New Delhi, Feb 11: Forgotten Kashmir Ki Kali? No problem, many more are on the cards. The picturesque environs of the "heaven on earth" will soon be back on the Silver screen. The Mufti Government's healing touch has something soothing for the eyes, too. Millions of filmgoers may soon enjoy the scenic beauty of Jammu and Kashmir again as the State Government is going all out to woo Bollywood to commence shooting there. The who's who of Bollywood, including Yash Chopra, Yash Johar and Subhash Ghai to name a few would be landing in Srinagar early next week at the invitation of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. They would be taken around the State by the officials to assure them that the situation was conducive for shooting films.

"Itna kharab nahin hai jitna bahar sunai deta hai. Aap aa kar dekhiya Kashmir. Sab kuchh badal raha hai," said the Mufti in his heavily accented Hindi, while reeling out his plans to normalise life in the bleeding Valley. His focus is so different; he wants to create job opportunities, boost tourism and enhance the level of economic activities in the region where guns boom louder than Bollywood's hits.

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The Chief Minister had met these film personalities and representatives of corporate houses during his recent visit to Mumbai and urged them to come to Kashmir as they used to do in the past, sources said here on Monday.
The beautiful State, known for providing settings for several Hindi blockbusters, had last seen the shooting of only two films like Mission Kashmir and Pukaar in the last few years. The State Government had provided all the security to the film crew but the industry, by and large, was shying away from filming the snowclad locales of Pahalgam or Gulmarg, sources admitted.

The Government machinery led by Mr Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was keen to bring Bollywood back to the State and the chief minister was expected to personally convince Bollywood directors once they touch down in Srinagar early next week.

Many a hit films were canned in Pahalgam and Gulmarg including the evergreen Kashmir Ki Kali, Kabhi Kabhi, Aap Ki Kasam, Phir Wahi Dil Laya Hoon, Dharamveer and Haqeeqat.
The Kishore Kumar sung song yeh Kashmir hai from the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Bemisaal is a tribute to romance and beauty. Similarly, yeh vadian Kashmir from a lesser known film Aabroo eulogises the bounties of the Switzerland of India.

Meanwhile, the chief minister told newspersons here on Monday that tourism was picking up and more than 300 tourists were enjoying snowfall at Gulmarg every day now.

He, however, refused to elaborate upon his plans for boosting the tourism industry saying it would alert forces inimical to this process. "Let the number of tourists go up and it should not make big news," he cautioned. When asked about his recent meetings with the business fraternity in Mumbai, Mr Sayeed said the response was encouraging and his officials were following it up.

He also announced that the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would lay the foundation of the super highway in Srinagar. This is part of Mr Vajpayee's dream Golden Quadrilateral project of connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari by road network.
Similarly, the Central Government recently approved the expansion project for Srinagar Airport besides bringing the Railways to Srinagar by the year 2007. The ambitious project would be patterned on the lines of the Konkan Railways project and work had already commenced to bring railtracks till Udhampur by the end of year 2004, he said.

Addressing reporters on the day his Government completed 100 days in office, the chief minister said the State administration had managed to reduce power cuts and loadshedding from nine hours to four hours a day.
He termed it as a big investment in the peace process and said this indicated that the Government was serious about the issues of governance. The chief minister also said the State had the potential of producing more than 2O,000 MW of power.