No approval, no film

A still from Janaan, a music video which was a collaboration between hairstylist-filmmaker Sapna Moti Bhavnani and Kashmiri folk musician Noor Mohammad. The song was shot in the Valley

Last September, hairstylist and filmmaker Sapna Moti Bhavnani visited Kashmir to assist a local Sufi musician, Noor Mohammad, with his music video. "He wanted me to star in it. It was such a soulful Kashmiri song that I decided to co-produce it," says Bhavnani, who divides her time between Mumbai and Kamshet. The track, titled Janaan, promoted by Zee Music, has received 2.4 million hits in the last nine months. During her stay in the valley last year, Bhavnani also visited Baramulla, reportedly one of the volatile areas in the state, to give a talk "on being a hajaam". "Many people on Twitter, including locals, told me not to go [to Baramulla] , but I went ahead and it was a great session. Kashmir embraced me like I was one of its own." Buoyed by her experience, she planned a "horror" movie set in the Valley for which a script is ready. But, for that, Bhavnani will now need a green signal from the state.

In a recent move, two years after the reading down of Article 370, the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, announced a new "film policy" for the Union Territory. The Jammu and Kashmir Film Development Council's (KFDC) website states that the synopsis and script of a film, complete with dialogues, will have to be submitted by a filmmaker who is seeking shooting approvals and availing subsidies. The website clarifies that the "script will be evaluated by an expert from a panel constituted by the Union Territory of the Jammu and Kashmir Film Cell. It adds that security arrangements for "approved filmmakers" will be made free of cost. Incidentally, the Uttar Pradesh government too, has posted similar rules on the website of Film Bandhu, Uttar Pradesh, where filmmakers seeking shooting approvals in the northern state are required to get their scripts and dialogues vetted by the authorities. The requirement earlier applied only if the filmmaker was seeking subsidies.

Noor Mohammad

Bhavnani is baffled by the development. "I don't see the logic," she says. "The state wanting to vet your script and decide whether you're showing them in a good or bad light goes against all forms of artistic freedom, which is all that filmmakers really want." Her decision to shoot the film in Kashmir stems from her need to capture its ethereal landscape, which she says lends itself to her narrative. "My characters have nothing to do with Kashmir or Kashmiris. I'm simply keen to use the Valley as a location. And to be honest, the state could really do with more tourism at this point. The pandemic has worsened an already
bad economy."

Director Aijaz Khan who made Hamid, a cinematic adaptation of the play Phone No. 786 by Mohammed Amin Bhat, seconds Bhavnani's opinion. "When we have a Censor Board to vet commercial films after they have been completed, why do we need to get the script evaluated at the start just to get permission to shoot? There's no need for state intervention at this stage. I think it's not fair at all," Khan, whose 2018 film about seven-year-old Hamid went on to win a National Award in 2019. It's the story of a boy, whose carpenter father disappears. After he learns that 786 is God's number, he decides to dial so that God can connect him with his father.

In 2017, Shyam Kishore shot a documentary in Pahalgam with his Kashmiri Pandit actor friends, Ashwath Bhatt and Amit Wanchoo

Khan was mulling on filming a trilogy on Kashmir, but is now rethinking his decision. Bhavnani believes the move will sting indie filmmakers more than their commercial counterparts because they have a host of other hurdles to surmount, including arranging finances and finding a platform to release their films.

What's welcome, however, says Khan, is the introduction of the single window clearance mechanism by the KFDC, which will ensure filmmakers don't need to run from pillar to post to secure permissions. "This, I think, is wonderful because I remember how much my crew and I had to run around while shooting Hamid. We had to figure out with the local line producers whether a certain area is safe to shoot. Before shooting in Badarkot, Tangmarg, we checked whether any riots had taken place, because the situation can worsen quite quickly there. The other good thing they've done is made provisions for resources and equipment for outdoor filming."

Shyam Kishore and Mushtaaque Ali Ahmed

According to filmmaker Shyam Kishore, it's documentary filmmakers who will be the worst hit. "Docus are rooted in reality and you want to get as close to facts as possible, whether past or present, so this policy could make it harder for non-fiction storytellers."

In 2017, Kishore shot a documentary in Pahalgam with his Kashmiri Pandit actor friends, Ashwath Bhatt and Amit Wanchoo. "The story is about two Kashmiri Pandits, Bhatt and Wanchoo - one who was part of the mass exodus of the community in 1990, and the other who chose to stay back in the Valley." He also points to certain "grey areas' in the newly-introduced policies such as the mention of grants being provided for films produced to patronise One Nation, Best Nation (Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat), on the website.

Hamid, a 2018 film by Aijaz Khan, is about seven-year-old Hamid. It went on to win a National Award in 2019. It's the story of a boy, whose carpenter father disappears. After he learns that 786 is God's number, he decides to dial so that God can connect him with his father

This statement is open to interpretation, he thinks. "Does this mean you need to pander to the government's ideology? And what if your idea of ek Bharat is different from theirs? It's tricky."

Aijaz Khan

He says some restrictions such as making certain locations out of bounds for filmmakers, are understandable and even necessary to maintain the sanctity of the place. "The KFDC has created an exhaustive list of shooting locations accessible to filmmakers. I've seen the websites of both the UP and Jharkhand governments, which also have a similar film policy, and they are not as thorough and detailed. The KFDC also assures a revert within the shortest time [two to four weeks after submitting the complete application on the Single Window Portal]." The Government of Jammu and Kashmir will now promote the establishment of film studios and processing laboratories until a fully active film city is established in the state, and encourage owners to reopen closed cinemas.

Sapna Moti Bhavnani

Mushtaaque Ali Ahmed is one of the leading filmmakers and festivals directors from the Valley. Supportive of the new policy, he feels vetting is a minor quibble if you look at the overall picture. "What I feel is that they [the authorities] want Kashmir to be portrayed in a positive way and not as a state battling unrest. Therefore, the idea is to eliminate any idea that perpetuates this at the very outset." He, however, admits that filmmakers will need to be mindful of the subjects they take on.

"Yes, controversial subjects such as militancy or extra-judicial killings might be tough subjects to tackle now."