Author: IANS
Publication: www.siliconindia.com
Date: March 30, 2004
URL: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownewsdata.asp?newsno=23593
Even before its release in India,
the first-ever Hindi commercial movie on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits,
"Sheen", has caught the attention of the United Nations.
Impressed by the much-publicized
subject of "Sheen", the UN has decided to screen the film, which depicts
Kashmir's victims of terrorism, at its Human Rights Conference at Geneva
on April 8.
The UN has invited "Sheen" director
Ashok Pandit to screen its international version with English subtitles
at the meet. Pandit described the offer as the "highest award one could
get for the movie even before its release".
"Sheen", which is Pandit's directorial
debut, is a film that speaks about the advent of pan-Islamic terrorism
in Kashmir and how the minority community became its target.
It also focuses on violation of
human rights of Kashmiri Pandit migrants.
"Around 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits
migrated from the Kashmir valley in 1990 after the minority community was
threatened and several members were killed by the terrorists," Pandit told
IANS.
"The film has been selected by the
United Nations because it talks about the real victims of terrorism and
human rights violation. This is the only movie that does not glorify a
terrorist or violence but shows the real truth," he said.
A Sahara Mass Communications presentation,
"Sheen" means snow in Kashmiri language.
"The title is symbolic of the fire
and heat beneath the snow that engulfs Kashmir and which uprooted the pandits
from their homes," Pandit explained.
Raj Babbar plays the lead role in
the film along with actress Sheen and model-turned- actor Tarun Arora.
Nadeem-Shravan has composed the
music of the film and the lyrics are written by Sameer. The film is slated
for its all India release on April 16.
"Sheen" has not been shot in Kashmir
as the director believed he did not want to show a "blatant lie" that the
situation had changed in valley.
Normalisation of conditions in Kashmir
would mean the pandits were returning to valley, he argued. Several faces
of Kashmir have been exposed in "Sheen", he said.
