Bollywood filmmakers returning to Kashmir

Faisal Ahmed (Indo-Asian News Service)
Gulmarg, April 11

For 13 long years this picturesque meadow of flowers was bereft of film shooting crews as a violent insurgency raged in Jammu and Kashmir.

Now with a little prompting from the Indian government, some of the top directors are returning.

As they watched the rays of a soothing spring sun play magic with the snow-clad peaks around Gulmarg, six directors from Mumbai had little doubt that they could move in with their units to reclaim the lost paradise.

Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Manmohan Shetty, Ramesh Turanni and Ashok Thakeria have been staying in Gulmarg as guests of the state government to explore possibilities of Bollywood's awaited return to Kashmir.

Ramesh Sippy, whose directorial debut in Sholay created ripples in the Indian film industry, said: "I am hopeful that the coming summer and autumn would see many film units come to the Kashmir Valley.

"All of us would have to strive hard to achieve this. It is now for the people of Kashmir to instil confidence among us so that Kashmir's unbelievable beauty is depicted in our frames once again."

Vidhu Vinod Chopra, whose last film Mission Kashmir was shot in the Valley, said: "Kashmir is my homeland and nobody would feel more honoured and gratified than I once the Valley is accepted as the ultimate film destination in India. A new dream is unfolding and I pray it becomes real."

Yash Chopra added: "The show had to go on. Deprived of Kashmir, I used to take my unit to Switzerland all these years. Kashmir is my first love, whether I am in Germany, Switzerland or France, Kashmir is closest to my heart.

"This is my country. After so many years, the government decided to invite us. I am sure film units will show up this year."

He said after their return to Mumbai, the filmmakers would tell the rest of their fraternity about things being near normal in Jammu and Kashmir, where some 40,000 people have died in a bloody separatist drive that erupted in 1989.

Yash Chopra's Silsila starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Rekha was shot in the flower bedecked Gulmarg and so was Ramesh Sippy's Andaz starring Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini and Shammi Kapoor. Those were the last big projects that exploited these locations.

In the 1970s, 1980s and till the middle of 1990s there seemed to be an unwritten rule in Bollywood that big budget films would include songs shot in Kashmir. Shootings revolved around Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg and Aharbal falls.

It was because of their Bollywood exposure that these places became popular throughout India and tourists coming to Kashmir displayed with pride to friends and relatives the pictures they had taken at locations where their matinee idols had sweated it out amid loud shouts of "cut" and "retake" by the directors.

Kashmir Tourism Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir went to Mumbai to meet leaders of the Indian film industry and tried to convince them that Gulmarg and the rest of Kashmir was a safe destination and they needed to bring back the film crews.

"I did my best to convince them the Valley was safe for film-shooting which is part of the economic activity in Valley and must not be seen as part of any political development.

"The rationale appears to have worked well. (Chief Minister) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had been to Mumbai earlier. We are hopeful 2003 would see many film units rolling their cameras into Kashmir," Mir said.

Sayeed flew in here from Jammu to interact with the filmmakers and assure them of help from the administration.

If the visiting filmmakers succeed in convincing their colleagues to return to Kashmir, film units might soon make a beeline for the state again, and local hoteliers, travel agents, and houseboat owners might be able to make a decent livelihood.

But till that happens, Kashmiris are keeping their fingers crossed.