Arshid Rasool
Bollywood love stories with the picturesque Kashmir dates back to the 1960’s and 70’s. These were the times when Hindi along with other regional cinema industry were growing. To get the perfect shot for a love story, where the male protagonist is singing a song in the mountains and the beautiful heroine dancing on his tunes was a perfect setup. These eye – catching scenery used to entice film industries especially Bollywood film-makers a lot, in that era. This one bullet thrived the Kashmiri economy and was a key enhancer in tourism, infrastructure and employment. Nobody can forget the legendary scene of young Shammi Kapoor who immortalized ‘Shikara ‘on the Dal lake in the song “Tareef karu kya uski” as he wooed a gorgeous Sharmila Tagore in movie ‘Kashmir ki kali’. The northern most land of the country has witnessed the growth of Bollywood better than many states in that span of 1960’s and 70’s. Captivating scenes in the films having Kashmir made people to really fancy and agree that Kashmir is really a heaven on earth. These prints encouraged tourists to visit this landscape full with dotted meadows, dense forests of Pine and Conifer, Lakes, Apple Orchards. It furnishes the perfect background for shooting a film and was highly sought after.
The film tourism of Kashmir suffered a major setback in the period from 1985 to 2000 due to rise of terrorism in the erstwhile state. The dream destination of filmmakers was taken from them and they had to find or go for other options. Many film projects which were scheduled to be shot in Kashmir were altered overnight due to the horror of terrorism. Many artists of film industry were out of work due to the regional discrimination of them being from Kashmir. Many tour and travel hotels lost their contracts who had major income coming from film tourism. Terrorism led the filmmakers to go for destinations like Kullu-Manali, Mussorie, Ooty and Mysore and boosted the economy of those states. No wonder had terrorism not sprung in Kashmir, it would have been a boosted film tourism economy. There was a time when general public thought that Kashmir is a gone state and difficult to revive. Few film-makers even tried to do so in 90s but had to go through tedious procedures for getting clearances from Central Government, State Government and further security clearances from armed forces, which resulted in delays and further agitation in the film industry. Few of the popular destinations of film industry like Sonamarg, Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Pulwama got their recognition due to film industry and became a well known destinations for wanderers, tourists and bloggers.
The big question arises that what is the current state and contribution of Film industry to the state and vice-versa. Do the leaders at Central and State level thinking about this aspect or not and if they are thinking what are the major steps. To sum this up, the pace is slow but we are on the right path and it is gradually rising. After the Kargil war and with the coming of 21st century, filmmakers eyed again towards the Valley and many movies like Mission Kashmir, Lakshya, Jab Tak hai Jaan were shot here, but various terrorist activities, blasts and killings discouraged the film industry and such film projects remained to fringes. The Farooq Abdullah Government in 1999 tried to reopen Cinema Halls when the Regal, Neelam and Broadway were allowed to start filming movies. But there was a terrorist attack during the first show in the Regal Cinema, killing one person and injuring 12 others,The theatres were locked down once again. The terrorists issued diktat that watching movies is un-islamic. In today’s time also most of the movies like Haider, Shikara, Kashmir Files shot in Kashmir are mirrors of terrorism only and one can scarcely find a scene of Kashmir just for its heavenly beauty. The abrogation of article 370 in 2019 was a major step ofModi Government to resolve various issues of the state but the side effects of it had to face by the tourism for 1 year which struck the film tourism again. So it cannot be denied that the state has faced moreset backs because of political ups and down, It had never been in a firm and secure platform for the film industries. But now the pieces are fitting in the tray and many endeavour is being made to make Kashmir, once again a dream destination for the Film Industry. Ministry of Tourism, Government of India had hired Santek Consultants Private Limited, a Delhi based firm to formulate a Perspective Plan for sustainable development of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir. The vision is to uplift the tourism based economy in next 20 years and considerable amount of portion has been given to Film Tourism. The plan contains projected tourism potential, survey findings, marketing and promotion of tourism and various recommendations. In August 2021, Jammu and KashmirGovernment has also launched a Film Policy to promote UT as a shooting destination. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched the Policy in a star studded event in the presence of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani. The Policy will facilitate the overall growth of the Film Industry in the region, including setting up of a Film Development Council, revival of closed cinema halls and providing hands on access to website for talent pool and all shooting destinations. The aim of the event was to create a vibrant Film Ecosystem to make the region the film industry’s favourite once again and a Cinematographer’s Delight. A prudent approach will be seen in the near future which will improve the Film Tourism and other dots connected to it.
