Celebrities such as Madhur Bhandarkar, Kangana Ranaut, Suniel Shetty, Abhishek Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, and Ram Gopal Varma have already lauded The Kashmir Files on social media, but filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri claims that none of them personally greeted him. In fact, the filmmaker believes Akshay Kumar’s appreciation for the film was forced on him.
In a recent interview with RJ Raunac, Agnihotri claimed that Akshay complimented The Kashmir Files only because he was requested to speak about the film’s success at a public event. “Woh toh majboori mein, ab kya bolega aadmi jab 100 log saamne khade hoke sawaal puchenge Kashmir Files,” Agnihotri stated in response to RJ Raunac’s question regarding Akshay enjoying his film. ‘Apki film nahi chali aur woh chal gayi,’ kya bol sakte hain? Woh toh main ek function mein tha Bhopal mein usme bolna padh gaya (He had no choice but to say that because 100 people had approached him inquiring about The Kashmir Files.) What could he answer when people said, ‘Your film didn’t fare well, but that one did,’
“Thanks @akshaykumar for your admiration for #TheKashmirFiles,” Agnihotri had previously captioned a video of Akshay discussing The Kashmir Files. “Hum sabko desh ki kahaniyan kehni hai, kuch jaani maani, kuch ankahi, ansuni,” the actor says in the video. Kashmir Files bana kar ek bahut bade dardnaak sach ko saamne rakha hai, jaise Vivek ji ne. Ye film ek aisi wave ban kar aayi jisne hum sabko jhinjhor kar rakh diya hai jisne hum sabko jhinjhor kar r Wo aur baat hai, meri photograph ko duba diya hai. (We all wish to tell our country’s stories.) Some are well-known, while others are not. For example, Vivek produced The Kashmir Files, which exposed a horrible truth and left us all shaken. It’s a separate matter that it didn’t help my film perform well).”
The Kashmir Files was released on March 11 and quickly became one of the most popular post-pandemic books. Despite mediocre to unfavourable reviews, it grossed over Rs 250 crore at the film office.
The film depicts the plight of Kashmiri Pandits who were compelled to escape the Valley in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumaar, Pallavi Joshi, and Chinmay Mandlekar are among the cast members. Though the film had a poor start at the box office, with a first-day take of Rs 3.55 crore, it rose through the days and now has a total domestic gross of Rs 252.65 crore.
