'The Kashmir Files' now tax-free in Karnataka; CM Bommai calls Vivek Agnihotri's film 'blood-curdling'

A scene from the movie

New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday (March 13, 2022) announced to make the recently-released film 'The Kashmir Files' tax-free in the state.

Bommai also praised Vivek Agnihotri's film and called it a 'blood-curdling, poignant and honest narrative' of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their homeland. 

"To lend our support to the movie & encourage our people to watch it, we will make the movie tax-free in Karnataka," he tweeted.

Kudos to @vivekagnihotri for #TheKashmirFiles, a blood-curdling, poignant & honest narrative of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their home land.

To lend our support to the movie & encourage our people to watch it, we will make the movie tax-free in Karnataka. — Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) March 13, 2022

The BJP-led Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh governments have also made 'The Kashmir Files' tax-free.

'The Kashmir Files' is living depiction of human tragedy: Haryana CM

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday watched 'The Kashmir Files' movie and said that it is a living and touching depiction of the human tragedy that took place in the Kashmir Valley in 1990.

A former RSS pracharak, Khattar said he was 'fortunate' to have worked for the organisation for a long time in Jammu and Kashmir earlier.

"I have seen and understood closely the sufferings and conditions of the people there," he added.

#TheKashmirFiles देख कर क्या बोले हरियाणा के मुख्यमंत्री @mlkhattar जीhttps://t.co/Rvb3bqsQl1 pic.twitter.com/Zc2As7Jh0f — Arun Yadav (@beingarun28) March 13, 2022

He said that the Haryana government has made the film tax-free, "so that our present generation also sees and understands this vibrant film".

आज फिल्म को थिएटर में देखा। हरियाणा सरकार ने फिल्म कश्मीर फाइल्स को टैक्स फ्री किया है, ताकि हमारी वर्तमान पीढ़ी भी इस जीवंत फिल्म को देखे और समझे। — Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) March 13, 2022

Declare 'The Kashmir Files' tax-free in Maharashtra: BJP MLA writes to CM

BJP MLA Nitesh Rane has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray requesting that 'The Kashmir Files' be exempted from entertainment tax in the state.

Rane in his letter sent on Saturday stated that the tax break will enable people to see for the first time the "correct and true depiction of atrocities inflicted by Muslim terrorists on the Hindu community" in Jammu and Kashmir.

#KashmirFiles @CMOMaharashtra @BJP4Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/3X3hzwiPMF — nitesh rane (@NiteshNRane) March 13, 2022

"'The Kashmir Files' movie, which depicts Hindus who fell prey to Muslim terrorism, should be declared tax-free in the state," he wrote in Marathi.

Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Zee Studios, the film depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir following systematic killings of people from the community by Pakistan-backed terrorists. The movie stars Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi among others.

(With agency inputs)