HECTIC EFFORTS TO BRING BACK BOLLYWOOD BACK TO VALLEY PAYING DIVIDENDS

Hectic efforts of the administration in Jammu and Kashmir to bring back Bollywood to the valley locales has started paying dividends as a four-month long shooting schedule of a web series starring big names like Naseerudin Singh, Paresh Rawal and Urvashi Routela, among others, has taken off in Srinagar.

The web series named “Kashmir-Enigma of Paradise” is directed by filmmaker Atul Agarrwal and it also stars Rajniesh Duggal, Inam ul Haq, Sajad Delafrooz, Ihana Dhillon, Akanksha Puri, Delbar Arya and Mahesh Balraj. The L-G administration had recently unveiled a much awaited film policy for Bollywood which, among others things, also promised incentives and safe environment for shooting in Kashmir. Bollywood star Amir Khan was part of the inaugural programme which took place on Dal banks in Srinagar.

A team of top officials of the Jammu Kashmir Tourism Department and representatives of the tour operators are currently in Mumbai where they are meeting Bollywood directors and producers so that they can be convinced to shoot their projects in Kashmir. About the web series being shot in Kashmir, director Atul Agarwal said the film will depict a real and unique story of love and longing from Kashmir which has never been portrayed earlier.

“Our web series will also have many historical references from Kashmir starting from 1920. It also will focus on the beautiful state and the stories woven around the people living in it,” he said. “We have 200 strong crew members who will shoot this project in 120 days. I am very passionate about this project and look forward to starting shooting on it,” he said. “Kashmir is known as heaven of India, and in the past, many films have been made with Kashmir as the backdrop” He said the first season of the series project will comprise 10 episodes of 45 minutes each. It will showcase 100 years of history of Kashmir starting from 1920. “The crew will stay in Kashmir for almost four months to shoot their entire project in the valley,” he said.

The war sequence depicting the tribal attack of 1947 is also going to be shot, in which action director Sunil Rodridgues will be doing the action part. The web series will be directed by Atul Agarwal and produced by Rakesh Patel, Rakesh Lahoti, Kaushal Patel, and Sanjay Dutta and Himanshubhai Shah under the banner One India Movie Entertainment.