Although Bollywood filmmakers are now exploring the length and breadth of India in their films, nothing can replace their love for Kashmir. Their romance with the Valley — as seen in films produced in sixtees and seventees — is going strong, with several upcoming films being shot in Kashmir’s picturesque locales.
Meghna Gulzar’s starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal, Neeraj Pandey’s Aiyaary featuring Sidharth Malhotra, Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer Romeo Akbar Walter and Ashwin Kumar’s Noor, all have Kashmir in the backdrop. Karan Johar’s the sequel to Student Of The Year, was also filmed here and there are many more such examples..
While unrest in Kashmir does stall film shooting at times, the incidents haven’t demotivated filmmakers. Sonmarg, Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Srinagar are the most-sought after shoot locations in Kashmir.
In a year, the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism gives approval for about 30-40 films to be shot in the state. Mahmood Ahmad Shah, Director Tourism, believes that even a small film becomes big if shot in the Valley. “Whatever you shoot on the camera, it doesn’t need photo correction. That’s the beauty of Kashmir. Also you don’t have to travel much as locations are nearby. In the 60s, 70s and 80s, the films were shot in the hotel and the adjacent garden only as the whole state is beautiful… Romance is back in Kashmir, as we are making sure that we give permission to only those films that show Kashmir in positive light,” he says.
And this time it is Salman Khan who met Mehbooba Mufti to venture his movie “ Race 3. Salman and the film’’s team reached the picturesque Sonamarg hill station in the state for a two-day shooting schedule of Remo D’’Souza directed the movie
Superstar Salman Khan and producer Ramesh Taurani, who are currently busy here with the shoot of the third instalment of the “Race” franchise, met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
Salman and the film’s team reached the picturesque Sonamarg hill station in the state for a two-day shooting schedule of Remo D’Souza directed movie “Race 3”.
“We thank Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for welcoming us in Kashmir for the final lap of ‘Race 3’ with Salman Khan,” Taurani tweeted with the image, in which he has posed with Mufti, Salman and the actor’s bodyguard Shera.
Besides Salman, “Race 3” will also feature Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah and Saqib Saleem. The film scheduled to be released coinciding with the Eid festival on June 15.
ROMANTIC STORIES OF KASHMIR ON CELLULOID IN 1960S
“Kashmir in Bollywood and Bollywood in Kashmir”. Yes, Bollywood romance and beauty of Kashmir were synonymous in the 1960s and 70s. Kashmir, the northernmost Himalayan state of India, is not just a tourist destination but a shooting location too. Most of the evergreen romantic numbers in the Bollywood albums of the golden era of Indian Cinema were picturized on the blissful moments of love in the snow-clad and lush green locales of Jammu & Kashmir, in different seasons of the year. Indian Eagle sets the clock back to retell the romantic stories of Kashmir on celluloid.
Kashmir was the prime shooting location of the Bollywood films starring Shammi Kapoor in the 1960s. The first half of the movie Junglee, released in 1961, was shot in the snow-clad mountainous locales of Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir where Shammi Kapoor’s humorless character fell in love and became crazy. Kashmir became a popular tourist destination with the popularity of the song “Yahoo! Chahe mujhe koi junglee kahe”.
“Yeh chaand sa roshan chehra”, an eternal romantic song which has been wooing hearts for generations, still endears the quintessential picturesqueness of Kashmir to lovers. The song from the music album of Kashmir ki Kalireleased in 1964 was filmed on the shimmering waters of Dal Lake in the background. The heroine clad in the ethnic outfit of a Kashmiri girl is sitting in a boat, and the hero is wooing her from another boat.
It is Kashmir where the love story of a pretty girl and a skiing champion begins rolling in Arzoo, a 1965 Bollywood classic. The first half of the film was shot in the snow-clad hilly landscape of Kashmir. The romantic number “Ae Nargise Mastana” from the music album of Arzoo was picturized in rhyme with the natural bliss of Kashmir.
The sensuous beauty of Kashmir makes two strangers fall in love irrespective of their different socio-economic backgrounds. This is the love story of a young boatman who owns a houseboat on Dal Lake and a city-bred, fashion-conscious girl in Jab Jab Phool Khile, a 1965 Bollywood blockbuster. The Himalayan landscape of Kashmir served as the backdrop of the popular song “Pardesiyon se na akhiyaan milana.”
Kashmir in its glory was enticingly shot in Mere Sanam, another Bollywood blockbuster in 1965. “Pukaarta chala hoon main”, one of the most romantic melodies of the 1960s in Rafi’s soulful voice, was picturized on the lead pair in the picturesque locales of Kashmir. The hero is seen wooing his ladylove, while the other girls around them are cycling along the slender, sloping zigzags.
The autumnal beauty of Kashmir was best captured in many frames of the movie Jaanwar starring Shammi Kapoor and Rajshree in the lead. The hilly being of Kashmir seemed to echo the eloquence of the song “Tumse achha kon hain” in praise of the heroine’s beauty in the movie. The landscape with golden brown chinar leaves strewn here and there is a visual attraction of the song.
Kashmir retains the same beguiling beauty and bucolic bliss as in the 1960s. Visit the Paradise on earth and live the love moments of Bollywood’s “old is gold” romantic songs.
