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Srinagar’s cinemas may have gone dark. Kashmir’s love for films never did

It seemed like J&K's battered past had taken a backseat, even if it was for the four days of the international film festival.

At the closing ceremony of Jammu and Kashmir’s first international film festival, singer Usha Uthup asked the audience to switch on the flashlights on their phones. Then she sang Saare Jahan Se Achha.

One by one, hundreds of tiny lights appeared and people joined in to sing along. I looked around and honestly, I got goosebumps. Because I was looking at a Kashmir that does not often make headlines.

For all the ways Kashmir has been described and defined, this was an alternate universe, one of people singing, celebrating, and simply being happy.

In the last four days, Srinagar rediscovered something that had been there all along: its appetite for cinema, music, and reveling in art. 

Also read: Srinagar got star treatment at J&K film festival. Jammu got a supporting role

Theatre packed with joy

When INOX opened in Srinagar in 2022, it was said........

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