International Film Festival to Revive Film Tourism in JK: JD DIPR Shahnawaz

Suhail Khan 

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Srinagar, Sep 05: The Jammu and Kashmir administration is pulling out all stops to bring Bollywood back to the Valley, with the first-ever International Film Festival here being positioned as a launchpad for what officials hope will be a sustained revival of film tourism in the region.

Joint Director Information Syed Shahnawaz Bhukari said Saturday that the government’s intent is clear—to rebuild the once-strong bond between Hindi cinema and Kashmir. “The rise of Bollywood was around those films which were shot in Jammu and Kashmir. But due to some unfortunate circumstances, that activity reduced. Our effort is to promote film tourism here,” Bhukari told reporters as per Kashmir Convener.

The four-day festival, scheduled to begin September 7, will see screenings and events spread across three locations—SKICC, INOX, and Gulmarg. While SKICC will host the main activities, including masterclasses by industry stalwarts and panel discussions featuring media academics from local universities, one full day of programming has been dedicated to the scenic resort town of Gulmarg.

An interesting highlight of the festival is the emphasis on student engagement. Shahnawaz Bhukari said young participants from local universities would get to sit with “big names” and interact directly—a move aimed at nurturing local talent. The festival will also feature a special competitive category for films made in Jammu and Kashmir, with the jury having already shortlisted entries.

The response, the official said, has been encouraging. The festival received around 1,100 entries from 92 countries, of which 135 films from over 40 nations have been shortlisted. The schedule for screenings at INOX will be released in a day.

Shahnawaz Bhukari said the administration is looking at the festival not as a one-off event but as an annual institution. “For the past few decades, people have stopped coming here due to some circumstances. We are trying to give them exposure here firsthand. This film festival is organized with the intention that people from Bollywood should come here,” he said.

Drawing a comparison with Europe’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival, JD Information expressed confidence about the future. “I personally believe that if we try to organize a Cannes Film Festival in India over the years, we can do it,” he said, adding that the initiative has already drawn support from prominent filmmakers, including Vinod Chopra. He also promised “some surprises” regarding the jury members.

The festival, officials said, is part of a larger vision to position Kashmir as a film-friendly destination once again, leveraging its natural beauty to attract productions and boost the local economy.

With the International Film Festival set to begin shortly, Inspector General of Police for Kashmir Zone, Sujit Kumar, on Saturday chaired a high-level security review meeting to assess preparedness and fine-tune deployment strategies across the valley.

The meeting, attended by senior police and paramilitary officials, focused extensively on venue security, access control, crowd management, and traffic regulation. Surveillance mechanisms, emergency response protocols, and inter-agency coordination were also deliberated upon in detail, a senior police officer told Kahsmir Convener.

The IGP stressed the need for real-time information sharing among all participating agencies to ensure a seamless and robust security grid throughout the festival. He directed officers to maintain heightened alertness and implement all preventive measures well in advance.

 

“The objective is to create a safe and secure environment for the successful conduct of the event,” the official added.

The meeting ended with a comprehensive review of existing arrangements and directives to further strengthen coordination with all concerned departments. Security forces have been placed on high alert as part of the preparatory measures he further added.

Notably, earlier this week Director Information and Public Relations Shreya Singhal in an interview with Kashmir Convener detailed the vision behind the four-day festival, The event, she said, is not a one-off affair but is intended to become an annual fixture on J&K’s cultural calendar.

“The idea is to convert filmmaking into a film economy for J&K,” Singhal said, underlining the government’s intent to create a self-sustaining ecosystem that supports filmmakers, technicians, and artists from the region.