King Bharati
19th January is not merely a date for Kashmiri Pandits but it is synonymous with the tragedy that befell this hapless community 25 years ago leaving them shattered and scattered all over the globe and every year this date keeps haunting the community who also observe it as Black Day or Holocaust Day.
It was on January 19th 1990 that the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits took place and lakhs left their homes in Kashmir for an uncertain future in an alien world and since then the twin tragedies that of Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims have been debated world over with the difference of opinion on how and why the mass exodus took place.
“19th January” written by Sanjay Amar and directed by Ashwini Ved Bhushan Gadoo is another attempt to portray the pain and suffering of the people at that time with more focus on human tragedy than on a particular community.
The first schedule of the film was shot in the beautiful locales of Bhaderwah recently and is a brilliant effort by Sanjay Amar and Ashwini Gadoo both extraordinary personalities in their own right, to tell the story of the tragedy of Kashmiri Pandits as they perceive it.
The evergreen Bollywood star Deepti Naval and the veteran actor K.K. Raina were recently in Bhaderwah area of Jammu to shoot some scenes here for the film which is being produced by Sanjay Amar, Deepmala & Ashwini Ved Bhushan Gadoo under the banners Osheen Entertainment & Blueberry Entertainment in association with Amar Chand Motion Pictures.
It was Sanjay Amar who wrote the story of the pain and miseries of Kashmiri Pandits on that particular day and the director Ashwini Ved Bhushan Gadoo did complete justice with the storyline having himself gone through the pain of exodus.
Ashwini Gadoo, a Kashmiri Pandit always longed to tell the story of pain he and his community has gone through on that unfortunate date of 19th January 1990 and teamed up with the promising writer and filmmaker Sanjay Amar to put his thoughts on celluloid through the film “19th January”.
Hailing from Billawar region of Jammu, Sanjay Amar is a film maker who has already proved his writing and directorial acumen through the film “Future Toh Bright Hai Ji”, while with films like “Identity Card” and Ek Sarkari Juta” he became a producer as well besides writing both the films.
19th January stresses that on that particular day it was neither the Hindu nor the Muslim who suffered but it was humanity at large which suffered the most.
To put the thoughts of Deepti Naval in right perspective it was her passion for Kashmir that brought her here and was always willing to be a part of a film that portrays the biggest tragedy of India since Independence.
The other star cast of the film includes the Bollywood starlet Bidita Bag and Sai Baba fame actor Mukul Nag along with several local seasoned actors.
The reins of photography were managed by the seasoned director of photography Neelaabh Kaul while Mohit Garg is editing the film. Amit Anand and Nitin Anand are Executive and Line producers respectively.
(The author is a senior journalist and social activist.)
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