Slap on faces of people who called it propaganda: Anupam Kher on ‘The Kashmir Files’ Oscar nomination

Actor Anupam Kher is overwhelmed with ‘The Kashmir Files’ Oscar nomination, however, he feels it is an answer to all the people questioning the genuineness of the subject. Kher said, “It is a shortlisting, not a nomination. But the thousand mile journey is done by taking the first step. It’s a great feeling. The film is not just cinema, a story of all those people who suffered because of the genocide. It was a very personal subject for me, and became more personal after some people questioned the intention of the filmmaker and the people involved with it.”
The 67-year-old adds, “I’m equally thrilled about getting shortlisted. It is the beginning of a big dream. I’m from a small town, who came to Bombay, and now to get shortlisted for the performance of a film.. It is a humbling feeling.”
Kher feels the film getting noticed by the Academy is also a nod to the “glory of Indian cinema”, adding, “We represent not only those people who were thrown out of their homes in Kashmir, but also the 1.4 billion people.”
‘The Kashmir Files’ opened a chapter of 1990 exodus and killings of Kashmir pandits on the screen. While the film worked at the box office, many critics called it “propaganda” and misappropriation of facts. The Oscar nomination is an answer to the authenticity of the story, Kher feels.
“For the past 32 years, people kept it under the carpet. When the story arrived, everybody sort of tried to be like ‘this did not happen.’ When the film was accepted by the people, certain people and certain elements tried to derail that genuineness of the film. It is a slap on their face also. Because I believe that truth finally triumphs. I’m glad that this has happened.”
Opening up about his thoughts, Kher mentions, “It was not a regular film, which became successful artistically and commercially. It has seen so much ups and downs. Even though it got a lot of success, people still called it a propaganda film or agenda film, It is an answer to them, not that we are required to give them an answer. But it is the world who has given them the answer.”