Srinagar: Sunidhi Chauhan has expressed her desire to perform in Jammu & Kashmir, saying she would be happy to do a concert in the Valley if an opportunity arises.
Speaking on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of Jammu & Kashmir (IFFJK) in Srinagar, she said, “If you guys organise it, I would love to perform here.” She then headed to a special screening of filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s Laila Majnu in INOX Srinagar.
Chauhan is among several prominent names from the Indian film and music industries attending the first edition of the festival, which began on 7 September and will conclude on 10 September. The singer is scheduled to perform at the festival’s closing ceremony.
Organised by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Jammu & Kashmir, in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the four-day festival is being held under the theme ‘Rang-e-Cinema’.
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Kashmir’s film festival debut
Apart from film screenings, the festival features masterclasses, industry conversations and panel discussions with filmmakers and technicians. Filmmaker Sriram Raghavan, Imtiaz Ali, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Pankaj Tripathi, Ramesh Sippy, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Taha Shah Badussha were among the other film personalities who attended the festival.
Ali, who has a particularly strong association with Kashmir through his films, interacted with the media at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) on Tuesday. Tripathi, like Chauhan, visited INOX Srinagar, where his film Mirzapur was screened.
The film festival marks a significant attempt to reconnect J&K with cinema. At the inaugural ceremony, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah spoke about Kashmir’s historic place in Indian cinema, starting with Shammi Kapoor films to Imtiaz Ali, Kabir Khan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s directorial ventures. The chief minister expressed hope that the film festival would help bring filmmakers back to the region for shoots and strengthen J&K’s position as a cultural and cinematic destination.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)