Vidhu Vinod Chopra has been working on a film on Kashmiri Pandits for many years with writer Rahul Pandita, who has earlier written a book called Our Moon Has Blood Clots. The film that chronicles the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the wake of the emergence of terrorism finally went on floors in March in Kashmir. The film is said to have many local Kashmiri actors starring in it but they haven't revealed any names yet.
Now, Peepingmoon has exclusively got some information on its casting. We have learned that it's RJ Nasar Khan and Kashmiri girl Sadia who play the leading roles in this beautiful love story. While Nasar hails from Bhopal and is known for his Naughty Nights show on Red FM 93.5, Sadia is from Bhaderwah area of Jammu region. Although we don't know about Nasar's character, we heard Sadia plays a Hindu girl in this film. It also has local Kashmiri actors like Zameer Ashai, Shahid Gulfam and Imran playing important characters.
A source close to the project also informed us that the movie hasn't been titled Love Letters From Kashmir as speculated. "It's been titled Shikara which basically means a houseboat in Kashmir. The shooting is gearing towards its end and only a few days portions are left which will be shot in Mumbai later this month." The film has entirely been shot in Jammu & Kashmir. "They shot it in areas like Shivpora, Patnitop, Ware House and also in Nagrota at the biggest migrant camps for KashmFilmmakeriri Pandits where around 4200 families live," the source added.
The film is said to be a well-researched and has been presented making sure that it doesn't play with the sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandits community who were forced out of Kashmir valley after the rise of militancy in the region in the early 90s.
