Kashmir is the next destination for Iranian film-maker Majid Majidi. The Oscar nominated director is shooting a movie — an Indo-Iranian joint venture — in Spring next year. The movie will be shot on the world-famous Dal lake and according to an Iranian newspaper, is tentatively titled Flood-stricken Kashmir.

Majidi was in Kashmir in the last week of October to finalise the locations and had shown his preference for the Dal lake for the scenic beauty around it. His reason for being drawn to Kashmir is “the strong cultural affinity between the sensibilities of the two places and the connections triggered off by the streets and the buildings”.

“He went around the Dal lake and was fascinated by its beauty,” joint director of Kashmir’s Tourism Department Sarmad Hafeez told The Indian Express.

The broad outline of the film — emerging from his activities in the Valley — will be centered around the life of the boatmen on the Dal. Majidi is interested in untrained actors to play the lead. He is looking for two Kashmiri shikara (boat) boys aged between seven and nine as the protagonists. “Majidi has already met a few boys who live on the Dal lake. Besides, he has also met fishermen to have an idea about their culture and tradition,” Hafeez said.

Bollywood actor Aamir Bashir who is Majidi’s assistant in the project, however, remained tightlipped about the content of the film. “Majidi is still in the process of preparing the script. Besides, he doesn’t want to divulge anything at this stage,” Bashir told The Indian Express from Mumbai. He added that Majidi will probably have a script in hand by February next year.

... contd.