To reintroduce the culture of film screening in Kashmir, a battery of Bollywood film directors and producers have arrived here to partake in Kashmir World Film Festival (KWFF) beginning on Wednesday for five days. They unanimously highlighted the urge to focus on Kashmir in the creative work and reflect the pain and suffering of the people and exploit their talent to express their joy and sorrow on stage and screen.
The festival organised by Actors Creative Theatre (ACT), a Srinagar based group created by artists and directors would showcase Mainz Raat, first Kashmiri feature film besides a host of English, Italian, Persian, Japanese, Dogi and ladakhi films at Tagore Hall. “It will give a rare opportunity to the local audience to watch films on big screen, a luxury they are lacking for several decades,” Mushtaque Ali Ahmad Khan, organiser of the festival told reporters. “It seems that the habit of watching films in the Valley has been lost. We have taken the initiative to set the things back on the track,” he said. He said J&K’s every emotion must be reflected creatively. “It is encouraging that you are starting again from the debris of catastrophe,” he said.
Noted filmmaker Saeed Mirza said that it was fascinated by the idea of joining a film festival in Kashmir. “We must take incredible caution with utmost seriousness while holding this festival. I am on the side of Kashmiri people,” he said.
Govind Nihalani, another acclaimed film director and cinematographer said that he was a little intrigued by the fact that a film festival was being organised in Kashmir where film screening has been off for “reasons we all know”. He denied the notion that Kashmir has not been focused in creative work of the Indian cinema and theatre. “The cinema is constantly reflecting what is happening around,” he said.
Vinod Koul, a Kashmiri origin director said that Kashmiris must leave the inhibitions and take things in stride to face the challenges.
The cinema screening in Kashmir was banned by terrorists in early 1990s when a massive public uprising against the Indian rule began in the region. During Farooq Abdullah’s regime in 1998, three cinema’s were backed by the Government to re-open but their business could not sustain. One cinema was targeted by militants on the first day with a grenade that caused casualties. Most of the theatres in Srinagar have been converted to other business points including hospitals in Srinagar. Experts say that apart from a looming threat by militants, another reason the absence of theaters is that the Valley has not kept pace with the changing face of the film screening including the emergence of multiplexes.