Film picture of Kashmir.. Now in 'action mode'

- Oscar nomination of 'Last Show' on one hand and 'First Show' in theater after 33 years in Kashmir on the other

- Horizon-Bhaven Katchi

- Defenders of freedom of expression and human rights, as well as the film industry, were unaware that no film had been released in Kashmir since 1989.

- Even today tourists are attracted to see the film shooting locations of Kashmir

On the other hand Nalin Pandya aka Nalin Pandya aka Nalin Pandya aka Nalin Pandya who was born in poverty and was a stubborn student with no interest in studies and later settled in America for the Oscar award from India, originally running a tea kettle near Khijdia Junction in Amreli. The proud news of Pan Nalin's Gujarati film 'Chello Sho' (Last Show) being nominated came on the same day that the film started showing in cinema halls after 33 years in Kashmir. Three and a half decades ago, cinema halls in cities and villages including Srinagar in the Kashmir valley region were closed due to terrorist attacks and threats. At that time there were single screen theatres. Now, after the abrogation of Article 370, the central government has focused on bringing Kashmir into the mainstream like other states in India. Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha is also daring and dashing. Similarly, the courage of Vijay Dhar, who has ventured to open a multiplex in Kashmir, has to be noted.

On one side of the 'Last Show', on the other hand, the 'First Show' enjoyed by the citizens in Kashmir for 33 years in the multiplex is not less than a glorious 'Double Bonanza'.

Coincidentally, both can be linked to the urge to watch cinema under opposite circumstances.

When one thinks of Kashmir, one imagines scenes like terrorist attacks, poverty, misguided youth, local teenagers and youth pelting stones on army and police. But never thought that the citizens of Kashmir could not watch films, cultural programs or plays in malls, shopping, food, restaurants and theaters under the threat of fear. On hearing the news that citizens watched a movie in a multiplex in Kashmir in 33 years, I suddenly felt a sense of self-centeredness that 'Oh, by taking minute-by-minute updates of the incident, we have silenced this side of consciousness that for three and a half decades in Kashmir, citizens did not have the right to film or entertainment. ' Yes, they used to watch Hindi movies, serials, Pakistani entertainment at home on pirated DVDs, but theater and more than that, the freedom to roam and have fun is a source of pride and self-respect.

We stayed away from eating, drinking, shopping, gatherings and theater for two years during the hard times of Corona and became like mental patients. Home OTT Platforms, zoom meetings were all available but the pain was felt like 'Ked Main Hai Bulbul'. The new generation has not seen or experienced the curfew after communal riots or terror attacks under the current regime. At that time, the citizens lived under fear and panic for several weeks and did not even dare to open the window of the house. At that time too, the curtain would fall on public life.

Theaters have been closed for 33 years in Kashmir, or the film will be seen on the big screen again after so many years, it may not have happened in any country, state or city of the world. The saddest wonder is why the suffering of the citizens of Kashmir was not bothered by the activists campaigning for freedom of expression and human rights in India. Cut off the citizens from education, literature, culture, creativity and entertainment and they are pushed back to a mindset of a century or two behind. More than that, what about the raft and knee on their free life?

A child who stayed in lockdown for two years during the corona period considered the world between the four walls of the house as the world. A narrow vision was shaped. When he saw the outside world for the first time, speechless, he asked the world in amazement, 'Is this off line?'

Imagine how stunned the citizens of Kashmir must have been when they watched a film on the big screen for the first time not in two years, but in 33 years. There are millions of citizens who were born in 1989 and saw the film for the first time on the big screen. Those above the age of 33 had seen the film in a single theater in the 80s, but 80 percent of the citizens of the Kashmir Valley did not experience the thrill of multiplexes.

Film buff citizens of Kashmir go to Jammu, New Delhi, Punjab for some occasion or business to watch movies in multiplexes, but children, youth and women cannot afford to travel so frequently. They have been watching movies at home with illegal DVDs.

When a film is boycotted in India, the intellectuals who protest against it, in Kashmir, the film has not been shown in theaters for three and a half decades under the threat of attacks by terrorist or cultural watchdog groups. Film and TV series industry is booming in Pakistan. It also has a large number of viewers in India. Even Hindi movies at home have to be watched on DVD players, threatening to close theaters for decades. What does hypocrisy mean?

As soon as he set foot on the soil of Kashmir, Amir Khushro's mouth was overwhelmed with the exclamation that 'If there is any heaven on earth, it is this.. this is it.'

It's actually Kashmir but that's it. What is the curvature of the ritual? In the 70s and 80s, one of the attractions of the country's citizens to watch the film and the propaganda was that the film was shot in Kashmir. If the hero and heroine wanted to sign a contract or wanted dates for shooting, he was lured that the maximum shooting of the film was in Kashmir.

The location where a scene or a song was shot is still famous as a 'tourist place' of Kashmir. Tourists take photos of 'Jangli' or 'Janwar' with Shammi Kapoor's image at this place and post them on social media. Since the film became a hit with the name of Kashmir, the name of the film itself was kept as 'Kashmir Ki Kali'. Photographs were also taken of the wife sitting on the horse and the husband walking with the reins in the hands of the 'Jab Jab Phool Khille'.

The local car driver used to show the location to the tourists like 'Look, the song 'Jai Jai Shiv Shankar.. Kanta Lage Na Kankar' from 'Aap Ki Kasam' was shot on Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz outside this temple.'

Extremists have plunged Kashmir into a deep valley of poverty. Instead of beauty, Kashmir became the location of films about terrorists or their attacks or war. Now there has been a surge in tourists. Some shooting has also started in the last year. The central and state governments have announced assistance to the film industry to encourage and provide security for shooting in Kashmir.

The state of Uttarakhand has benefited immensely from the climate of fear in Kashmir. A film center has been formed in Uttarakhand when a film on the subject of Kashmir or requiring such scenes is shot in Uttarakhand. Especially in winter there is a glimpse of Kashmir in the icy atmosphere. Such an attack on culture has stifled Kashmir's own film industry, art, creative music and free expression of literature and media.

In Kashmir, Aamir Khan's 'Lal Singh Chadda' is getting a huge reception at multiplexes in Kashmir. Film celebrities like Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Deepika, Hrithik, Sara Ali, Karan Johar who are very popular in Kashmir should become brand ambassadors of the state to make Kashmir sit at all levels and come forward for the human rights of the citizens.

Even if the 'Last Show' banner is hoisted at the Oscars, it is everyone's responsibility to see that such a board is never seen outside the multiplex in Kashmir again...or 'The Show Must Go On.'

The film world is made up of citizens of all religions of all India. All religious viewers of all states enjoy the film, so what is wrong with Kashmir.