"With Lamhaa I am trying to establish why Kashmir is the way it is today, what happens to the future and how Kashmiris are living in the shadow of terror. It goes beyond the usual cliches. It also has thriller element because we want to make it interesting rather than attempt a documentary on Kashmir," Dholakia said.

The Sanjay Dutt-Bipasha Basu starrer is slated to hit theatres on July 16.

Dholakia, who won the national-award for his 2005 film 'Parzania' that tackled the 2002 riots in Gujarat, hopes that the "truthful" portrayal help people understand the issue.

"The matter is far more sensitive. Kashmir has lots of history, lots of layers and lots of complexities. Even though it is impossible to tell the entire story in two hours I had to be as truthful as possible. I am also aware of the repercussions," he says.

It took Dholakia about five years to make the film. But well before starting the project he devoted a lot of time to research the subject. "This film does not revolve around one subject or incident. There is so much more involved in Kashmir. My film talks about the years and years of oppression from one side to the other. It is about infiltration, it is about terrorism, identity crisis and survival," he says.

The film's promos have already run into trouble with censor board, which asked him to remove the word "most" from the dialogue "the most dangerous place in the world."

“They had problems with one of the promos. In a dialogue they did not like the word most in it. They also had problem with the word Farzi. They have problem with everything," says Dholakia.

But it is not his immediate concern as Dholakia is bracing up for a "bigger fight" as the film goes for censorship. "It's too small a battle to fight right now. I have a larger battle at hand and that is the censorship of the film. You never know who sees what in what lines. But I am used to such challenges by now," he says.

Making 'Lamhaa' was so stressful for Dholakia that during he same period he went and shot a satire called "Society" that stars Dimple Kapadia, Om Puri, Sarika, Seema Biswas in key roles.