Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Sept 6: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan today said his film shot in Kashmir will attract more people to this place and hoped that more film makers will return to the Valley that has unparalleled beauty and was neglected for past over two decades.
Shah Rukh, addressing a crowded press conference in Srinagar, praised the beauty of Kashmir and said that he has not felt so in past 30 years as he felt in Kashmir. “When I flew from Pahalgam to Gulmarg and as the helicopter took off not for the past 30 years of life I have been so happy as I felt while seeing the beauty of Kashmir”, he said.
Shah Rukh, today left for Delhi after completing his nine-day shooting schedule in Kashmir for Yash Chopra’s untitled film. He said that the film has been extensively shot in Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Srinagar and Ladakh. He was confident that people from South Asia and South East Asia will visit the Valley when they watch the movie.
Shah Rukh said that his father used to tell him to visit Kashmir with him but I didn’t get that chance. “Now I got the chance to visit Kashmir. It is my first visit to this place and I am happy to come here”, he said.
“I got lot of love and hospitality from the people here. The people of the place are very good and beautiful”, said Shah Rukh.
“I am not so big but when people see the film made by a big banner with big names associated with it, people will come. I am hopeful of that,” he said.
Shah Rukh hoped more Bollywood filmmakers will shoot in Kashmir, which was a favourite setting of romances before the beginning of militancy in the 1990s.
Responding to a question about negative portrayal of Kashmir in Bollywood films, he said, “Any aspect that is geographical, ideological or political, the reason I won’t comment on it. The biggest issue we have is that when people talk about things they don’t know.”
The Bollywood superstar said it is the filmmaker who finally decides the story to be conveyed through his movie. He said 200-250 films are made every year and stories are different and it depends upon the story teller. “May be when I go back and talk about Kashmir in coming days, story tellers may get more ideas and make film on Kashmir”, he added.
“In Indian film industry, the storytelling is always going to be dependent on the storyteller and they will decide what story to tell. I do understand that lot of people have issues. They say this kind of cinema should be made, that kind of cinema should be made,” he added.
Responding to a question about the Jammu and Kashmir’s youth not getting chance in Bollywood, Shah Rukh said that there is no regionalism in the Bollywood. “My grandfather Mir Taj Mohammad is from Kashmir. I am from a lower middle class background. And it didn’t stop me from becoming what I am today”, said Shah Rukh.
He said that politics and religion can’t stop you from making to the Bollywood. “It is hard work and talent that matters and you should not keep regionalism in mind’, he added.
“I am working hard for past 22 years and today I have reached to a spot where only few managed to reach. My advice to you is to concentrate on your studies and it is ultimately what matters”, said Shah Rukh.
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