Harsh Deep

Shikara: The untold story of propaganda. When the movie was announced, I thought finally someone from the Bollywood has guts to show what really happened. I was excited for this movie. I entered the theatre with goosebumps with a thought that 'How I am going to react when the exodus will be shown on the screen and how will I react when the tortures that Kashmiri Pandits went through during the exodus will come on the screen'. I was mentally prepared for all of this. But, to my utter disappointment it was just an another commercial flick. I went to watch Shikara to find that you should give sympathy to the militants, 'तोड़ना नहीं, जोड़ना है' and many other things. I must applaud that the movie atleast had the courage to show the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits. The scene where Shanti Dhar says 'Kashmir mein itna pyaara Ghar hai humara' and the government official replies 'Ye garmi kashmir mein dikhani thi na' was really heart wrenching. Some of the scenes tried to connect like where Shanti goes for packing and picks up 'Thakur ki and Shiva Ling' from her पूजा घर will move you deeply. But, the movie had no guts to show the traces of the exodus. It had no guts to show why Kashmiri Pandits were uprooted from their own motherland. It felt like the movie was made in a hurry. The cinematography failed to capture the essence of Kashmir. Direction felt like it was being done forcefully, and story was like a thin thread which couldn't bear the plot holes. I really applaud the debutants Aadil Khan and Sadia. Aadil was tremendous in some of the breakdown scenes and Sadia managed to capture the essence and beauty of an 'Indian Housewife' but she need to work on her expression (I am not an acting teacher or a great actor, maybe she was asked to give those reaction). But, overall they both looked promising in a movie with more plot holes. Remember, the exodus is another Holocaust. The genocide has one more name and it is called 'Ethical Cleansing'. I really hoped that Shikara will pave the way for other Bollywood producers and directors to take up the issue and present them on screen but failed.