Kashmir is hot (and so are the exports from there - right Mr Muzamil?). So is the bollywood bandwagon trying too hard to cash in on it while there is still stream? A lot of movies have been shot about Kashmir and have stories based on the Kashmir issue. Like Dhoka, Mission Kashmir, Yahaan, Fanna, Lakshaya etc.

Bollywood's well known filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, hopes to hole the conscience of viewers about human right abuses in occupied Kashmir with a movie on killings of innocent people by police in staged gun battles to win rewards.

So if you see the film- you soon realise that it is based on the prisoners in the jails of Jammu and Kashmir. Muzammil is playing the role of a police officer in the movie.

Dhoka, or Betrayal, is the latest offering from a Hindi film industry that has been forced by a maturing audience to diversify from its formulaic song-and-dance fare into more realistic themes.

Fanaa

After making Hum Tum the breezy love story, Kunal Kohli made a more hard-hitting film like Fanaa. The film shows a blind Kashmiri girl (Kajol) being taken ‘for a ride’ by a Kashmiri separatist (Aamir Khan) pretending to be a tour guide. Even while shooting a film about terrorism the issue was a worrying one. In fact Kajol was so worried that she wanted to drop out altogether. It was then that Kunal Kohli chose to shoot the required scenes were shot in Poland.

Lakshya

Lakshya is based on the 1999 Kargil conflict that took place between India and Pakistan. The war was sparked off when Pakistani paramilitary units began manning Indian posts in the Kashmiri region of Kargil. The film shows Lt. Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) and his commandos try and recapture some of those points. In reality, these Pakistani paramilitary groups were backed by Kashmiri guerrillas and Afghan mercenaries. While initially the infiltration went unnoticed the extent of the encroachment was later discovered. The conflict was eventually lost by Pakistan when it turned into a war of attrition with India obviously having greater resources.

Deewar

The film deals with Indian prisoners of war (POWs) who are held in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. One of the soldier’s son (Akshaye Khanna) is frustrated that the government and the army cannot get his father (Amitabh Bachchan) back. He ventures into enemy territory to retrieve his dad. While he tries this, his father has already made several attempts to escape his prison camp. Deewar works on similar lines such as yesteryear classic The Great Escape.

The Hero: Love Story of a Spy

This was an unusually silly flick about international terrorists and Kashmir. As is the case with Sunny Deol films it shows him single-handedly beating hordes of terrorists. To make things worse the film shows him as a James Bond-like character who can romance the ladies while on secret missions. Incidentally, this was the most expensive movie of its time.

Mission Kashmir

Two subjects that can fire up Indians from all parts of the world are 'religion' and 'Kashmir'. These seem to be the topic chosen by Bollywood for their recent releases. As the name suggests “Mission Kashmir” deals with the terrorism in Kashmir. There seems no stopping Hrithik Roshan. With only two releases so far the star kid has achieved unprecedented success and his third film is a no let down either. In every film the brawny lad has dared to be different. In Mission Kashmir he dons up as a Kashmiri Muslim who takes up arms to avenge his parents' killer. Both Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff pack in powerful performances and the dimpled damsel Preity plays the demure TV journalist. Music by Shankar-Eshaan-Loy has the folksy feel to it and has already made waves at the music charts.

Sheen

Sheen is one of the rare films to look at the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. The Pandits were one of the original descendants of Kashmir. But due to persecution from Islamic extremism there’s only 0.1 % left in the valley today. Sheen is the story of one of those last few Pandits who refuses to leave his home and learn how his people have becomes refugees in their country.

Roja

Roja looks at another element to the problem of terrorism – kidnapping. Terrorists are known to kidnap innocent civilians in exchange for the release of their people. The film looks at the trauma experienced by the loved ones of the hostages. The relatives have to go knocking from one door to another pleading with the government so their loved ones are released. It was recently that another hostage crisis making front page news came to an end. Nineteen South Korean church workers (mostly women) were released by the Taliban in Afghanistan.