From snowcapped mountains to a land scarred by conflict and calls for “azaadi” (freedom), Bollywood movies have shaped how the world sees Kashmir.
A powerful dialogue from Vishal Bhardwaj’s acclaimed 2014 film “Haider” transcends the screen, capturing the human stories of Kashmir — a Himalayan territory where breathtaking beauty and rich culture belie a decades-long conflict between India and Pakistan.
“Are we here or not? If we are, where and if not, where have we gone? If we exist, for whom and when? Sir… were we ever there, or never at all?” the character Haider asks.
The dialogue also raises the question of how India’s Hindi-language film industry, Bollywood, portrays Muslim-majority Kashmir.
“Haider” is Bhardwaj’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” set against the backdrop of the Kashmir conflict in the mid-1990s. The movie offers a delicate portrayal of violence, enforced disappearances and the psychological toll of conflict.
Kashmir’s past as a cinematic paradise
In the decades following India’s independence from colonial rule in 1947, Bollywood often depicted Kashmir as a romantic idyll: a valley nestled amid snowy mountains, vibrant tulip gardens and lush deodar and chinar trees.
In “Barsaat” (1949), Raj Kapoor uses Kashmir less as a political subject and more as a scenic backdrop for romance — an escape from the humdrum of urban life.
Later films such as “Kashmir ki Kali” (1964) continued the trend, while rarely acknowledging the people or politics of the region.
According to author and filmmaker Sanjay Kak, Kashmir served as a playground, “where the fantasies of Indians could be played out, with Kashmiris playing bit parts somewhere in the background.”
Kak added that the post-independence period “was imbued with Nehruvian optimism of secularism and brotherhood.”
The emphasis on the landscape over people’s lives — romance over reality — shaped the image of Kashmir as paradise on Earth, alluring tourists and captivating the international imagination, while laying the groundwork for Bollywood’s later engagement with the region’s politics.
Kashmir militancy marks a turning point for Bollywood
But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kashmir experienced violent anti-India militancy.
An armed insurgency erupted in India-administered Kashmir after New Delhi was accused of rigging the 1987 assembly election in favor of an Indian nationalist coalition of political parties.
The Muslim United Front (MUF), a coalition of Islamic parties that many predicted would perform well in the polls, lost the election.
In response to the violence, the Indian government enacted counterinsurgency measures including the enforcement of laws such as the 1958 Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which extends extrajudicial powers to security forces.
These sociopolitical developments altered Kashmir’s cinematic image from paradise to a place of increased militarization, fear and communal divide — an image which still prevails.
According to Meenakshi Bharat, author of “Hindi Cinema and Pakistan,” the turbulence of the 1990s brought Kashmir to the center of India’s political and emotional consciousness.
“Hindi cinema, as the true mirror of the Indian imaginary, was compelled to take cognizance of this change,” she told DW.
As a result, the film narrative shifted. Kashmir was increasingly portrayed as a battleground where Indian soldiers fought the Pakistan-backed insurgents.
Films like “Roja” (1992) intertwined human stories with themes of conflict and militantism, and questions of freedom and identity.
“This film truly marked the sad transformation of Kashmir as a love-setting to a threatened, ravaged ‘paradise’,” said Bharat.
From “Roja” onward, militants are frequently depicted as violent antagonists — a portrayal that critics say risked reducing Muslim identity to militantism.
Filmmaker Kak argued that “Roja” used Kashmir as a landscape in which Indians could reconstruct their fantasies about nationalism and patriotism.”
Existential drama on screen
By the early 2000s, films began to highlight the intricate social, political and emotional realities of Kashmir — including its history of conflict and the trauma experienced by its people due to ongoing violence.
This unresolved grief — marked by disappearances, displacement and fractured families — deeply shaped the narratives, paving the way for stories that intertwined personal tragedy with military ideologies.
Popular films of this period explored Kashmir’s deep pain and complex conflict, balancing the harsh realities — psychological trauma, widespread violence and human rights abuses faced by the Kashmiris — with the Indian national perspective focused on security and patriotism.
This dual perspective still shapes how Kashmir’s story is told on screen.
Bollywood’s ‘statist’ perspective shapes cinema narratives
Kak describes Hindi cinema today as “statist,” meaning largely aligned with government narratives.
This has become more visible since August 2019, when New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which had allowed the region limited autonomy. India claimed that Kashmir’s semi-autonomy had been a “root cause” of anti-India militancy.
“As the state’s position has shifted, so has the cinema,” Kak told DW.
Contemporary films reflect this shift. “The Kashmir Files” (2022) reignited public debate by representing the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990 as a “genocide” — a narrative championed by Hindu nationalist groups.
However, critics said the film promotes a “one-sided” narrative that risks reinforcing anti-Muslim sentiment and deepening sectarian divides.
Meanwhile, “Article 370” (2024) endorses the government’s stance on Kashmir, portraying the abrogation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status as heroic and necessary to restore order and national unity.
Bharat views Bollywood as a mirror to subcontinental life capturing the prevailing political drives and sentiments.
“It is difficult for the beautiful valleys to appear as an unblemished romantic setting,” she said.
Edited by: Keith Walker
