Portrayal of pellet-hit victims in Bollywood film Chauhaan sparks anguish in Kashmir

A teaser of Chauhaan, an upcoming film by Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, has evoked sharp reactions from locals as well as Jammu and Kashmir’s regional political parties over its representation of pellet-hit victims.

The teaser shows a youth hit by pellets in the eyes during protests. Mr. Devgn’s voiceover describes it as “limited damage”.

Over 10,000 locals were hit by pellets in Kashmir from 2010 to 2016. The highest number of 6,000 locals, including protesters, were hit by pellets in 2016, in four months of street protests from July to October of that year, according to official data. At least 782 were hit in the eyes, and many lost their vision in both eyes or in one eye, the data show.

Ruling National Conference (NC) spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar termed the film’s teaser “a compilation of propaganda”.

“It has put Goebbelsian propaganda to shame. It is full of content that can incite violence in Kashmir. Mocking children and young people who have lost their eyesight, some even their life, and opening up the old scars of their families is nothing short of a spiteful agenda against Kashmiris,” Mr. Dar said.

The NC spokesman urged the producers to “take the teaser down”. “Down with people who celebrate violence. Mr. Devgn, you are a disgrace,” Mr. Dar said.

Wajahat Farooq Bhat, who heads Save Youth Save Future, a non-profit working with victims of militancy in Kashmir, asked the filmmaker “to stop glorifying violence through fictional ‘alpha male’ heroes and endless gunfights”.

“For decades, we buried our loved ones, lived through bomb blasts, gunfire, curfews, fear, and uncertainty. There was nothing glamorous, heroic, or entertaining about that reality. It destroyed families, stole childhoods, and held an entire generation hostage. Kashmir today is striving to move forward,” Mr. Bhat said.

Filmmakers should “stop reducing Kashmir to a perpetual battlefield and its people as props in stories of violence”, he said. “Stop recycling the same narratives simply because conflict sells. We are tired of others profiting from our suffering while ignoring our progress. If you truly want to tell the story of Kashmir, tell the story of resilience instead of rage, of rebuilding instead of destruction, of aspirations instead of ammunition, of ordinary people reclaiming their lives after decades of pain,” Mr Bhat said.

Many netizens termed the trailer as a “trivialisation”, and “deeply insensitive” towards those who have lived through the devastating consequences of shotguns with metal pellets used by security forces for crowd control. Sahil Parray, a social activist, expressed concern over “the vilification of Kashmiris”. “Laughing at pellet victims would sell tickets? How much more hatred are you (Bollywood) going to spread?” Mr. Parray said.

The teaser has been mentally disturbing for pellet victims, who are still coping with the trauma of losing sight fully or partially in Kashmir in 2016. “The movie teaser scrolled the entire scene when I was hit. The mere recollection gives us sleepless nights,” a pellet-hit victim said on condition of anonymity. 

According to an official research paper on the psychological cost of pellet-hit victims in Kashmir, patients who received injuries to the eye had significantly higher psychiatric morbidity. Among the ones with eye injuries, depression was the commonest psychiatric disorder (30.38%), followed by adjustment disorder (16.92%), panic disorder (13.08%), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and (10.77%) with generalized anxiety disorder, the study said.