Kashmiri director hopes his debut film will bring the moviemakers back to Kashmir

When Hussein Khan was a boy growing up in Srinagar, he would see film crews from other parts of India flock to Kashmir to shoot in its mountains, orchards and valleys. Sometimes he could visit the sets of as many as four films in the space of a single day.

After 1989, however, militant armed separatists began to ravage Kashmir. The movie crews stopped coming, and Kashmiris themselves were too preoccupied with the precariousness of everyday life to nurture any local film industry. “So there was never a chance to establish a sense of cinema here,” said Mr Khan, 49.

That may now be changing. On Friday, Mr Khan’s new film, “Kashmir Daily,” was released in five cities across India — the first production from the region ever to be seen in theatres outside the region.

Even a film buff like Mr Khan struggles to remember other films made in Kashmir by Kashmiris. He can recall Mainz Raat ("Wedding Night") from 1964 and two others from the last ten years. More recent movies — including "Kashmir Daily" — were only screened a handful of times in auditoriums in Srinagar, a city which has lost all its commercial cinema theatres.

“Kashmir Daily,” shot in both Kashmiri and Hindi, tells the story of a crusading journalist running into the twin problems of youth unemployment and drug addiction. The idea for the story came to Mr Khan when he reported on such problems during his own time as a journalist in the early 2000s. He switched from journalism to making advertising films but the plot for his film stayed in his mind. He found little encouragement,though, even from his friends. How would he finance the film? Who would watch it?

Then in 2012, via a heated Facebook discussion about film, Mr Khan met Mir Sarwar, a Mumbai-based actor of Kashmiri origin. Sarwar was on the cusp of a Bollywood career, but he too dreamed of a revival of cinema in Kashmir. They agreed to collaborate.

It took four years to make the film. “I talked to friends of mine who act in the theatre, and they agreed to do the movie, even though we could only pay them much later,” said Sarwar, 40. said. ”It was the same with the people who leased us the equipment. Everyone did it just on the strength of personal relations.”

Whatever money Mr Khan earned from making advertising films, he ploughed into “Kashmir Daily.” He asked friends for loans and kept the cast small: just ten for the major roles. He even acted in it himself.

"People think film crews always have 100 or 200 people,” Sarwar said. “At times, though, it would just be Hussein Khan and me going off and shooting somewhere. We both know how to work a camera, so one of us would shoot when the other was acting.” The project was so short on resources that when Mr Khan needed a coat for one scene, Sarwar simply took off his own and draped it around his director’s shoulders.

Like the cast and shooting crew, the post-production team was also comprised entirely of Kashmiris. Once finished, “Kashmir Daily” was shown last March, twice daily for two weeks, at a Srinagar convention hall owned by the Jammu & Kashmir tourism department.

“People wanted to see the movie again and again, but we weren't able to set up more screenings,” Sarwar said. Hungry to get the film out to more people, Mr Khan began to meet with film distributors elsewhere in India and finally placed “Kashmir Daily” in the hands of the multiplex chain PVR.

For a Kashmiri film to even be on release in theatres is encouraging, Sarwar said. “Back home, people don’t really think of acting as a career. When I first moved to Delhi to begin modelling and acting in theatre, people in Srinagar would say: ‘What is this boy doing? Why doesn’t he get a real job?’”

Mr Khan hopes “Kashmir Daily” would convince film crews to resume shooting movies in the region again. The last two years in the Kashmir valley have been tense, he admitted. Clashes involving civilians, militants and security forces claimed 358 lives in 2017, more than any other year this decade.

“But things have started to quieten down,” Mr Khan said. “It’s important for people to come here to learn our stories. And equally, it’s important for us to tell the world our story. That’s what we want to do with this film.”

Results

United States beat UAE by three wickets

United States beat Scotland by 35 runs

UAE v Scotland – no result

United States beat UAE by 98 runs

Scotland beat United States by four wickets

Fixtures

Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland

Admission is free

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush

Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”

A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.

“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”

Results

5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m; Winner: Faiza, Sandro Paiva (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer).

5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,400m; Winner: Greeley, Connor Beasley, Helal Al Alawi.

6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 1,600m; Winner: Marzaga, Jim Crowley, Ana Mendez.

6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 1,600m; Winner: Jawaal, Jim Crowley, Majed Al Jahouri.

7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m; Winner: AF Ashras, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.

7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Ahmed Al Mehairbi.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Election pledges on migration

CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"

SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"

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The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar

F1 drivers' standings

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281

2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247

3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222

4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177

5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138

6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93

7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86

8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 56

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills