Actor Darshan Kumaar is glad that his latest film, The Kashmir Files, has earned appreciation from the audience and that “it’s turned out to be a people’s film”. Said to be a true account of the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, it invited naysayers, too, who alleged that the film was dividing communities.

But the 35-year-old disagrees: “The film is brutally honest, based on a true event. It is not against any caste, party or community. It shows what happens when there is no humanity. People who say that our film divides communities should watch it first and then decide.”

Kumaar played a character called Krishna Pandit in the movie and he calls it his most challenging part till date, “mentally, emotionally as well as physically”.

The Mary Kom (2014), NH10 (2015) and The Family Man actor explains, “I believe acting is the most difficult job in the world. It requires strength and hard work. The casting director called me and said that Pallavi Joshi ji (producer-actor) and Vivek Agnihotri ji (director-producer) wanted to meet me. They showed me the heart-wrenching stories of 700 families and I couldn’t speak a word after watching those videos. Then they gave me the script and said, ‘We want to cast you as the lead’,” he recalls.