Srinagar: At the 3rd G20 Tourism Working Group meeting being held in Srinagar, the Ministry of Tourism and the Jammu and Kashmir administration are pushing for the revival of not only tourism but also film-making in the Valley.
However, it is not security but infrastructure and transport that pose the biggest challenges to the revival, officials and participants told ThePrint.
Film tourism has been a primary focus at the three-day meeting that began Monday and ends Wednesday.
“Till the late 1980s, Jammu and Kashmir was a favourite destination for film shooting. However, the industry got hit because of the development that took place,” Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy told ThePrint, referring to militancy and violence that plagued the region.
“So, after nearly four decades, situation is ripe for the region to re-establish itself as a film shooting hub,” he said.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office, Jitendra Singh, who hails from the region, chipped in and said that Kashmir is the right destination for shooting films.
RRR star Ram Charan, an invitee at the meet, also spoke about his Kashmir connection.
“I have been coming here since 1986. That was the first time when I was in Kashmir. My dad [movie star Chiranjeevi] has shot extensively in Sonamarg and these beautiful places. I used to come as a child,” he said at an event on the sidelines of the G20 meet at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), Srinagar.
“When I was invited by my dad to Kashmir, I used to feel like I had achieved something during the summer holidays…”
Addressing the delegates attending the tourism meet, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said, “After a long pause of almost four decades, we have revived the relationship with Bollywood and launched a film policy in 2021 to attract more investment into the film sector and to make Jammu-Kashmir the most popular film shooting destination.”
The Jammu and Kashmir administration’s film policy accords the status of industry to the film sector here.
Reddy said that, over the last one year, shoots for around 300 films and serials were held in the Valley.
Diplomatic sources said that the reason why Kashmir was chosen as the meeting destination was to showcase the beauty of the place.
“The situation in Kashmir is ripe for tourists. Last year, we saw 1.8 crore tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, of which nearly 25 lakh was exclusively for the Valley,” a source said.
Even though countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia have not officially taken part in the Srinagar meet, multiple trade delegations from these countries have come to attend the event.
“The situation is very peaceful. Tourism is the lifeline of this economy here and local residents would never want anything to happen that affects tourism. A simple shikara feeds the stomach of so many people,” a source in the local administration said.
Also Read: G20 meet kicks off in Srinagar under heavy security blanket, China, Turkey & Saudi Arabia skip event
Roadblocks to revival
ThePrint spoke to a number of participants and officials at the meeting to understand the issues that are proving roadblocks in the revival of foreign tourism and film shoots.
They said the foremost roadblock is infrastructure, explaining that the lack of a wide network of premium hotels and recognised, popular hotel chains was an issue.
For foreign tourists to come in large numbers or a film shooting to take place on a big scale, there have to be popular brands that operate in Kashmir, they added.
Another issue is transport, in terms of availability of premier cab services in larger numbers, they said.
Some of the participants pointed out that continued peace was also an important factor for the film industry to flourish.
“How much security can one provide if more and more shoots take place? The maintenance of peace has to be long-term,” a participant, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)
Also Read: G20 meet in Kashmir will boost tourism, connect youth with the rest of India