“Do you believe there is still a demon here?” Asifa asks. “No,” says Gulzar. “So what’s the problem now?” she wonders. “There are no more saints,” he quietly replies. —Valley of Saints, 2012
THE air in the Valley is besieged by the dust storm that the assembly elections have kicked up in the last month. Jammu & Kashmir sees its first assembly election in ten years—its significance tied to the rescinding of J&K’s special status after the abrogation of Article 370. Some are promising a return to normalcy; others say, it is already normal.
Where does one go to unearth the truth in a fragmented place? To a constellation of images; a metaphor. To find Kashmir, one must look in the fragments; not in reports, speeches or slogans. Kashmir changes, yet remains unchanged—and only cinema can grasp this flux.
Militarisation and political turbulence are enduring backdrops in the precious few Kashmiri films that have been made in the past seven decades. Valley of Saints (2012), directed by Musa Syeed, is set in the milieu of the 2010 unrest—following the staged encounter of three Kashmiri youths by the Indian armed forces in Baramulla. In a story about love and longing, the impasse becomes the barbed wire in which the protagonists are trapped.
“No time for love”—a board reads, propped atop a shikara, steered along the Dal Lake by Gulzar (Gulzar Bhat), the pensive protagonist in Valley of Saints. The message stands in for the lingering sentiment in the film and its space—love is difficult to come by in a region so deeply embroiled in conflict. The Dal Lake, a central character in the narrative, is an allegory of Kashmir, both in its beauty and imperilment.
この記事は Outlook の October 11, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Outlook の October 11, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Trump's White House 'Waapsi'
Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election may very well mean an end to democracy in the near future
IMT Ghaziabad hosted its Annual Convocation Ceremony for the Class of 2024
Shri Suresh Narayanan, Chairman Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited, congratulated and motivated graduates at IMT Ghaziabad's Convocation 2024
Identity and 'Infiltrators'
The Jharkhand Assembly election has emerged as a high-stakes political contest, with the battle for power intensifying between key players in the state.
Beyond Deadlines
Bibek Debroy could engage with even those who were not aligned with his politics or economics
Portraying Absence
Exhibits at a group art show in Kolkata examine existence in the absence
Of Rivers, Jungles and Mountains
In Adivasi poetry, everything breathes, everything is alive and nothing is inferior to humans
Hemant Versus Himanta
Himanta Biswa Sarma brings his hate bandwagon to Jharkhand to rattle Hemant Soren’s tribal identity politics
A Smouldering Wasteland
As Jharkhand goes to the polls, people living in and around Jharia coalfield have just one request for the administration—a life free from smoke, fear and danger for their children
Search for a Narrative
By demanding a separate Sarna Code for the tribals, Hemant Soren has offered the larger issue of tribal identity before the voters
The Historic Bonhomie
While the BJP Is trying to invoke the trope of Bangladeshi infiltrators”, the ground reality paints a different picture pertaining to the historical significance of Muslim-Adivasi camaraderie
