Kashmir set to revive its romance with Bollywood

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurates a 520-seater multiplex theatre in Srinagar.

SRINAGAR: In the past few years, the J&K administration has taken film-friendly decisions to bring back dozens of film crews from Bollywood and the south, so that they shoot in Kashmir valley.
A few days ago, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated a 520-seater multiplex theatre in Srinagar; Lal Singh Chaddha was screened as the first film in the theatre. The J&K government has already made a new film policy by virtue of which, very soon, the authorities will develop a film city on the outskirts of Srinagar. In the new film policy, the J&K government has kept special provisions and incentives for encouraging local youth to take up film as a career. While inaugurating the multiplex in Srinagar, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that multipurpose cinema halls in Shopian, Pulwama and the first-ever multiplex cinema hall in Srinagar mark the revival of cinema culture in the Kashmir Valley after three decades.
Talking to the media, he said, “Culture is a way of life and cinema being the powerful medium of sharing thoughts and ideas reflects societal values and change. Cinema brings people together. Apart from entertainment, it gives hopes, dreams and inspiration to youth to pursue their dreams till they realize it.”
It is in place to mention that Kashmir and Bollywood have decades of association as right from the early 1950s, film crews used to come to Kashmir and shoot here. Soon after the elected government in 1996, headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah, the local government tried to revive cinema halls in Srinagar. Many cinema hall owners, including Broadway Cinema of Vijay Dhar, were given a special financial package by the government so that they start the cinema halls again.
Such packages were given to these cinema hall owners in Kashmir valley several times by the successive governments, but they used to close the cinema halls under one or the other pretext. Now, Broadway Cinema owner Vijay Dhar has started a multiplex with 520 seats to revive cinema culture in Srinagar city.
It is in place to mention that Vijay Dhar started a school known as DPS at Athwajan in Srinagar city when former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Syed provided the government land free of cost to Dhar so that he could start this school in Srinagar.