Kashmir always regarded, as the heaven on earth has been a favourite destination for the Bollywood to bring their stories to life. Right from the time of Yash Chopra to the new age director Abhishek Kapoor or Imtiaz Ali, the state of Jammu and Kashmir continues to rule the hearts of our filmmakers. But with the scrapping of Article 370 creating tension like situation in the state it has left the fate of many upcoming Bollywood projects that were to be shot there in dark.
The Siddharth Malhotra starrer Captain Vikram Batra’s biopic Shershaah and Alia Bhatt’s Sadak 2 were to be shot in the valley.
While obtaining permissions to shoot in Kashmir have never been easy it never stopped the filmmakers from making it a favourite destination. However, with the new decision and beefed up security shooting seems to be arduous task affecting the business of filmmakers.
Director Anil Sharma, of the Gadar fame is of the opinion that things actually might get easier. “I have shot five films in Kashmir and I have had the best experience shooting in Kashmir. The entire situation will get stable trust me, now that it’s a union territory it will be easier to travel to Kashmir, the rates will also increase in places in Kashmir following which the locals too will make more money,” he says.
The director goes on to add that with time things will get better. “It is going to be a good time for everyone. Yes, when a new decision is made it takes time to find stability and it will take around six months to get stable but once things are under control, everything is going to be fine and economics of filmmaking or shooting in Kashmir will only get better.”
For Director Anees Bazmee who also has shot in Kashmir says, “It is too early to speak on this, let's wait and only then one will be able to answer all these questions. I have earlier shot in Kashmir and there is no replacement for this place. We can only hope that things get easier and better for everyone.”
Though the two directors have high hopes, film critic Murtaza Ali Khan begs to differ. “In the past also Omar Abdullah had gone to say that the particular film is said to be shot in Kashmir but it hasn’t. So filmmakers use different locations to show Kashmir many a time and that’s a different thing. Kashmir has been a tourism hub and has attracted filmmakers. Why move to foreign locations when you have Kashmir. It has suffered even in recent years. There will be people who want to take the risk to go to valley and shoot. So definitely this will affect the economy,” he says.
