Rahul Dholakia’s
Lamhaa, a major chunk of which has been shot in Kashmir, is gearing up for a July opening. And Sanjay Dutt, who plays the male lead, is looking forward to the release of this
“well-shot film”.
Dismissing rumours of bombs exploding a few feet away, the actor insists that everything was well taken care of. “The J&K police and the people were really supportive and I enjoyed shooting in Kashmir. It brought back memories of my first film, Rocky, that was also shot there,” he reminisces with a smile.
Kashmir’s Pahalgam is as familiar to Dutt as is Mumbai’s Pali Hill. His parents, Sunil and Nargis Dutt, had been going to the valley for film shoots long before he was born. He too has been there innumerable times since Rocky, and returned as recently as last January to resume shooting for Lamhaa.
Problems galore
Dholakia, who had earlier directed the National Award-winning Parzania set against the backdrop of the Gujarat riots of 2002, had been inspired to make Lamhaa following a chance encounter with some Kashmiri students in Mumbai several years ago. When asked where they were from, they’d sighed that they came from a beautiful prison called Kashmir where they had lost their identity.
The words have haunted Dholakia since and after two years of research that revealed a story of agony over six decades, he had flagged off a unique love story revolving around Dutt and Bipasha Basu who plays Asiaya Andrabi, the chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an outlawed extremist Islamic organisation.
The role had earlier been offered to Karisma Kapoor, but she was wary of shooting in strife-torn Eden. Basu was braver, but even she almost regretted her decision after being mobbed by agitated locals. This incident was the last straw for the unit that had been plagued with problems since they stepped into the valley.
In October 2008, traders had disrupted a shoot at a fruit market in Parimpora. Another shoot had to be cancelled after students of a college in Anantnag threatened to make trouble. The protests were triggered off not just by locals apprehensive that Kashmir would be portrayed in a negative light, but also by extremists across the border and Indian authorities. Dholakia’s pleas that his film was “pro-Kashmir” and would realistically portray the valley to audiences around the world had fallen on deaf ears and eventually forced him to relocate to Manali.
The decision had been blow for the state government which had eventually succeeded in wooing Dholakia back. Even Basu had relented after being assured by the local DGP of crowd control and crew safety.
School days
The Lamhaa team had returned to the valley in January 2008 for a 20-day shoot. During the time, reiterating his “special emotional attachment with the land and the people”, Dutt had met with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and even spent some time with J& K’s first family.
During the course of that meeting he had learnt that Abdullah junior like him was an alumni of Lawrence School in Sanawar.
“The meeting with Omar was not political. He was my junior in school (a decade separates the two) and it was more of school bonding and boy talks,” Dutt informs.
However, he subsequently agreed to be a part of a charity dinner at the Taj Palace in Delhi on April 25 this year to canvass support for children in the state affecte by the 2005 eathquake that had killed over 70,000 people. Payal, Abdullah’s wife, had set up Rahat soon after that in the years since has been working to rehabilitate orphans, pregnant women and widows affected by the disaster.
Obviously, Rahat’s work has struck a chord with Dutt who is actively involved with campaigns associated with cancer, drug addiction and child empowerment. A day prior to the gala, he presented Adbullah with a CD of pictures taken by him during his 50 day stay in Kashmir, highlighting the plight of the people, war widows and children in particular.
His active interest in the state has lead to several speculations. While he refutes thathis interest is in any way politically motivated, Dutt says, “I will be honored to be a brand ambassador for J&K, not many people know my wife, Maanyata, is from Kashmir”.