Mahesh Bhatt Remains Fearless

Mahesh Bhatt

Imran Zahid

Muntazer al Zayedi - the journalist who threw shoes at President Bush

Mahesh Bhatt is one of the bolder Indian filmmakers who has always been ahead of his times. I may not like all of his movies but I like the fact that he does not have a closed mind. He has also shown a lot of love and respect for Pakistan (unlike his son) and he seems to be passionate about the subjects he cover.

It has been said that this time round, Mahesh wants to make a movie on the civil war in Iraq and wants to meet the Iraqi journalist, Muntazer al Zayedi who threw a shoe on the great president Bush.

Mahesh wants to take his director, Arvind Gaur and the actor, Imran Zahid to the war-torn Iraq to meet Muntazer. He wants to make a documentary before shooting for the film. People are telling him that it is rather unsafe to go to Iraq. In fact, Muntazer has warned Bhatt that although he is welcome but the country is very unsafe. He wouldn't advise these guys to come there. Instead, he suggested that they should wait for him to come to India to discuss the entire matter.

Mahesh Bhatt is however firm in his beliefs. He said that the actor and director won't be able to do justice till they have the real taste of the blood soaked land. They must feel what it is like with their own eyes. He said that people warned him that Pakistan, Kashmir,Nagaland and Bastar are unsafe places too but he did go to these places as well.

They don't have the visas issued as yet but Mahesh Bhatt has put in a request at the highest level in the concerned Ministry. They will leave for Iraq as soon as the visas are issued.

Some critics feel he is going too far by risking the lives of his team members for the sake of art. Well, I guess till the world is going to stay, there will always be a few people like Mahesh Bhatt who will break the norms and do what they believe in and critics won't approve of them. I am impressed with his passion and his fearless conviction to feel and see the truth.

Ranbir Kapoor Feels The Emotional Bond With Kashmir

We did report that Imtiaz Ali went all gaga about the beauty of Kashmir while he was shooting his next movie "Rockstar" in the beautiful valley. Now the movie's main lead - Ranbir Kapoor opened up about how sentimental and emotional he is about Kashmir too.

He recalled that Kashmir is one place where his dad worked a lot and some of Rishi Kapoor's best movies were filmed in Kashmir. Now that Ranbir came to Kashmir, he just couldn't miss this Kashmiri connect. He met people who had worked with Rishi Kapoor in the good old days and he just got all too emotional while he met them and saw how sweet these people were.

Ranbir himself looked like a typical Kashmir boy next door in the traditional Kashmiri attire. He had some of the special Kashmiri food also.

As it is Kashmir and the Kapoor family go a long way if we recall Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor all worked here. It seems that Ranbir is only taking the traditions forward. It is good that these people have respect and love for old memories and places.

Imtiaz Ali Fell In Love With Kashmir

It has been reported that Imtiaz Ali who is working on his next movie Rockstar with Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri has fallen for the beautiful Kashmir Valley. He and his crew of 150 people were in Kashmir shooting for the movie Rockstar and they were moved by the beauty of Kashmir.

Imtiaz said that Kashmir is like paradise on earth and the media pays too much attention on negative aspects of Kashmir rather than talking about how peaceful and positive this valley is. He said that filmmakers should visit Kashmir more often to make films because it is wonderfully beautiful and peaceful place...perhaps the most fantastic places of the world.

He went on to praise the Kashmiri people also whom he and his crew found to be quite friendly, lovable and hospitable.

Well Imtiaz Ali is a decent filmmaker and quite different from many others so such a statement is not that shocking from him. But true that Indian media highlights only the negative side of Kashmir Valley.