Kainaat Mushtaq
SRINAGAR, Aug 18: Bollywood’s latest on-screen couple, Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif will soon sing and dance against a backdrop of snow-capped peaks in Kashmir.
According to latest reports, Shah Rukh will reach Ladakh by Sunday and the actor is expected to shoot in the Kashmir Valley also for three days.
“Keeping in mind, Shah Rukh’s popularity and Kashmir’s political tension, extra security has been deployed during the shooting of the film,” a security official said.
Bollywood has revived its romance with scenic Kashmir recently.
“Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif are all set to sizzle amid the serenity of Ladakh and Kashmir, where they are headed along with the entire crew of the film for eight days,” officials added.
There has been a marginal increase in the number of films shot in Kashmir over the past four years following the decline in violence between militants and security forces.
The shooting has brought back memories of the 1960s, when romances in Kashmir were the staple for Bombay movie-makers aiming for box-office success.
Residents of the picturesque Himalayan region were also happy to see cameras whirr once again in a mountainous area more associated with guns and violence than romance.
A generation of Indians has grown up seeing Bollywood stars romancing in shikaras (small Kashmiri boats) floating on blue lakes, amid pine forests and icy fields. Orchards and tall flaming-red chinar trees added to heady plots.
A senior official of the state tourism department said more than half of Bombay movies had some shooting done in Kashmir before the militancy broke out.
The state government invited top Bollywood producers to resume filming in the picture- postcard settings of snow-capped mountains, white-water streams and serene lakes.
“We believe the movie makers invited here were convinced that it was possible to resume filming in Kashmir,” Tourim Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora said last month.
The bloody rebellion has also provided plenty of storylines for Bollywood, but at least for the time being, the authorities are keen to push the beauty of Kashmir rather than the bloodshed.
