Conflict Zone

Film-maker Ashvin Kumar’s latest attempt to tell the true story of Kashmir meets with predictable resistance

- Ayesha Venkataraman

Kolkata-born film-maker Ashvin Kumar’s grandfather was Kashmiri, and he spent all his childhood vacations in the idyllic valley. But it was on his return after two decades, in 2009—when militancy was at its peak—that he was confronted by the grim realities of life there, and its whitewashing at the hands of the mainstream media.