Shikara (2020 film)

Shikara is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film produced and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film is based on the love story of a Kashmiri Hindu couple at the peak of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir during the 1990s and the subsequent exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the Kashmir Valley.[4][5][6] The film was released on 7 February 2020.[1]

Shikara
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVidhu Vinod Chopra
Produced byVidhu Vinod Chopra
Screenplay byVidhu Vinod Chopra
Rahul Pandita
Abhijat Joshi
Story byVidhu Vinod Chopra
StarringAadil Khan
Sadia Khateeb
Music bySongs:
Sandesh Shandilya
Abhay Sopori
Rohit Kulkarni
Score:
A. R. Rahman
Qutub-E-Kripa
CinematographyRangarajan Ramabadran
Edited byVidhu Vinod Chopra
Shikhar Misra
Production
company
Distributed byFox Star Studios
Release date
  • 7 February 2020 (2020-02-07)[1]
Running time
120 minutes[2]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box officeest. ₹8.15 crore[3]

Plot

The film is based on the love story of Hindu Kashmiris in the backdrop of the Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir.[1] The book Our Moon Has Blood Clots by Rahul Pandita has inspired many parts of the movie.[7]

Cast
  • Aadil Khan as Shiv Kumar Dhar
  • Sadia Khateeb as Shanti Dhar
  • Zamir Ashai as Khursheed Hassan Lone
  • Zain Khan Durrani as Lateef Lone
  • Priyanshu Chatterjee as Naveen
  • Vinay Raina as Shiv's Father
  • Bhavana Chauhan as Arti
  • Ashwin Dhar as Mohanlal
  • Farid Azad Khan as Rehmana
  • Saghar Sehrai as Haji Sahab
  • Mushtaq Kak as Masood Sahab
  • Anjana Sood as Shiv's mother
  • Faiyaz Dilbar as Shanti's father
  • Shahid Lateef as Yunus
  • Ajay Kaul as Manoharlal Kaul
  • Rahul Kilam as Raina's Son
  • Ravi Braroo as Raina Sahab

Production

In March 2018, it was reported that a film was shot under the title "Love and Letters" in Kashmir by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. In an interview later, he mentioned that almost entirely film was shot in Kashmir. Initially in Summer, then in autumn and again in Winter. Only refugee camps were recreated in Mumbai and some sequences in Agra, but this part of story is brief. Shots in Kashmir included several places such as the Lalit Hotel in Srinagar, on shikaras in the middle of a lake, on the backwaters of the Dal, in a desolate Hindu house, near Hazratbal and many more.[8]

Some scenes were reported to be shot in Wandhama near Ganderbal, where one of the biggest massacre in the Valley, 23 Kashmiri Hindus — four children, nine women and ten men were massacred in 1998.[9]

Casting

Lead characters of Kashmiri birth, Aadil Khan and Sadia were cast to lend authenticity. Several Kashmiri Pandits were selected for principal cast. Also, to make refugee camps as similar as possible to the real ones 30 years ago (19 January 1990), actual refugees were cast. Approximately 4,000 out of 400,000 refugees, who are currently inhabitants of Jagti Nagrota Migrant Camp and other refugee camps agreed to take part. They were women, children and older people. Refugee camp scenes were shot for several days and nights in Bhagwati Nagar,Jammu.[10]

Marketing and release

On 7 January 2020 official trailer of the film was launched by Fox Star Studios.[11][12][13] On 27 January 2020, second official trailer of the film was launched by Fox Star Studios.[14] A. R. Rahman played the theme of Shikara live in the launch event. On 14 January 2020, A 'behind the scenes' video released shows 4000 refugee coming together after 30 years to take part in the production of refugee camp scenes. Names of few refugees, home town before fleeing and their experiences are shown in video.[15] The film was released on 7 February 2020.[1] It was released digitally on April 4, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video in India.[16]

This film was criticized and even boycotted by some people for focusing on the "romantic love story" rather than the forced exodus of Kashmiri Hindus.[17]

Reception

Critical response

The Times of India gave the movie 3 out of 5 stars, and called it largely a one-sided story which does cater to the cinematic appeal of certain movie-goers.[2] Jyoti Kanyal of India Today also gives the movie 3 out of 5 stars and writes that the story "beautifully combines real incidents and a fictional love story".[18] Both TOI and India Today praise debutantes Sadia and Aadil Khan.[18][2] Newslaundry reviews the film as a successful love story but a failed political drama.[19] The Hindu gives a more critical review, saying that "Chopra buries politics under the garb of ‘love and hope’" and ends up making the movie simplistic.[20] Livemint also comments on the 'simplification of politics behind the exodus' in the movie.[21] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in also writes a similar review, weak in history, strong in love.[22] Firstpost also gave the movie 3 out of 5 stars.[7]

Music
Shikara
Soundtrack album by
Sandesh Shandilya, Abhay Sopori and Rohit Kulkarni
Released6 February 2020[23]
Recorded2019
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length24:07
LanguageHindi
LabelZee Music Company
External audio
Official Audio Jukebox on YouTube

