January 9th, 2009
Post elections in Kashmir, Bollywood film units have resumed shooting to complete their unfinished productions
A few days after National Conference leader Omar Andullah took over as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Bollywood film units resumed shooting to complete their unfinished productions in the Kashmir valley.
While lead actor Sanjay Dutt, Kunal Kapoor and others arrived in Srinagar on Thursday, lead female character Bipasha Basu is expected to arrive in a day or two to complete the shooting of the Rs 30-crore Lamha . The unit headed by director Rahul Dholakia had to abruptly return on November 5 last year after a mob disrupted shooting near Parimpora Sabzi Mandi on the outskirts of Srinagar.
The people, who were watching the shooting had objected to "Kashmiris being shown as weapon carriers'' in the film. Dholakia has denied the charges and said the film is "entirely pro-Kashmir'' and depict the aspirations of Kashmiris.
He had said Lamha is a love story woven with boundless agony Kashmiris are facing in the past 61 years. "Without the help of Kashmiri people I cannot do justice with my film.''
The glamorous Bipasha will play Dukhtaran-e-Millat chairperson Asiya Andrabi in Lamha, while Anupam Kher is playing the role of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
There were protests when the director was shooting a sequence in which Kashmiri youths burn tyres and chant anti-India slogans.
