‘Kashmir Saw Such Turmoil’: Emraan Hashmi After Ground Zero Had Srinagar Premiere Last Week | Exclusive
Emraan Hashmi also spoke about Bollywood opening its doors to actors and technicians from different communities.
Emraan Hashmi’s latest film, Ground Zero, which releases on Friday, became the first film in 38 years to have a red-carpet premiere in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, on April 18. Speaking exclusively to News18 Showsha – before this Tuesday’s tragic terrorist attack in Pahalgam – Emraan said that the Valley has witnessed ‘turmoil’ over the years.
Ground Zero is the story of BSF officer Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey, who led an operation in which terrorist Ghazi Baba was killed in 2003.
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“It [Kashmir] is such a scenic and wonderful place with great people. It was dogged by the insurgency that was prevalent there in the late 90s and the early 2000s, which has been shown in our film also," said the actor.
According to the Tiger 3 and Showtime actor, the premiere, which was attended by jawans and BSF officers along with the film’s cast and makers, reiterated how “cinema is a unifier". He hoped the event brought about a ‘sense of normalcy’. “In a cinema hall, it’s a communal viewing by people from different walks of life. When they go and enjoy a film, their experience sparks the same emotions. When the lights dim, you realise what a fantastic unifier it is," he said.
Emraan spoke about Bollywood opening its doors to actors and technicians from different communities. “It’s such a secular medium and our industry is so liberal in its mindset. It doesn’t really matter which state and city you come from. You’re just serving that creative spark and idea. We’ve people in our industry from all walks of life. It’s such a binding force," he said.
And what was the reaction of the BSF officer on whose life Ground Zero is based? “He has seen the film twice. I saw it with him in Delhi in November last year. He loved it. He was there with his family. They came out and said that it way exceeded their expectations and it took them back to 2001. I wouldn’t say that he had reservations before but he wanted to know how it will play out. Sometimes, we end up making films jingoistic and over-the-top. I think that’s the fear he had. When he came on set on the first day of shoot, he said that he couldn’t gather anything because he isn’t a film man. But finally, when he watched it, he said that we did something amazing," exclaimed Emraan.
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