Shah Rukh begins shooting for his first movie in Kashmir

From the Valley

Amid tight security, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan started shooting for his first movie in Kashmir on Monday.

Khan, who arrived here from Ladakh on Monday morning, took a chopper ride up the mountains of Pahalgam, 100 km from here.

Wearing black dress and army boots, Shah Rukh shot all day at Aru in upper reaches of Pahalgam for Yash Chopra’s next film which is yet to be titled.

Reports said Shah Rukh joined Yash Chopra and his crew at Pahalgam where they have been camping for the last four days.

“Dark clouds, wet roads, too early for even life to feel alive…but I am on my way to make movies. A cigarette and coffee as co-travelers,” Shah Rukh Tweeted.

Shah Rukh’s presence in Pahalgam revived memories of 70s when Rajesh Khanna’s blockbuster movie ‘Roti’ put a spotlight, for the first time, on the place which is famous for its fierce river, Lidder and skyline dotted with huge mountain ranges.

Before the eruption of armed insurgency in Kashmir in 1989, more than a dozen Bollywood movies were shot at the tourist destination.

However, for the next two decades, Bollywood remained a distant dream for Pahalgam till film director Imtiyaz Ali’s ‘Rockstar’ was shot in February last year. 

Since then Pahalgam has seen a beeline of Bollywood shootings, with Shah Rukh’s visit coming as an icing on the cake.