Anand had roped in Bollywood star Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, to make a two-man army for his dream project while model-turned-actor Rahul Dev was to play Mast Gul. After Anand’s death the film was shelved.
In the summer of 2009, director Rahul Dholakia camped in Kashmir along with the cast, Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu and Kunal Kapoor to shoot his ambitious project Lamhaa: The untold story of Kashmir. Immediately, he generated interest among Kashmiri separatists and Indian government as well. Before the screening of the movie in July 2010, Dholakia assured anticipating Kashmiris that he has remained truthful to his profession, as the much-debated Kashmir issue has been portrayed without any bias. But Dholakia ended up serving the Indian audiences by showing them what they are used to see on the silver screen in the backdrop of Kashmir. He too could not resist the temptation of serving the so-called patriotic cause through cinema.
On the other hand the self adulatory exercise by Bollywood filmmakers continued with films like Indian, Hindustan Ki Kasam, J.P Dutta’s multi-starrer LOC, Maa Tujhe Salam, Hero: The Love Story of a Spy, Jaal: The Trap, though not necessarily shot in Kashmir, used conflict as the backdrop to satisfy the growing appetite of Indian audiences for cheap jingoism.
After the Kargil war Bollywood producers have been on a lookout to make a fortune out of the heightened sense of patriotism. And using Kashmir as a backdrop to settle scores with neighbour Pakistan, at least on the silver screen, was applauded heartedly by front bench audiences. Bollywood producers and location hunters frequented Kashmir to exploit the scenic backgrounds of snow capped peaks and signs of collateral ruins to serve Indian audience with homemade heroism against foreign enemy.
This so-called sense of patriotism among Indian audiences helped Bollywood producers to experiment and also create a new celluloid enemy for them.
Director John Mathew Mathian’s Sarfarosh, which was released during Kargil War, was one of the first few films to mention Pakistan as an enemy state. The film was immediately made tax free by the government as it struck the right chord with the Indian audiences.
Bollywood filmmakers grabbed the opportunity to exploit the fresh patriotic passions stirred by live war footages telecasted directly into their homes by Indian electronic media.
Irrespective of their understanding of the issue, Kashmir became a matter of pride for every Indian overnight. The entire nation wanted to see some action, bravado, heroism and above all enemy defeated and defamed in typical Bollywood style.
Sensing profit, Bollywood quickly reacted by making a series of films with highly patriotic heroes helping innocent Kashmiri Shikara owners and shepherds from misleading kohl-eyed ISI ‘terrorists’. The false sense of bravado shown on the silver screen clearly reflected the mood of the nation. The race to serve national interest through cinema (while making huge money out of it) was lead by director Tinu Verma who stirred Kashmir emotions among Indians like none other with his famous one liner, “Doodh mangoge to kheer denge, Kashmir mangoge to cheer denge” (Ask for milk, and we’ll give you pudding, Ask for Kashmir, and we’ll rip you apart.) Verma carefully chose a Muslim character (played by Arbaaz Khan) to deliver the lines instead of lead actor Sunny Deol in Maa Tujhe Salaam. The film’s success at the box-office made Bollywood producers realize the potential of Kashmir even after it has been virtually shut down from rest of the world. They can now serve the nation and also walk all the way to banks happily. It was a win-win situation for Bollywood.
From 1960s till early 1980s some of the best known Bollywood blockbusters were shot in Kashmir including Rajendra Kumar and Sadhana starrer Arzoo (1965), Shammi Kapoor and Saira Banu starrer Junglee; and 1981 Yash Chopra directed Silsila starring superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri in the lead. Even the well-known Hollywood film A Passage to India, based on E M Forster’s novel, was shot partially in the old areas of the Srinagar city.
The tinsel town romance with Kashmir however remained confined to filling of backgrounds as foreign locations were not introduced in Indian cinema. There were no such movies where Kashmir or its culture was used as part of the story. Even if there was a Kashmiri character in a Bollywood movie, he was portrayed in a manner that reflected the stereotype that Indian cinema has developed over the years for a Kashmiri.
