For actor Darshan Kumaar, watching the terrifying footage that emerged from the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam brought back haunting memories of his time preparing for The Kashmir Files (2022). “I was shown the visuals of the victims of the exodus before the shoot started; sehen kar paana mushkil tha,” says Darshan, who played a university student in the film that details the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s.
The terror attack — the deadliest in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike — occurred on Tuesday at Baisaran, a scenic meadow in Anantnag district accessible only by foot or pony. A group of tourists visiting the area were targeted.
The Resistance Front, a shadow outfit of the banned Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack. An official government confirmation is awaited.
Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files left a lasting impact on the Indian film industry and the nation as a whole when it was released in 2022. Produced by Abhishek Agarwal, Pallavi Joshi, Tej Narayan Agarwal, and Agnihotri himself, the film aimed to shed light on the Kashmiri Hindu genocide during the 1990s. Agnihotri took a bold step by exposing what he claimed to be a “conspiracy of silence” around the tragic exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the Kashmir Valley. The movie sparked a nationwide conversation, touching hearts and minds, especially among those whose voices had been unheard for decades.
