After doing a pilot study for the last 10 months at the Kashmir Valley, Chennai-based entertainment start-up Jadooz is coming up with more screens in that region.
In September 2022, the start-up opened two mini-theatres in Pulwama and Shopian and is now coming up with screens at Baramullah, Hundwara and Bandipore. These screen will go live by end of June.
“Last year, we piloted with two screens to see how the local population responded to films. For over three decades, Kashmir was deprived of films due to violence. We are seeing sufficient footfalls at our screens. And now, Kashmir is ready for films. So, we want to bring in more movies to the valley,” said Rahul Nehra, founder and managing director of Jadooz.
He said a screen would finally come to Betaab Valley in Pahalgam called Jadooz Pahalgam, celebrating the 40th year of the movie Betaab,which was directed by Rahul Rawail. “The valley gained momentum and prominence after the Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh starrer was shot here in 1983 and eventually was named after the film,“ Mr. Nehra said.
He also said Sherwani Hall, which was destroyed by the terrorists, would now open for movie-lovers. The government and many well-wishers from Bollywood have been instrumental in this process, he added. According to Mr. Nehra, this whole experiment has now encouraged many Kashmiri producers to think of making more films. “They are saying that they want to make more Kashmiri movies,” he mentioned.
Actor and Producer Rahul Bhat told The Hindu, such screens would help promote movies in the region and also provide employment opportunities for the youth of Kashmir. The actor, who recently played the lead role in the film Kennedy,which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, said: “I am from this region, and I want to make Kashmiri films. I have been working on it. The real history and culture of the region should be shown through cinema. And for that, we need movie screens like Jadooz.”
Jadooz invests anywhere between ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore to set up these screens depending on the space and location.
Founded in 2018 by actor, classical dancer and Padma Shri awardee Shobana and Mr. Nehra, a technocrat with a degree from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi, the start-up owns and operates entertainment zones that consist of a 50-100-seater cinema hall. In smaller locations, the seating capacity is anywhere between 30-50.
