The 2010 film Lamhaa, starring Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu, was filmed entirely in Kashmir, during a time when the region faced intense militant activity. Director Rahul Dholakia recently shared some of the dangerous challenges his crew faced while shooting in the Valley. In an interview with casting director Mukesh Chhabra on Mashable India, Dholakia recounted a frightening incident where he and his team were held hostage by separatists for over four hours and revealed how he had to deceive Bipasha into filming during a curfew.
Reflecting on the hostage experience, Dholakia explained, “I was very stubborn. I wanted to shoot Lamhaa in Kashmir only. There was no government in place, and terrorists were everywhere. On the first day, we were held hostage, along with 10,000 people, for about 4-4.5 hours. They gathered around us while we were shooting in a mandi, closing all the doors and demanding, ‘Who is the producer?’ There was no producer present, and the production staff hid themselves. I stepped forward and asked, ‘What is the problem?’ They asked me to come with them. The CRPF jawans ran away, as did the Jammu Police. I was locked in a room with 400 others and told, ‘You are against Kashmir.’”
He further detailed, “I was there for 4-4.5 hours. A CRPF officer gave me his number and then left. We eventually got out because someone recognized me as the guy who made Parzania. I said, ‘If you have a problem with me, let the women in my crew go.’ They responded, ‘You are in Kashmir, not Hindustan. We respect our women.’” Dholakia’s earlier film Parzania focused on the Gulbarg Society massacre during the Gujarat riots, which claimed 69 lives.
After the hostage incident, Bipasha initially left the shoot but later returned to complete the film. Addressing his decision to cast her as a Kashmiri woman, Dholakia said, “I wanted to shoot in the Valley, but not many people were willing to do so. Karisma had just had kids and wanted to be a part of the film but refused to shoot in Kashmir. Deepika Padukone gave me the same answer.”
Dholakia also recounted a moment when Bipasha was angry with him for filming during a curfew without her knowledge, “I shot in curfew with Bipasha and she got really pissed with me. We didn’t tell her there is a curfew. She was so happy. She told me, ‘Kashmir is so beautiful. There aren’t many people here.’ Later, when she got to know there is a curfew, she called me and said, ‘How dare you make me shoot during curfew?’”
Lamhaa was a 2010 Bollywood thriller directed by Rahul Dholakia, set against the politically volatile backdrop of Kashmir. The film delved into the complexities and turmoil of the region, exploring themes of militancy, politics, and the everyday struggles of the Kashmiri people. It followed Vikram (played by Sanjay Dutt), a former military intelligence officer who is sent on a covert mission to investigate and prevent an impending terrorist plot in Kashmir. As he navigates through the region’s unrest, he meets Aziza (Bipasha Basu), a passionate young activist determined to fight for her people’s rights, and Haji (Anupam Kher), a separatist leader with his own agenda.
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