Jammu and Kashmir can again be a key destination for entertainment and tourism if all stakeholders stop highlighting negative issues like terrorism, militancy, violence, civilian protests and disturbances, etc., Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh said.
“We have to clearly understand that Kashmir is India’s Taj (Crown); it is the country’s most beautiful state and globally famous for its natural scenic beauty. This region has experienced a lot of bad luck; the general public has been fed with a lot of negative information to the extent that Kashmiris themselves don’t know whether they are Indian or Pakistani,” Singh told Brighter Kashmir in an interview.
The actor whose linkage with Bollywood goes back almost 50 years, further said: “Kashmir’s progress has been stalled by the wrongs done to it in the past. Things are improving, but there are some vested interests who don't want things to get better and would like to push Kashmir backwards. For the future benefit of Kashmiris, this shouldn’t be encouraged or allowed. There are some very talented, handsome and beautiful Kashmiri boys and girls and I see no reason why they can’t make a mark in any field, leave alone the entertainment industry.”
When asked to comment on the kind of struggle aspiring Kashmiris could expect in Bollywood, Vindu Dara Singh said: “Everyone has to struggle in life, but the ones who have talent will definitely be noticed and will get work. Whoever has come from Kashmir and become a hit in Mumbai like Aly Goni, Asim (Asim Riaz, model), Raheena, etc., had the talent to be successful. Without working hard or having talent, no one can be a success no matter how handsome or beautiful he or she may be.”
When told that Kashmir is emerging again as a viable destination for film shoots after three decades and was informed about the UT government organising of a film festival in June, Vindu Dara Singh said: “This is good but we need to also understand that had Kashmir not faced the problems that it did in the past, the Indian film industry would never have moved to places like Switzerland for their shoots.”
“Kashmiris have to understand that those coming from outside are guests, and once this is accepted, the scope for getting work will be huge. For film shoots, there is no better place than Kashmir. I believe Kashmir will rock when its people decide to open their minds, hearts and arms to the world. There are still people in the industry who are in two minds about going to Kashmir for a film shoot. For them, they worry about expenses and whether they would need protection by security forces during their stay. That doubt and feeling should not be there. It should be peaceful,” he added.
Responding to Brighter Kashmir’s suggestion that he could possibly be an “ambassador” for Kashmiris aspiring to enter and make a mark in Bollywood, Singh said: “Okay, let’s hypothetically say I were to consider this, the problem that I see is that out of lakhs of Kashmiris, if even one of them living in Kashmir, or coming to Kashmir from another country, fires a bullet, that becomes a newspaper headline. It conveys to the outsider that only this is happening in Kashmir, when actually it may not be so. Only if this kind of news reporting stops; can we see progress and development in Kashmir. It is my view that national media polarises society by highlighting negative situations and incidents. National media must talk and write on issues like ‘we don’t want Covid’, or if the media decides there should be no coverage of Covid on any platform, I can assure you it won’t happen. If you talk about Covid throughout the day, or for days on end, the immunity levels of the people will go down, their thinking will undergo a change for the worse, they will fall sick, become weak, etc. This way of informing the public must change to make Kashmir a place to visit and work in again.”
Vindu Dara Singh also talked about his background, childhood, his siblings, his controversial stints in IPL (never seen a match again) and the Big Boss TV series (which he won), and comparisons with his father – world famous wrestler and actor Dara Singh, etc. He said he was not a patch on what his father was.
“You see, the size of his footsteps was just too big. It is beyond my imagination to think that I will ever be able to reach his heights as a person and as a professional. My wish is that I only try to be as good a human being as he was. He was such a nice and noble man, and I feel that I have that same spirit in me as well. My effort is to ensure that his name or the name of the family is never smeared. He worked in about 180 films, whereas I have done about 40 to 50 films, so, there is no comparison.”
“If Kashmiris can think of providing the right environment, a trouble-free, happy and peaceful environment, the sky's the limit for them,” he concluded.