Despite releasing on a limited screen across India, The Kashmir Files by Vivek Agnihotri has become a blockbuster hit within just two days of its release. The Kashmir Files, which brings the brutally honest account of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide to the big screen, has received an unprecedented response from the audience.
Tickets to more than 480 shows across seven major cities – Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune, are sold out, making it hard for the audience to easily get tickets for the movie. Thousands are marching towards the film theatres to watch the heart-wrenching story of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, directed by national-award-winning director Vivek Agnihotri.
In addition, more than 500 shows scheduled on Sunday evenings and late-night shows are fast-filling in major cities, indicating that the movie has become the biggest craze in the box office in recent times.
In Bengaluru, till noon 02:00 PM on Sunday, more than 50 shows were housefull, and at least 80 evening and late-night shows were fast-filling. Tickets to The Kashmir Files are available only for the late-night shows.
Similarly, in Mumbai, the Vivek Agnihotri-directed movie is a blockbuster hit. The fans are struggling to find tickets to watch the film based on true events in Kashmir in 1990. Tickets for more than 100 shows are sold out, while another 150 shows in the city will achieve full house before the screening.
The story is the same in the national capital. Over 100 shows are full, and at least 150 other shows will be full before the screening in the National Capital Region, according to ticket-booking site Bookmyshow.com.
In the southern city of Hyderabad, 40 shows are Housefull, and another 20 shows are fast-filling. The language barrier in the southern states is not stopping the people from watching the movie that has inspired and touched millions of hearts and audiences.
In Tamil-speaking Chennai, too, the Hindi movie is a super hit. Movie-goers are struggling to get tickets for the Kashmir Files as there is an increasing demand for the tickets. Sources in Chennai, people are buying tickets in the black market to witness the historic movie that narrates the story of the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits.
At least 15 shows screening in Chennai multiplexes are housefull, while another ten will be full in the next few hours.
In Maharashtra’s Pune, the craze for the movie is even strong. More than 45 shows till noon are housefull, and another 60 shows in various theatres will be housefull before the show starts.
In Ahmedabad, 35 shows went sold out, while tickets to another 50 shows in the evening are in high demand.
Overall, the movie has received an enormous response, not just from the common audience but also from the movie critics and critically-acclaimed filmmakers. The box office registered 139.44% growth and is considered as the highest ever growth in the Bollywood industry in two days since 2020. The current total of the movie stands at Rs 12.05 crore.
The success of the movie is unprecedented, because it is not a typical Bollywood movie that becomes becomes blockbuster. Moreover, as box office analyst Taran Adarsh pointed out, the movie had faced several odds. The movie had limited promotions compared to major releases from Bollywood and southern states, it was not released during holidays, and it was released on limited number of screens. The film also had competition form big budget movie Radhe Shyam by Prabhas. Despite so many odds, the movie has become a blockbuster, while Radhe Shyam has been declared flop. Consequently, The Kashmir Files is now being shown on more screens, and Adarsh informed that the screens showing the movie increased to 2000 on Sunday from 630 on opening Friday.
⭐️ Limited promotions
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 13, 2022
⭐️ Non-holiday release
⭐️ Mighty opponent [#RadheShyam]
⭐️ Limited screen count [Fri 630+]#TheKashmirFiles emerges triumphant, despite sooo many odds.
🔥 #India screen count on Day 3 [Sun]: 2000
🔥 Will cross *lifetime biz* of #TheTashkentFiles in *3 days*. pic.twitter.com/UF1uZb1gJX
‘The Kashmir Files’ film is based on the genocide of the Kashmiri Hindus by the fanatic Islamists in Kashmir in 1990 and the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus following that. The film stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumar, Chinmay Mandlekar, and Mrinal Kulkarni are in lead roles.
The film was opposed by many Islamists before its release. A petition was also filed in the Bombay high court after the trailer of the film was published on YouTube. The petition sought a ban on the release of the film, citing that it could potentially hurt the sentiments of the Muslims in the country.
