A tryst with conflict zones for Bollywood film-makers

The mere mention of conflict-strife areas like Afghanistan, Kashmir, Sri Lanka etc, is enough to send a chill down many people’s spines. But now these are the very areas that Bollywood is exploring.

Actor Sanjay Dutt, who shot for the movie Lamhaa in Kashmir, says, “By shooting in these troubled areas if we film-stars can show the world that everything is fine there, it will benefit the people who reside in those zones. Kashmir is such a beautiful place. I wish many more people travel there and boost tourism and economy of the valley.”

Film-maker Vishal Bhardwaj’s next starring actor Priyanka Chopra, Sudhir Mishra’s Sikandar and Santosh Sivan’s Tahaan have also been shot in the valley. Reports claim that the Abhay Deol starrer Basra will be shot in Iraq. Couple of years ago film-maker Kabir Khan shot his movie Kabul Express in Afghanistan. Then last year, film-maker Ram Gopal Varma shot Agyaat in areas close to the then-LTTE occupied Sri Lanka.

Varma says, “When a film is shot in a troubled land, it is a victory over militancy. Movies can make people realise that they cannot give up on travelling because, as we saw, terror came home on 26/11.”