The Kashmir Files: Anupam Kher's mother Dulari gets teary-eyed, recalls her brother was forced to leave Valley, watch video

Film still

NEW DELHI: As the Kashmir Files continued its winning streak at the Box Office, actor Anupam Kher took to social media and share a video of appreciation for the makers, from his mother Dulari. The film is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s. Dulari, who often features in her son and actor Anupam Kher's Instagram posts, is a Kashmiri Pandits. Her younger brother is one of those people who had to flee their homeland when communal tensions escalated in the region three decades ago. 

Sharing the video on Instagram, Anupam wrote, "I wanted to be a little light-hearted while telling Mom about the box office success of #TheKashmirFiles!! But she was in no such mood. She is focused, fearless, hurt, disillusioned and furious!" Anupam then added that his mother was deeply hurt and she spoke about the sufferings of Kashmiri Pandits, including her younger brother Moti Lal Kak.

In the video, Dulari is seen expressing gratitude to the filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri for making the film. As Anupam asks her what is the reason the film is receiving love and warmth from all over, Dulari says it's because 'the film shows what happened'.

Dulari, who is seen narrating the horrific incident in half-Hindi and half-Kashmiri, says, "My brother used to live in Rambagh. He came home one evening and receiving a letter at his doorstep, that read, 'It's your turn today'. He had just built his home that year. They wanted me and my other brother to go there too. He didn't even collect the property documents or the bank passbook. He died later heartbroken at being away from the home he had built with such effort and love." 

Dulari added that Kashmiri Pandits were asked to vacate the Valley and leave their wife and children behind. People who left Kashmir, and shifted to other cities in Delhi and Mumbai, had no place to stay. They took shelter in tents and camps. She added that his brother too stayed in a tent. "I don't wish this even upon my enemies," she says.

In another part of the video, Dulari expressed that Kashmiri Pandits who left the Valley should be given houses from the government. "I would love to return. I will buy a house in Karan Nagar. My childhood was spent there. Even if I have just a room, I'll live there." 

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When Anupam asks if she liked his work in the film, she breaks into a smile and says sarcastically, "I didn't like you. You were ok." 

Speaking of 'The Kashmir Files', the film is written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Zee Studios. It is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during the Kashmir Insurgency, which it portrays as a 'genocide'.