'THE KASHMIR FILES' ? A FAKE VERSION ON YOUTUBE ?

'THE KASHMIR FILES' ? A FAKE VERSION ON YOUTUBE ?

At last I saw a fake version of 'The Kashmir Files' on YouTube. The fake film carries no name so as to cash in on people's ignorance while maintaining a safe distance from the real film to avoid litigation. This is a conspiracy hatched in vain, perhaps, against the actual film to woo people away from the movie hall and, thus, reduce the success of the movie.

This fake one is an amateurish depiction of the tragedy, unilinear and lacking in depth, but a plagiarised service, nonetheless, to the displaced Kashmiri Pandits who have suffered a great delay in being delivered due justice for the genocide they endured. The storyline is weak, details missing, poor research done, camera-work slipshod -- worse than amateurish, slackening tension throughout the film with hardly any build-up of suspense, and poor finish in every cinematic sense. These are the technical and textual faults. However, the film in its own small way is an eye-opener for many and has thrown the searchlight on this horrendous genocide of Hindus by Islamic fundamentalists albeit in a petty, puerile fashion. The casting of actors leaves much to be desired and the direction is simply terrible. But the enterprise of the producer and the director in condemnable plagiarising has, nonetheless, highlighted this ghastly episode of recent Indian history. A quality script-writer and an accomplished director could have made a parallel film of superior merit without requiring to resort to plagiarising the name 'The Kashmir Files' by intent. To that creative productive end there was no bar. But some people simply like to scavenge upon the work of others and this is one such instance.

The criticism that I make is purely from the cinematic angle and is in no way by way of exhibiting a lack of empathy for my suffering brethren in Kashmir whose lives were either snuffed out or scarred forever as they were molested, looted, gutted, murdered and forced into exodus one noxious night in 1990. Hence, let none nurse misgivings on account of my voicing critical remarks regarding the technical aspects and the storytelling of this fake film, leave aside its very immoral make. It is out of due regard and reverence, unalloyed love and feeling for the felled ones by the foul practitioners of this pernicious political philosophy masquerading as religion that I have voiced my characteristic criticism from a sense of cinematic and moral disappointment and no more. The true version of 'The Kashmir Files' I have not seen as yet but judging from its record return at the box-office I can only guess that it must be a masterfully made graphic depiction of the genocide of 1990. This fake film, though, would have been served better by standing on its own feet instead of resorting to plagiarism. It ought to have been more cinematically efficient and eloquent with greater data input giving the narrative due depth. But the film, despite its poor portrayal, stirs our imagination for the while and allows us the freedom to each one becoming a director in his own mind in giving the film its missing due finish.

Written by Sugata Bose