Pallavi Joshi's Character In The Kashmir Files Is Based On Arundhati Roy?

The Kashmir Files Pallavi Joshi Character: Directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by star Pallavi Joshi, The Kashmir Files has been received well at the box office while it has also sparked a debate on the internet about the events displayed in the film. The Kashmir Files is based on the real-life events of the Kashmiri Pandits exodus in 1990.

Actor and producer Pallavi Joshi has acclaimed huge appreciation for her role in the film as JNU Professor Radhika Menon who motivates her students to raise their voice for 'Azad Kashmir'. The actor-producer admits that her role was quite demanding as well as challenging.

Pallavi Joshi wants every Indian to hate her character as she mentioned in an interview, "When I was talking to the Kashmiri Pandits about their trauma, I could sense the villain they were staring at. I made up my mind to do the character and play the role so vehemently that every Indian should hate the character."

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While some believe that Pallavi Joshi's character is based on Booker Prize Winner author Arundhati Roy, others are of the view that it has been inspired from the real-life JNU Professor Nivedita Menon. Arundhati Roy, in her essay Azadi: The Only Thing Kashmiris Want, talks about the injustices faced by Kashmiris by the Indian Security Forces. She also mentions her view that Kashmir was never an important part of India in her essay. Pertaining to these facts, Joshi's character Radhika Menon's ideologies could have been based on Roy's opinions on Kashmir.

While on the other hand, Radhika Menon also seems like a fictional dramaticised version of JNU Professor and activist Nivedita Menon. She has worked for 15 years at Lady Shri Ram College and seven years at Delhi University's Political Science department before joining JNU. During 2016 JNU protests, Menon gave a lecture about nationalist principles after which members of ABVP who accused her for being anti-national and propagating such sentiments among the students.