Shah Rukh Khan is back in Kashmir for film shooting. Last time he was here for picturising a song and shooting of some scenes of “Jab Tak Hai Jaan” movie in 2012. This time the King Khan has arrived for Rajkumar Hirani directed film “Dunki”, shot in the picturesque location of Sonamarg and later in other parts.
Huge success and business of Shah Rukh Khan’s recently released movie “ Pathaan” gave almost a new lease of life to the gloomy Bollywood industry and generated an optimism after the losses during Covid-19, and later flopping of some big budget movies.
Shah Rukh Khan has millions of fans not only in India but in other parts of the world also. The fans keep track of almost every film and visits of their favourite star. The shooting schedule of Shah Rukh Khan here is also being widely covered by the media.
Tourism players say that the news about the superstar’s arrival here is a positive development from tourism point of view. A message goes around the country and outside that if King Khan can go to Kashmir, why cannot the domestic and foreign tourists.
The message is going out at a time when tourism is picking up again here on fast pace. Last year a record number of tourists visited Kashmir. This year also the tourist arrivals are encouraging.
At a time when the tourism is on the right track, there is also a need to identify and develop more destinations. More efforts have to be made so that the tourism potential is fully utilised in Jammu and Kashmir and more revenue is generated. Projection of the beautiful tourist spots through movies will also help in this direction.
Before 1990s, Kashmir used to be a favourite destination for film shooting particularly for the picturisation of the songs. While the film shooting has again started picking up here for last few years but it needs a push on a large scale.
Shah Rukh Khan’s presence here this time can play an important role. In 2012, the King Khan’s film shooting, interaction with media, and his tweets had helped projection of Kashmir on a large scale. He had tweeted, “My father’s one unfulfilled wish was to bring me to Kashmir because his mom was from here.
Now I am here, it feels I am in his big strong arms”. After completing shooting schedule of “Jab Tak Hai Jaan” at Pahalgam in 2012, he tweeted again, “Leaving Pahalgam. Learnt life’s lesson in my forefathers’ land. Only beauty is not enough, you gotta be tough too to survive. I will be, Insha Allah.”