An Indian film ‘The Kashmir Files,’ directed by Vivek Agnihotri, is quickly making waves all around. A film based on events in Indian history is seeing a never-before-seen box office trend, not only in India but also beyond.
The film is based on the video interviews of the first generation victims of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, a Hindu community, based in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
The film tells the story of the migration, that caused their displacement from the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s.
The movie was released in theaters on March 11. The film stars veteran Indian actors like Mithun Chakraborty and Anupam Kher. Kher is globally known for Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Bride and Prejudice (2004).
The Kashmir Files, the most recent Bollywood release, has exploded at the box office. Unlike most films, which suffer a decline in box office after the first weekend, the Vivek Agnihotri-directed film is doing the opposite.
Soaring collections in India and USA
The film earned approx $3.5 million in its first three days in India, and you may find it difficult to believe that the Monday collection, despite being a working day, was higher than the $1.96 million earned on Sunday.
“The Kashmir Files” is exhibiting a similar pattern in the United States as it does in India. Despite only playing in 60 cinemas, the movie grossed an incredible $475k in its first weekend (Fri-Sun). During the weekend, it averaged $7.9k per theater in the United States.
It has generated $615k overseas in the first three days, including $475k in the United States.
This, in and of itself, demonstrates the high level of interest in the movie among the general public. The movie has seen the largest weekday collection for any film in India during the COVID-19 era. It is significantly better by any measure for any film before COVID-19. Based on the current box office estimates, the film is expected to gross $13 million by the end of the first week, with higher second-weekend performance.
Several Indian states have declared The Kashmir Files tax-free
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several ministers in his government have praised the film. Many Indian states have waived the tax on it, and police in an Indian state (Madhya Pradesh) has been offered a day of leave to watch it.
Opposition parties, on the other hand, have denounced the movie as a propaganda tool for India’s ruling party, BJP.
The movie has created a wave of discussions on Indian social media too. A fraction of viewers credited the film as a much-needed eye-opener, while others discredited it as propaganda.
The Kashmir Files IMDb ratings
IMDB has changed its method of calculating ratings for The Kashmir Files. On the film’s rating page, it is mentioned: “Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title. To preserve the reliability of our rating system, an alternate weighting calculation has been applied.”
The Kashmir Files presently has a rating of 8.3 out of a possible 135,000 votes. While 94% of users gave it a 10 rating, only 4% gave it a 1 rating.
According to IMDb, a weighted rating is: “IMDb publishes weighted vote averages rather than raw data averages. The simplest way to explain it is that although we accept and consider all votes received by users, not all votes have the same impact (or ‘weight’) on the final rating. When unusual voting activity is detected, an alternate weighting calculation may be applied in order to preserve the reliability of our system. To ensure that our rating mechanism remains effective, we do not disclose the exact method used to generate the rating.”