The film score was composed by A. R. Rahman and his apprentice group Qutub-E-Kripa. This marked Rahman's first collaboration with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, 26 years after Rahman declined an offer by Chopra in 1994.[24]The film's songs are composed by Sandesh Shandilya, Abhay Sopori and Rohit Kulkarni with lyrics written by Irshad Kamil, Bashir Arif and Raqueeb Alam.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Mar Jaayein Hum"Irshad KamilSandesh ShandilyaPapon, Shradha Mishra3:58
2."Ghar Bhara Sa Lage"Irshad KamilSandesh ShandilyaPapon, Shreya Ghoshal3:47
3."Shukrana Gul Khile"Bashir ArifAbhay SoporiMunir Ahmad Mir2:36
4."Chattar Pattar"Raqueeb AlamRohit KulkarniMika Singh3:38
5."Teri Arzoo Mein"Irshad KamilSandesh ShandilyaPapon, Kaushiki Chakraborty4:07
6."Ae Wadi Shehzadi"Irshad KamilSandesh ShandilyaPapon3:35
7."Umr Guzri"Irshad KamilSandesh ShandilyaAadil Khan2:26
Total length:24:07

Box office

Shikara earned ₹1.20 crore at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected ₹1.85 crore. On the third day, the film collected ₹1.90 crore, taking total opening weekend collection to ₹4.95 crore. The lifetime collection of the film in net gross India was ₹8.15 crore.[3]

gollark: Not really.
gollark: i.e. the physical processes involved in the brain do not actually work the same if you swap all the atoms for... identical atoms.
gollark: Anyway, if you actually *did* end up breaking consciousness if you swapped out half the atoms in your brain at once, and this was externally verifiable because the conscious thing complained, that would probably have some weird implications. Specifically, that the physical processes involved somehow notice this.
gollark: I mean, apart from the fact that it wasn't livable in the intervening distance, which might be bad in specifically the house case.
gollark: If I build an *identical* house in the same place, with all the same contents, somehow, I don't care that much.

References
  1. "Vidhu Vinod Chopra's upcoming film 'Shikara - A love letter from Kashmir' is slated to release on THIS date - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  2. Pallabi Dey Purkayastha (7 February 2020). Shikara Movie Review: Love that stands the test of time, war and conflict, retrieved 7 February 2020. The Times of India.
  3. "Shikara Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  4. "Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Shikara - A Love Letter From Kashmir's' trailer to be out on THIS day". The Times of India. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  5. "Vidhu Vinod Chopra brings searing pain of Kashmiri Pandit exodus on film". India Today. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  6. "Vidhu Vinod Chopra Highlights 'Untold Story' of Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990". India Today. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  7. Sharma, Devansh (7 February 2020). "Shikara movie review: Vidhu Vinod Chopra's account of Kashmiri Pandit exodus is strikingly poetic but seldom urgent- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  8. "If I were to live my life again, I would tell God: Please, let me be born in Kashmir". Condé Nast Traveller India. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  9. Raina, Anil RainaAnil; Mar 16, Mumbai Mirror | Updated; 2018; Ist, 02:30. "Vidhu Vinod Chopra returns to Kashmir for his next". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 18 January 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. Team, Koimoi com (11 January 2020). "Vidhu Vinod Chopra On Shooting With Real Kashmiri Pandits In Shikara: "They're Real People & That's Why They're Not Performing"". Koimoi. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  11. Fox Star Studios (7 January 2020). "Shikara - Official Trailer - Dir: Vidhu Vinod Chopra - 7th February 2020". Retrieved 7 January 2020 – via YouTube.
  12. "Vidhu Vinod Chopra's comeback film chronicles exodus of Kashmiri Pandits through eyes of a young couple". Firstpost. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  13. "Vidhu Vinod Chopra tells 'the untold story of Kashmiri Pandits'". The Indian Express. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  14. Fox Star Studios (27 January 2020). "Shikara - Official Trailer 2 - Dir: Vidhu Vinod Chopra - 7th February". Retrieved 27 January 2020 – via YouTube.
  15. Shikara Diaries: The 30-Year Wait | Behind-the-Scenes | Dir: Vidhu Vinod Chopra | 7th February 2020, retrieved 18 January 2020
  16. amazon prime video IN [@PrimeVideoIN] (4 April 2020). "watch the story of shiv & shanti come alive in shikhara! live now: amzn.to/Shikara" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. DelhiFebruary 8, India Today Web Desk New; February 8, 2020UPDATED:; Ist, 2020 09:44. "Kashmiri Pandit woman lashes out at Vidhu Vinod Chopra at Shikara screening: I disown your film". India Today. Retrieved 13 March 2020.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. Kanyal, Jyoti (7 February 2020). "Shikara movie review: Vidhu Vinod Chopra's love letter from Kashmir". India Today. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  19. Rao, Niraja. "'Shikara' delivers an atmospheric love story, but fails as a political drama". 📢 Newslaundry. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  20. Rosario, Kennith (7 February 2020). "'Shikara' movie review: A simplistic and tepid weepy". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  21. Jhunjhunwala, Udita (7 February 2020). "Film review: 'Shikara' simplifies the politics behind the exodus". Livemint. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  22. Ramnath, Nandini. "'Shikara' movie review: The romance triumphs over the history lesson". Scroll.in. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  23. "Shikara - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jio Saavn.
  24. https://www.mumbailive.com/en/bollywood/vidhu-vinod-chopra-film-shikara-new-actors-aadil-khan-and-sadia-on-kashmiri-pandits-43822
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