An upcoming Bollywood film has upset people in Kashmir who were blinded by pellet guns. The film's teaser describes the weapons as causing only "limited damage." Feroz Aslam, who lost his sight ten years ago when pellet guns were fired at an antigovernment protest, responded sharply: "Then they'll understand what blindness means," he told Al Jazeera, challenging the filmmakers to experience blindness themselves Al Jazeera.

The film is called Chauhaan. It stars actor Ajay Devgn as an Indian security official dealing with stone-throwing protesters in Kashmir. It comes out in October 2027 Deadline. The controversy centers on one scene: Devgn's character, wearing a skull mask, walks toward protesters while music from a 1990s Bollywood song blares in the background. Critics say this trivializes real suffering.

The Weapon and Its History

Pellet guns were introduced in Kashmir in 2010 as what officials called a safe alternative to bullets when police needed to break up crowds. But after July 2016—when Indian security forces killed Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old militant—the use of pellet guns jumped dramatically Al Jazeera. Months of street protests followed, and police fired pellet guns to control crowds. Over the past 14 years, more than 1,000 people in Kashmir have lost some or all of their sight from pellet-gun injuries, according to Al Jazeera.

The Real Problem

Pellet guns fire dozens of tiny metal balls, like a shotgun. When they hit someone, they scatter. Medical doctors in Srinagar have documented what happens: complete blindness, partial blindness, metal fragments embedded in the eye requiring multiple surgeries, and ongoing pain. Survivors have spent years trying to get courts and lawmakers to recognize the severity of these injuries.

When the film's teaser says pellet guns cause only "limited damage," it contradicts what survivors live with every day. Aslam is not objecting to the film's overall message or politics. He is objecting to one specific claim that minimizes the permanent harm he and more than a thousand others suffered.

Why This Matters

Bollywood films often simplify complex events into stories about heroic security officials. When filmmakers do this, they usually show protesters as a faceless, threatening crowd rather than as individuals. This leaves no room for the specific, documented injuries that pellet victims have been fighting to get recognized.

The image of Devgn's skull-masked character walking toward protesters while celebratory music plays reads to critics not as a serious look at conflict but as entertainment built from real trauma. The filmmakers have not yet responded to the backlash publicly. With over a year before the film's release, they could edit the teaser or change the dialogue. But the underlying disagreement is unlikely to go away: the Indian government says pellet guns are restrained and safe. Survivors say their own bodies prove otherwise.