Bollywood faces backlash over film mocking Kashmir pellet victims

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn’s upcoming action film Chauhaan has sparked widespread outrage in Indian-administered Kashmir after its first promotional teaser appeared to trivialize victims of pellet shotgun injuries.

The film reignites criticism that sections of India’s Hindi film industry increasingly portray Kashmir through a Hindu nationalist lens while reducing decades of conflict and human rights abuses to commercial entertainment.

The film, directed by Neeraj Yadav and produced by Jio Studios and Colour Yellow Productions, is scheduled for release in October 2027. Set against the backdrop of unrest in Kashmir’s Pulwama district, the movie depicts street protests where security forces use pellet shotguns, tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators.

The controversy erupted after the release of the film’s 144-second teaser, which shows a pellet victim during a protest while Devgn’s voiceover refers to pellet injuries as “limited damage” and describes them as “temporary solutions” for dealing with Kashmir’s stone-pelters.

The scene immediately triggered criticism from Kashmiri political leaders, activists and social media users, who accused the filmmakers of mocking victims of one of the region’s most traumatic episodes.

Pellet shotguns were first introduced in Kashmir in 2010 during a wave of protests that followed the Machil fake encounter, in which three civilians were killed by the Indian Army and falsely portrayed as militants, and the subsequent killing of 17-year-old student Tufail Mattoo.

Security forces began using 12-gauge pump-action pellet shotguns as a crowd-control weapon, firing cartridges that release hundreds of metal pellets in unpredictable directions.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned the weapon because of its indiscriminate nature. Amnesty International has described pellet shotguns as “cruel,” “dangerous,” and “inaccurate and indiscriminate,” saying they cannot be used in compliance with international human rights standards for crowd control. The United Nations Human Rights Council has described them as among the most dangerous weapons used against protesters.

Available estimates indicate that between 10,000 and 20,000 people, including children, have been struck by pellets in Kashmir since 2010. According to the The Polis Project, between July 2016 and February 2019 alone, 2,942 Kashmiris were injured by pellets, including 1,459 people who suffered eye injuries and 139 who permanently lost their vision.

The teaser has also revived painful memories of victims such as Hiba Nisar, who was only 18 months old when she was struck in the eye by pellets inside her home in 2018 while protests were taking place outside.

Rights advocates also recalled Insha Mushtaq, who was 14 when pellets fired by security forces blinded her after she looked out of a window. She suffered more than 100 pellet wounds, severe facial fractures and permanent loss of eyesight.

Among those condemning the teaser was Kashmiri politician Imran Nabi Dar, who called it “trash” and accused the filmmakers of producing propaganda capable of inflaming tensions in Kashmir. In a post on social media, he said the film mocked children and young people who had lost their eyesight and reopened wounds for families who continue to live with the consequences of the violence.

The controversy has renewed a broader debate over Bollywood’s changing portrayal of Kashmir. Movie critics argue that while earlier Hindi films often depicted the region through its landscapes, culture and romance, many recent productions increasingly frame Kashmir through conflict, militancy and Hindu nationalist narratives, portraying Kashmiris as villains while giving little space to the experiences of civilians affected by decades of violence.

For many Kashmiris, the criticism extends beyond a single film. They argue that personal tragedies, funerals, injuries and long-term trauma are increasingly repackaged into commercially successful action dramas that reinforce official narratives while overlooking documented human rights concerns.

The backlash against Chauhaan, they say, reflects growing resentment toward the transformation of Bollywood from a source of cultural storytelling into a vehicle for ideological messaging on Kashmir.