“If there is a Heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.”
“Agar Firdous bar ru-e-zamin ast,Hami ast o- hami ast o- hami ast.”
The very first quote has been exclaimed by a Mughal Emperor, Jahngir as the beauty of Kashmir moved him and urged him to get inspirations and ecstasy from it. Kashmir is the land which has an immense and natural beauty that is unlike any other. The territory of Kashmir attracts the people and urges them to visit this heaven alike from all around the world. Kashmir has been divided into two lands as one is the self-governing state under the system of Pakistani federation, known as Azad Jamu and Kashmir, AJK and the other land is serving under the rules of Indian government.
Hence, after the war of 1947 and 1948, the Pakistani government had a hold with its troops over Kashmir and India gave a proposal Pakistan to withdraw its troops from there so that they can proceed to the next step of plebiscite. Pakistan rejected that proposal as for the reasons that Kashmiris will not able to vote freely under the pressure of Indian army. In this way, the situation went wrong with the opposite directions and created troubles for the natives as well as the cross – border hurdles. Both countries have acclaimed to Kashmir as on the base of historical affiliation and religious backgrounds.
James Buchan, a British journalist has collected his views in his statement as,
“In the years since 1990, the Kashmiri Muslims and the Indian government have conspired to abolish the complexities of Kashmiri civilization. The world it inhabited has vanished: the state government and the political class, the rule of law, almost all the Hindu inhabitants of the valley, alcohol, cinemas, cricket matches, picnics by moonlight in the saffron fields, schools, universities, an independent press, tourists and banks. In this reduction of civilian reality, the sights of Kashmir are redefined: not the lakes and Mogul gardens, or the storied triumphs of Kashmiri agriculture, handicrafts and cookery, but two entities that confront each other without intermediary: the mosque and the army camp.”
No one can deny from the beauty of this heaven like land, Kashmir. As after a long time, Kashmir is attracting and snitching the attention of the people of India. The Indian cinema, which is considered as the second biggest film industry in the world, is moving towards Kashmir now-a-days. The film like ‘Haider’ and ‘A Code of Secrecy’ and their video songs had taken place in the land of Kashmir. The story of the film, ‘A Code of Secrecy’ revolves around an engineer who is arrested by the Indian police for supposedly placing bombs in Mumbai. The film director Muhammad Mohibul Haque moved to Kashmir for the production of the film as he said,
“It is a piece of good fortune to start a film from a sacred place. I want to highlight this holy place in the whole country that is why I started shooting the film here as it will surely grab attention of all.”
After these movies, it is now Bajrangi Bhaian which took place in Kashmir. The beauty of Kashmir urges the filmmakers to come over there and shoot their films for a perfect vision. Breaking all the records of Bollywood industry and the recent movie of Amir’s PK, Bajrangi bhaijaan has become a blockbuster movie of the Indian cinema. Almost, the half portion of the movie has taken place in Kashmir and Salman Khan willingly moved to Kashmir for shooting. Salman Khan gave his views about the myth of Kashmir as’
“There is a myth that people have about Kashmir and we wanted to break that. We wanted to promote tourism, show the positive side.”
The director of the movie Kabir Khan told that he intentionally did the shooting of his recently released film, Bajrangi Bhaijaan in Kashmir. He further stated,
“We had a long 40-day schedule to be shot in Kashmir. As everyone was talking about the problems in that region we thought if he can show the other side of Kashmir. If a star like Salman can shoot in Kashmir then anyone can. We hope more and more films and actors will go there and shoot.”
He added, “The Bajrangi Bhaijaan climax was shot at the base of the Thajwas glacier outside Sonamarg. Located at 10,000 feet above sea level… the 300 strong technical crew had to trek for an hour through snow every morning to reach the location. Added to this was were the 7000 extras that we had on set every day. Transporting them in hundreds of buses and then embarking on the hour-long trek was a huge logistical challenge for the production. To add to their woes was the sub zero temperatures and hail storms that would interrupt the shoot.”
To sum up the whole discussion into a nutshell, I would like to say that the director of the movie, Bajrangi Bhaijaan has arisen the strong message to bring peace between both countries, Pakistan and India. As we all know that Kashmir is the main cause of the conflict of both countries, and by using this theme of the plot, Kabir has paved the ways to spread peace and love in the hearts of both countries. Although Kashmir has divided into two separate lands but as being the most beautiful land, it has still such traits that can attract the people across the world. Not only movie but Bajrangi Bhaijaan songs have also produced in Kashmir valleys and sung by Pakistani singers like Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, the son of legend singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.