By Seema Sangra

Long before cameras rolled, stories were told by firelight, passed from one voice to another. Then cinema was born, and the same old magic moved to a new stage: the screen.

From early black-and-white films to today's virtual experiences, cinema has been harnessed as a tool for storytelling, one that shapes perception, reinforces or challenges prejudices, asserts cultural supremacy, and wages ideological wars.

Ultimately, every story forges its heroes, and in doing so, it must also create its villains.

Before the late 80's disruptions, Kashmir was the beating heart of the Indian film industry, a muse woven into the very fabric of Bollywood's dreams.

For decades, its snow-capped peaks stood as silent custodians to epic romances, its pristine lakes mirrored stolen glances, and its flower-carpeted meadows set the stage for countless promises of love.

This legendary on-screen affair was ignited by classics like Raj Kapoor's Barsaat and Shakti Samanta's Kashmir Ki Kali and Aradhana, but it was Yash Chopra who truly immortalized the valley in the modern Indian cinema.

In films like Kabhi Kabhie and Silsila, he painted with the colours of Pahalgam, Gulmarg, and the Dal Lake, convinced that true romance could only breathe in this“Paradise on earth”.

It was a golden era that lasted until a shifting political landscape gently nudged Bollywood's gaze from the valleys of Kashmir to the Alps of Switzerland.

Meanwhile, along with early films shot in Kashmir, 1964 saw the release of Mainz Raat, a landmark first film in the Kashmiri language.

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