| Font Size |
"We will play a perfect host and extend all possible help to facilitate shooting of films in the State," the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Nawang Rigzin Jora said while addressing one of the biggest entertainment events of Asia- the FICCI frames 2009 in Mumbai.
Those present in the entertainment event in Mumbai included top names of Indian film industry like Yash Chopra, Karan Johar, Ramesh Sippy, Bobby Bedi, Deepika Padukone, Poonam Dhillon and others.
The Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora is leading a delegation of state tourism officials which include including Secretary Tourism, Tanvir Jehan, Director, Tourism, Kashmir, Farooq Shah and Managing Director, JKTDC, Rafiq Qadri to Mumbai to woo the filmmakers.
And Minister Jora took this occasion to make the film makers nostalgic. He reminded the filmmakers of the relation of Kashmir with Bollywood when filmmakers travelled with their crews and shot their films.
The minister made specific mention of films like 'Kashmir Ki Kali', which was shot in sixties, as well as 'Karma', shot extensively in Pahalgam in the late eighties. In fact when the musical 'Kashmir Ki Kali' was screened in country, it inspired many people to come to valley. And later dozens of other movies helped millions of Indians stuck in the sweltering plains to understand why Mughal emperors thought Kashmir was heaven on earth.
Recently, the noted filmmaker Rahul Dholakia shot 'Lamhe' in valley. The shooting of the film starring Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu had to be halted last year, but the unit returned to valley last month to complete the shoot.
After the eruption of militancy, Bollywood has kept its date with the valley. The last film shot in Kashmir before militancy was 'Elan-e-Jung' starring Dharmendra in 1988-89. No film was shot till 1998. But Bollywood returned to valley when the film 'Mere Apnay', starring Amrish Puri, Mukul Dev and Mayuri Kango, was shot in Gulmarg. The filmmakers then occasionally came to the valley to shoot a film. In March 1999, Boney Kapoor shot several scenes of his film 'Pukaar', starring Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit. In April 1999 Ashok Thakeria's Mann', starring Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala, had a song and few sequences shot on the snowy slopes of Kongdori in the upper reaches of Gulmarg. In 2000, the film 'Mission Kashmir' by Vidhu Vinod Chopra was shot. In 2005 'Yahaan' and in 2008, director Raj Kanwar's film 'Sadiyaan' was shot in the Valley, especially in the colourful tulip garden. In 2008 the film 'Tahaan' was shot in Pahalgam.
Discuss this story on expressindia forums
|
|