There was a time in Kashmir when a liaison with a person selling cinema tickets in black would make you the most popular person in the group. Kashmiris by temperament were great lovers of art and entertainment. When Cinema arrived in Kashmir in the 1940s it was always jam-packed and never had dull days. The 1950s and the 1960s were equally good for the rise of cinema as a primary form of entertainment.
In the later half of the 1960s and a good part of the 70s producers found Kashmir as an ideal spot not just to showcase the movies but to shoot movies in the various valleys, grazing fields, by the gushing rivers and floating on the sublime lakes. Old-timers still recall the romance exhibited by Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore in Kashmir Ki Kali. Or for that matter the song, ‘Kitni khubsurat ye Kashmir hai” picturized in a beautiful locale on Amitabh Bachan. From Rajesh Khanna to Sanjay Dutt shooting in Kashmir was the equivalent of a guarantee that movie would run into success. Most of the famous actors of that era hit their purple patches while shooting in Kashmir. It was like Aladins lamp, you scratched it, and out comes the genie guaranteeing success.
The later 80s and a good part of the 90s was a really tough time for Kashmir’s love for Cinema. Most of the cinema halls got shut down because of the situation and the remaining had to be fortified with eternal security presence to ensure they stand as one piece.
The 2000s marked a time when shooting returned to Kashmir. Rithik Roshan starred in a few movies as did other prominent Bollywood stars. However, the biggest resurgence to the art of cinema in Kashmir came when LG Manoj Cinema oversaw the opening of a multiplex in the Shivpora locality of Srinagar. People stared to flock it with a great enthusiasm which would outrival the rush in the 80s.
The current Omar Abdullah-led government needs to take further steps to ensure the reopening of all legacy cinema halls in Kashmir. With the tremendous improvement in the situation, it is not high time that we reopen our legacy cinema halls.
