Filmmaker Danish Renzu admits he was unaware of Kashmiri music legend Raj Begum’s work, despite being a Kashmiri himself. But when he began listening to her songs, they compelled him to write her story. Songs of Paradise was born. “I started working on this in 2019. The biggest inspiration for the story was the music of Raj Begum. I was mesmerised by her songs. It’s been a dream project,” he says. For Renzu, the aim with the Saba Azad and Soni Razdan-starrer was also to present everyday stories of Kashmir, which he believes get lost in mainstream Hindi cinema.

Danish Renzu

“It’s a dream to be able to sit here and showcase a film that has never been made before on Kashmir. Some of the narratives on Kashmir are either very political or one-sided, where it’s not about the people, the culture, or the music [of the land]. I’ve never seen stories of ordinary people [on screen]. You see the beautiful locations, but not the people. That’s why this is so exciting because I’m a Kashmiri, I have a story to tell, and it’s a Kashmiri story. Because of what’s been happening there over the years, the media has been showcasing the same thing repeatedly. I think that is going to change with this film and open doors to more stories. There’s so much talent and untold stories from Kashmir that nobody knows about,” he says.