India's latest box office smash 'The Kashmir Files' exposes deepening religious divides

you don't leave from here, we will burn your houses,"  

rallies against Kashmir's minority Hindus.

The packed mosque erupts in rapturous support of his disturbing call. "Go away from here," continues the man. "Convert, leave or die."

This is a scene from Indian filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's controversial new movie, "The Kashmir Files," which is based on the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits -- members of Hinduism's highest caste, the Brahmin, or "priestly class" -- from the restive region as they fled violent Islamic militants in the 1990s.

Produced on a relatively small budget of around $3 million, it has become the highest-grossing Hindi film released in India during the pandemic, raking in more than $30 million since it hit theaters last month.

A large part of the film's success may be down to India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While India's government did not fund the production, the movie has been praised by several prominent politicians, with some BJP-ruled states waiving tax on tickets -- and others giving police officers and government workers time off to watch it.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who has previously been criticized for failing to condemn violence against Muslims -- backed the movie. During a parliamentary meeting in New Delhi in March, he said there had been a "campaign to discredit" the movie before praising the filmmaker for "showing the truth."

Not everyone in India agrees. While there is little doubt that many Kashmiri Pandits suffered at the hands of Islamic militants, critics have questioned the timing of the film's release and argued that its graphic violence vilifies Muslims and reinforces negative stereotypes.

Some have also suggested such portrayals -- as well as the plot's alleged historical revisionism -- could exacerbate conflict between India's Hindus and Muslims at a time when religious tensions in the country are increasingly hostile.

Several videos that went viral on social media appear to show audience members screaming Islamophobic hate speech outside movie theaters and calling for boycotts of Muslim-owned businesses.

In one, a man can be heard imploring audience members to never watch a film with Muslim actors. In another, a man tells a reporter to "stay far away" from Muslims after exiting the theater. "They can attack us again," he is heard saying.

Several petitions have been filed to prevent the film from being shown in local theaters, out of fear that the movie could fuel -- or has already fueled -- anti-Muslim sentiments.