of people have personally thanked me.
Thanks to this film, I have now got a family of five lakh Kashmiri Hindus. Their pain has found a voice through our film. Youngsters from all across the country have been calling me to say that they never knew how gory the killings were.
Director Vivek Agnihotri has been researching the subject for years. He is knowledgeable about Article 370 and all. He has gone through thousands of testimonies of survivors. We have 4000 hours of testimonies. We travelled for 3 months to various countries to research the subject. That was not an easy journey. People we met used to cry and were too anguished to speak.
Anupam Kher ji is a Kashmiri Pandit himself. He used to cry on set many times during the making of the movie. 'Kashmir Files' was not an easy movie to make.
This began as a small movie with a not-so-high budget. Since it was a small film, not much buzz was there before its release. Support from various quarters was mute. It is now a people's movie. It's not because of me. Our movie is dedicated to the Kashmiri Hindus.
I feel more responsible as a producer after this film. I got to meet with PM Modi garu through someone. His appreciation felt great. He knows Kashmir and its history.
A fatwa has been issued against me and others associated with the film. But we are not scared at all. Why should we be scared when we are speaking the truth?
Dubbing works are on. The film will be released in Telugu and other languages soon. So far, nine states have given tax-free status to our movie. Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana are among them. We didn't request them for the status. The governments have done so on their own.
We might not make another film on the Kashmir issue/history. But we might do truthful movies about other issues in the future. I don't know why some critics are describing our movie as a propaganda movie. It's an honest film that is based on research.
'Tiger Nageswara Rao' in Telugu is among my upcoming movies. It's one of my dream projects. It will go on the floors in April. I am also producing a biopic on Abdul Kalam. I will also be producing 'The Delhi Files' with Vivek Agnihotri.
