The film The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, was released in theaters on March 11. However, bringing the film on screen was not easy. Vivek’s wife and producer Pallavi Joshi (who also plays an important role in The Kashmir Files) revealed that a fatwa was issued against him on the last day of shooting. Starring Anupam Kher and Mithun Chakraborty, the film is set during the 1990 Kashmir insurgency. It has brought to the fore the stories of lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits who had to give up everything they had in the Valley in 1990.
Pallavi Joshi tackles challenges faced during file shoot in Kashmir
Even though The Kashmir Files was made on a small budget and had minimal publicity, The enthusiastic audience is quite impressed with the film. Talking about the challenges she faced while shooting for the film, Pallavi Joshi told News18, “Shooting was the shortest part of our entire journey. The whole research, reaching out to the people, getting the money for the film, getting the actors on board Lana, everything was a huge challenge.”
She further revealed that a fatwa was issued against her and husband Vivek Agnihotri on the last day of shooting of the film in Kashmir. “Filming was the easiest part and probably the shortest part of it. The four years we dedicated to this film took only a month to shoot. The only thing that happened was when we were shooting in Kashmir, we got a name in our name. The fatwa was issued. When it happened, luckily we were on our last scene. I said to Vivek, ‘Let’s end this scene quickly and head towards the airport.’ We were leaving anyway, but I told him, ‘Let’s say nothing and finish shooting now.’ Because we won’t get another chance to come back. So we ended that scene and I sent some people to the hotel and said, ‘You guys start packing and put everything in the bag and bring it to the set and We will leave from there. That was the only challenge we faced during the shoot.”
What is a fatwa?
A fatwa is a legal opinion on a matter of Islamic law, custom or tradition. The fatwa became a popular word in 1989, when Ayatollah Khomeini issued it to kill novelist Salman Rushdie for his satanic verses that allegedly insulted the prophet.
About Kashmir Files
The film tells the true story of the brutal sufferings suffered by Kashmiri Pandits during the Kashmir insurgency in 1990. The cast of Kashmir Files includes Anupam Kher as Pushkarnath, Mithun Chakraborty as Brahm Dutt, Darshan Kumar Krishna Pandit, Pallavi Joshi as Radhika Menon, Bhasha Sumbali Shraddha Pandit and Chinmay Mandlekar as Farooq Malik aka Bitta. The film is bankrolled by Tej Narayan Agarwal, Abhishek Agarwal, Pallavi Joshi and Vivek Agnihotri under the banners Zee Studios, IAMbuddha and Abhishek Agarwal Arts.
Read also | The team of Kashmir Files met PM Narendra Modi, got appreciation for the film