“Lamha”: New film promises the Kashmiri point of view
Bipasha Basu (left) in a scene from the film.
Director Rahul Dholakia's career is just two films old. Yet he has rushed to areas where not many directors have dared to go -- exploring sensitive subjects like communal riots and terrorism.
In 2005, Rahul made his directorial debut with the national award-winning feature film “Parzania,” based on communal riots in Gujarat in the year 2002, triggering controversies and now he is ready with his second offering “Lamha,” a story set in Kashmir that depicts the plight of people living in a state of fear.
“Lamha,” which will see the ever-glamorous Bipasha Basu in a de-glamorised role for the first time, Sanjay Dutt and Anupam Kher among others, is set for release on July 16.
Bipasha plays the role of a young Kashmiri woman; Dutt, a military intelligence officer and Kher, a separatist leader.
While a number of feature films have dealt with the issue of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, his new movie deals with the “identity crisis among the people in Kashmir valley,” says Rahul.
The story of “Lamha,” essentially a love story, revolves round a failed assassination bid on a separatist leader and investigation by Dutt and Bipasha brings out the murky world of nexus between politicians and security groups.
Rahul says he spent two years researching on the subject and the idea of the film was sparked during his interaction with Kashmiri students who described Kashmir as a “beautiful prison.”
If “Parzania” had raised the hackles of some Hindu radicals after its release, “Lamha” had run into trouble even before that as a group of angry Kashmiris had protested the shooting in Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, objecting to certain sequences in the film. It was only after making some certain changes in the sequences that the film could be shot.
Some of the films on Kashmir shot in the last decade include “Mission Kashmir,” “Roja,” “Yahaan,” “Shaurya,” and “Victory” but Rahul says “Lamha” is “completely different.”
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