Shikara

Dr. Shiv Kumar Dhar and his wife Shanti have spent 28 long years in a refugee camp having been a part of the Kashmiri Pandits' exodus from the valley in 1990. They had to abandon their beautiful dream home "Shikara" when friends turned foes and Hindus were mercilessly persecuted claiming that they belong to India, and Kashmir must be left to the Muslims. Shiv has patiently written to the consecutive US Presidents with the hope that one day, one of them will pay heed to his pleas and help restore his homeland to the thousands of displaced Pandits who still live in abject poverty and hardships.

Being a Vidhu Vinod Chopra film, I had my expectations from Shikara quite high. After intense films like Parinda, 1942...., Eklavya and Mission Kashmir that he directed, Shikara comes across as nothing more than a tender love story with the backdrop of the Kashmir problem and the associated Hindu exodus, completely lacking the intensity and sensitivity to the issue. Although there are a few poignant moments like when the Dhars have to leave behind their beloved home or when the entire refugee camp clamouring for a tomato to eat, the film steers clear of showcasing the hardships of living in the sad conditions or efforts needed to rebuild lives. Instead, it focuses on the soft personalities of Shiv and Shanti and to what extent the former shall go to fulfil the promise he made to his wife to take her to Taj Mahal. Shikara soft pedals the political and communal problems and in the process, loses an opportunity to rise above the ordinary. The histrionics aren't anything great to talk about, as the roles have been played by common people impacted by the exodus and not commercial actors. Shikara isn't in the same league as Vidhu Vinod Chopra's classics, in terms of overall filmmaking as well as storytelling.

This is more of a propaganda move in the name of Kashmiri Hindus, showing total opposite twisted narrative, as Bollywood often does to prove its loyalty towards Dawood.

I was waiting for this movie as the story of Kashmiri Pandits have been untold forever. It was expected that vidhu vinod chopra would bring some ground reality to table in a convincing way. But i was not only disappointed but heartbroken, movie is just another stupid love story with kashmir crisis as background. It tells nothing of the harsh reality and about the religious ideology and cross border terrorism which caused lakhs of kashmiri pandits to flee their home and still unable to return. This was not expected from Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

Watching this movie makes your blood boil, especially when you see this from a KPs perspective. This movie doesn't portray the actual trauma and sufferings and how it unfolded.. Director and screenplay is very biased and a sensuous theme used for commercial gains only.

I have read Rahul's superb book. And I have watched this movie with same expectation. But both are contrasting. Either Rahul has lied in this story or in his book. You can't justify a genocide through a love story. Shame!