Mumbai: Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra says his next film “Shikara – The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits” is about the exodus of the community from the Valley and how these people became a refugee in their own country.
At the centre of Chopra’s film is a young couple Shanti Dhar (Sadia) and Shiv Kumar Dhar (Aadil Khan), who are caught up in the violence of 1989-1990 and are forced to leave their home in Kashmir.
“It is a 30-year-old story of a Pandit couple, Shiv Kumar Dhar and Shanti Dhar, it started in 1987 when everything was alright. It is their story of 30-years and 30 years of India. It took a lot of time to write and make this film, which is a story of those people, who are refugees in their own country for 30 years and it is very unusual,” Chopra said at the trailer launch of the movie.
The director said he hopes and prays “spring” comes to “Kashmir and to the rest of the world.”
“Whatever film we make we hope, like with ‘3 Idiots’ we did hope some students will do something different in their life, with ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ we thought Mahatma Gandhi will bring peace in the country… A film can have so much influence even after 10-15 years that people remember those things.
“With this film, I hope the community, with whom I have had a very close relationship, there will be some changes in their lives and that their life will become better than before. So that’s the intention.”
In “Shikara…”, Chopra said, he has not shown the face of the militants and has tactfully dealt with violence.
“The so-called militants do not have any faces. I wanted faceless violence. There is not a single face that you will see throwing a stone, it is all shadows. I worked very hard to convey those shadows. The idea of the film is to join, not break the lakir (line),” he added.
“Shikara”, he said, is a tribute to his late mother.
The film is scheduled to release on February 7.
