Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan on Thursday praised Kashmir for its beauty, friendly people and sung paeans about the Valley, saying he was carrying along memories and tales of the place. "I have never been so happy in 30 years. I am happy within. I found love here everywhere. Love is in air. I am feeling sad to leave this place. I am taking tales of Kashmir along. I donâ??t tweet too much but since the day I landed here I have been tweeting," Khan said addressing a crowded press conference in Srinagar at the lush green lawns of the Grand Lalit hotel.
Khan said he was feeling blessed to be in the Valley. "I say it from the bottom of my heart. Kashmir will always remain in my heart," he said. In a chaotic press conference, Khan many a times stood up to restore order. Khan used film dialogues like "Khaamosh", "Kitna shoor macha rahay ho" to restore an order at the briefing. Confusion was mostly created by Khan's fans who were masquerading as journalists.
A former bureaucrat Roma Wani, who is now running an NGO, also asked questions to Khan and at the same time advised journalists to show some professionalism. This angered journalists, who asked her to leave the place as she was interfering in the press briefing. Khan deftly handled the situation and took control himself. He not only answered questions but entertained the audience as well.
When a fan asked him whether he could recall any dialogues from Devdas, Khan stood up and said, "Kaun kambkhat bardasht karne ke liye peeta hai, ham tou peetay hain taki Paro ko bhula sakeyâ?¦" When some order was restored, Khan said he had always wanted to be in Kashmir with his late father, "But did not get an opportunity to do that. My father would say whenever you go to Kashmir take me along,".
Looking dapper in a black suit, SRK talked about how Yash Chopra's films create an impact and people usually visit the places where his films have been shot. "Hopefully, when we shoot films in London or Switzerland, people see those places and want to go there. Since this film has been extensively shot in Kashmir, people will see it and want to come here," Khan said.
Khan refused to enter into a debate about films made on Kashmir during the last 20 years of insurgency. Some suggested films made on Kashmir have projected a negative image of the situation and yet film makers have not talked about "mass graves and human rights violations."
Khan said story telling always depends upon the story teller. "Some like to have aggression in their films and some like to portray love. Some like to have political and ideological aspectsâ?¦ Films are reflection of society and they reflect what is going on in the society," Khan said. He said his film was different and was all about love. "Whosoever will watch it they would love it," Khan said.
About lack of players from Jammu and Kashmir in the IPL and not having stars from the state in Bollywood, Khan said there was no discrimination in IPL or Bollywood on the basis of religion or region. "I belong to a small place in Delhi and I reached this position. Whoever has talent gets his due. Players from J&K will find place in IPL if they have talent," he said. SRK also talked a lot about the time he spent shooting in Pahalgam, specially his interaction with school children from Srinagar who had come to see him. "I sat with them. Interacted with them and I was happy to be with them," he said.
Khan concluded his press conference rephrasing his legendary 'Darr' dialogue 'ka ka ka ka kiran' with 'ka ka ka ka Kashmir'. Yash Chopra, who is returning to the director's seat after a gap of eight years, said that he didn't face any problems while shooting the film in the Valley. In the film Shah Rukh is playing the role of an army officer Samar and Anushka Sharma is playing the role of a TV journalist. The movie is slated for a Diwali release and it will get a name on Yash Chopra's 80th birthday on September 27.
