Katrina Kaif-starrer 'Fitoor' first movie to be shot in Kashmir after floods

SRINAGAR: Kashmir-born Bollywood director Rahul Bhat has begun shooting 'Fitoor', based on Charles Dickens' novel 'Great Expectations', in Srinagar. The Katrina Kaif-starrer is the first movie to be shot in Kashmir since apocalyptical floods ravaged the Valley in September last year.

Bhat said he was overwhelmed by the love and affection people showed towards him when he visted his ancestral home in Soura in Srinagar.

“I was so emotional and I cried when Kashmiri Muslims hugged and embraced me there.The people here suffered all these years more than any community in the state did and the biggest tragedy that tore them apart was the September deluge,“ he told journalists here.

Bhat criticized the government inaction during floods. “The government provided meager amounts (of money) to the flood victims that they spent on clearing debris. Youth and NGOs in Kashmir did a wonderful job,“ he said.

Bhat said Kashmiri Pandits settled in different parts of India and abroad will never return. “I am myself a Kashmiri Pandit settled in Mumbai and doing my business. How can I leave that business there and settle here?'' he said.

“So, to appeal Kashmiri Pandits on daily basis to return, is a futile exercise and it is time to move on."