Srinagar, Sep 4 : For four days beginning September 7, the Valley will become a meeting ground for cinema, music and culture, as the inaugural International Film Festival of Jammu & Kashmir (IFFJK) opens its doors to filmmakers, artists and delegates from India and abroad. The festival is organised by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Jammu & Kashmir, in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). Its curtain-raiser was held recently in Srinagar in the presence of Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, with acclaimed filmmaker Imtiaz Ali also associated with the event — a fitting prelude to what organisers hope will become a landmark on India's cultural calendar. But before the first frame rolls, it is music that will set the tone. A Kashmiri Voice Opens the Stage Leading the musical inauguration is Jaan Nissar Lone, with performances to follow from Rani Hazarika and Palak Muchhal.

Lone's presence at the opening carries particular weight. A singer, composer and music entrepreneur from Jammu & Kashmir, he has spent years working to carry Kashmiri music beyond the Valley — and, just as importantly, to convince a new generation of young Kashmiris that music can be a serious profession, not just a passion on the side. His collaborations with artists from outside the region, including Rani Hazarika and Sniti Mishra, have been part of that same effort: building bridges for Kashmiri sound to reach wider, unfamiliar audiences.
IFFJK 2025 — Opening Line-up He is also the founder of ARMS Record Label (AR Music Studios), an Indian music company he has used as a launchpad for international collaborations and platform-building for artists. In recent years, that reach has gone global. Lone currently serves as Global President of the BRICS Culture Media Forum, and was among the Indian representatives at Intervision, the international music competition held in Moscow, where he sat on the international professional jury. His role at IFFJK, then, is more than ceremonial — it places a Kashmiri musician with a genuinely international cultural footprint at the very heart of the festival's opening moment.
Sunidhi Chauhan: A Conversation, Not a Concert Also part of the festival's line-up is Sunidhi Chauhan — though not, this time, behind the microphone in performance. Instead, Chauhan will sit down with festival delegates for a candid conversation, sharing the experiences and lessons of a career that has made her one of India's most recognisable contemporary voices. For delegates, it's a rare chance to hear the story behind the songs, straight from one of the industry's own. Usha Uthup to Bring the Curtain Down When the festival draws to a close, it will do so in style: the closing ceremony will be led by the inimitable Usha Uthup, whose voice has soundtracked Indian popular culture for decades.
A Festival Built on Music, Cinema and Connection Taken together, the line-up — Lone, Hazarika and Muchhal at the opening; Chauhan in conversation; Uthup at the close — gives IFFJK's inaugural edition a cultural and entertainment weight to match its international film programme.
At its core, the festival is an attempt to do two things at once: build a genuine platform for filmmakers and artists, and put Kashmir's rich cultural identity on full display. If the opening night is any indication, IFFJK isn't just launching a film festival — it's strengthening Kashmir's place within India's, and the world's, wider creative community.