Poonch filmmaker produces Bollywood film on Kashmir suffering

 A filmmaker from border district of Poonch has become the first person from J&K to produce a Bollywood movie on the daily suffering of Kashmiri people. The film titled ‘Identity Card’ has been produced by Rahat Kazmi of Surankote.
The film, scheduled to release on August 29 worldwide, is the story of a journalist from New Delhi who happens to go to Kashmir and is caught by police Special Task Force and how one day in a police cell changes her life.
‘Identity Card’ talks about the history of Kashmir, ideological differences of people, myths about religion and identity of a common person in a warlike situation.
The film is also about the state of a policeman serving his duty. It is about parents whose children are missing.
Rahat completed his 12th standard in Poonch. In 1998, his family shifted from Poonch to Jammu city which according to him proved helpful.
Before moving to Mumbai, Rahat made several tele-films for Doordarshan.
In Mumbai, he worked in theater under Pandit Datya Dev Doobey in a workshop at Prithvi Theatre.
“I always wanted to make a film on Kashmir, but somehow initially I did not get a chance to do that,” Rahat told Greater Kashmir. “Three years ago, this idea came when I met Sanjay Amar and we started seriously thinking about making a film on the scenario of Kashmir in which we could talk about the problems of a common Kashmiri. Right from the beginning I wanted to show the problems but in a lighter manner and so a lot of humor automatically came in the situations.”
He said, “I being a Kashmiri myself was quite confident as far as nuances are concerned and that was the reason that even senior actors had trust in me because they knew that I have experienced this life.”
Rahat said they went to see original STF cells to create sets.
“During the shoot, our local Kashmiri light men and other crew members used to share incidents with us,” he said.
“People associated with Bollywood were shocked to know the facts about human rights violation in Kashmir. It was so shocking that more than 10,000 boys are missing in Kashmir and police does not have a record of them.”
“Mainstream films made on Kashmir could never satisfy me as a Kashmiri, still I appreciate their attempts,” he said.
“Identity Card’ is real and it’s from the heart of a Kashmiri and people across the globe are relating to it and that is the reason that one of the top newspapers of United Kingdom has quoted it as one of the bravest film from Indian cinema.”
Rahat said an established international corporate house of United Kingdom, Blue Sapphire Films Limited, has keenly joined hands for the Indian release of the film.
Identity Card’s international distribution is being carried out by a South African distribution network called Red Crush.
The film, expected to have audience in many countries, would be dubbed in many international languages.