08-03-2008, 09:05 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Geelaniâs Bollywood connection</b>
<img src='http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/portalfiles/1/30/200807/Image/010808/F37-01a.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Filmmaker Rahul Dholakia talks about his secret meeting with Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani as part of research for his next film, Lamha
After incensing the Gujarat government with his anti-riots film Parzania, Rahul Dholakia is now all set to direct a film based on Kashmiri militancy. And he's taking several leading militant outfits into confidence before making his new film. It is for this film that Rahul even met Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
In what could be an unprecedented breakthrough in the troubled bridge between arts and politics, Dholakia has decided to take the militants into confidence to make Lamha. The film features Sanjay Dutt and Kunal Kapoor in the lead roles and for the first time looks at Kashmir from the other side of the firing line.
Rahul says, "I've repeatedly visited the Jammu & Kashmir valley in the last few years. I'll first tell what I didn't do. I didn't meet the politicians in power in J&K. But I've met the army and heard their side of the sad story. I've also met Kashmiri Pandits who have been languishing in refugee camps for years.
More of them die from snake bites than bullet wounds. These things never get reported. And what troubles the Kashmiris most is misreporting by the mainstream media."
Taking a bold step away from the official viewpoint, Rahul's film will take the militants' perception into consideration. He says, "I've met members of the Hurriyat and militant organisations in Kashmir that I can't name. I also met Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
And the tragic conclusion I've drawn is that the Indian government hasn't really paid any attention to their anguish. No Indian filmmaker has done justice to the militants. All the social and political organisations in Kashmir feel that Indian films based on Kashmir are completely fake and one-sided."
According to the Kashmiris who Dholakia met, such fake films include Mani Ratnam's Roja, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir and Shoojit Sircar's Yahaan.
Now, Dholakia wants to set the imbalance right. "I don't want to make a film propagating the view of militancy. I don't want to make a preachy film. I just want to make a fair film. I do want to put the local Kashmiri viewpoint forward," adds Rahul.
Even if it means courting trouble with the Centre?
"After Parzania, I'm no stranger to trouble. It is important to do the work that you believe in. However, just because my first two films are about serious issues doesn't mean that I won't make a pure entertainer in the future," says Rahul.
After one-and-a-half years of research on the Kashmir issue for Lamha, which will go on the floors this October, Rahul has drawn one critical conclusion about the grim situation there.
"The Kashmiris have a legitimate reason to feel isolated from the Indian mainstream. Every time I've visited the Valley I'm asked, 'Aap Hindustan se aaye hain?'. At first it was an eerie feeling to be asked something like that. Gradually, the truth sank in. Kashmir has swum too far away from the Indian mainstream to be brought back," says Rahul.
It is this viewpoint, so far unthinkable to Indian filmmakers, that Rahul will put forward in Lamha.
The filmmaker has been travelling to some of the most remote, troubled areas of Kashmir to meet insurgents and locals.
"I've gone to the most troubled and isolated areas in the Valley. And I didn't encounter any hostility whatsoever. The Kashmiris are the most hospitable people on this planet. I've told leaders of militant outfits about my film. They are all for it. All they want is an unbiased picture," adds Rahul.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.as...9ab518&pageno=1<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<img src='http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/portalfiles/1/30/200807/Image/010808/F37-01a.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Filmmaker Rahul Dholakia talks about his secret meeting with Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani as part of research for his next film, Lamha
After incensing the Gujarat government with his anti-riots film Parzania, Rahul Dholakia is now all set to direct a film based on Kashmiri militancy. And he's taking several leading militant outfits into confidence before making his new film. It is for this film that Rahul even met Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
In what could be an unprecedented breakthrough in the troubled bridge between arts and politics, Dholakia has decided to take the militants into confidence to make Lamha. The film features Sanjay Dutt and Kunal Kapoor in the lead roles and for the first time looks at Kashmir from the other side of the firing line.
Rahul says, "I've repeatedly visited the Jammu & Kashmir valley in the last few years. I'll first tell what I didn't do. I didn't meet the politicians in power in J&K. But I've met the army and heard their side of the sad story. I've also met Kashmiri Pandits who have been languishing in refugee camps for years.
More of them die from snake bites than bullet wounds. These things never get reported. And what troubles the Kashmiris most is misreporting by the mainstream media."
Taking a bold step away from the official viewpoint, Rahul's film will take the militants' perception into consideration. He says, "I've met members of the Hurriyat and militant organisations in Kashmir that I can't name. I also met Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
And the tragic conclusion I've drawn is that the Indian government hasn't really paid any attention to their anguish. No Indian filmmaker has done justice to the militants. All the social and political organisations in Kashmir feel that Indian films based on Kashmir are completely fake and one-sided."
According to the Kashmiris who Dholakia met, such fake films include Mani Ratnam's Roja, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir and Shoojit Sircar's Yahaan.
Now, Dholakia wants to set the imbalance right. "I don't want to make a film propagating the view of militancy. I don't want to make a preachy film. I just want to make a fair film. I do want to put the local Kashmiri viewpoint forward," adds Rahul.
Even if it means courting trouble with the Centre?
"After Parzania, I'm no stranger to trouble. It is important to do the work that you believe in. However, just because my first two films are about serious issues doesn't mean that I won't make a pure entertainer in the future," says Rahul.
After one-and-a-half years of research on the Kashmir issue for Lamha, which will go on the floors this October, Rahul has drawn one critical conclusion about the grim situation there.
"The Kashmiris have a legitimate reason to feel isolated from the Indian mainstream. Every time I've visited the Valley I'm asked, 'Aap Hindustan se aaye hain?'. At first it was an eerie feeling to be asked something like that. Gradually, the truth sank in. Kashmir has swum too far away from the Indian mainstream to be brought back," says Rahul.
It is this viewpoint, so far unthinkable to Indian filmmakers, that Rahul will put forward in Lamha.
The filmmaker has been travelling to some of the most remote, troubled areas of Kashmir to meet insurgents and locals.
"I've gone to the most troubled and isolated areas in the Valley. And I didn't encounter any hostility whatsoever. The Kashmiris are the most hospitable people on this planet. I've told leaders of militant outfits about my film. They are all for it. All they want is an unbiased picture," adds Rahul.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.as...9ab518&pageno=1<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->