Vidhu Vinod Chopra has announced his next film titled Shikara, based on Kashmiri Pandits. The makers have released the motion poster of the film amid the countdown to its trailer which is scheduled to release on January 7.

The 37-second video begins with several voices protesting in the background, “You infidels, leave our Kashmir”. It refers to January 19, 1990 when thousands of Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee their homeland, leaving everything behind, never to return. It shows a glimpse of several men and women huddled at a camp waiting for their turn to leave. A voice declares that 30 years after their mass exodus, their story will finally be told on January 19, 2020. The motion poster eventually ends with a lone Shikara (narrow wooden boat) placed in clear waters of the Dal Lake amid breathtaking beauty and unending silence.

The synopsis of the motion poster read, “What is it to know the agony of being a refugee in your own country? The year 1990 saw the biggest forced migration in independent India whereby more than 4,00,000 Kashmiri Pandits had to flee from the Kashmir Valley. Almost 3 decades later, most have been unable to return.

Shikara is the story of resilience in the face of insurmountable odds. It’s also the story of a love that remains unextinguished through 30 years of exile. A timeless love story in the worst of times.”

The film has been directed, edited and produced by Vidhu of Parineeta fame, in association with Fox Star Studios. It is set to hit the theatres on February 7, 2020. The filmmaker shared the motion poster on Twitter with the caption, “A Love Letter from Kashmir advances its release.” It was earlier scheduled to release on February 21. The film comes around six months after the abrogation of Article 370.