Sanjay Dutt Still from Lamhaa

Courting danger       The team of Bunty Walia's Lamhaa just can't stop gushing about the beauty of Kashmir valley. The beautiful landscape, which has not really been explored by Bollywood, has come into the limelight once again in Lamhaa that's been directed by Rahul Dholakia.         The film isabout Vikram (Sanjay Dutt), who is sent to investigate a highly-confidential mission, and assumes the identity of Gul Jehangir, The day he lands in the valley. Haji, a top separatist leader, survives a blast. To slove this conundrum, Vikram teams up with Aziza (Bipasha Basu), Haji's young, aggressive and outspoken protege. The intensity of their beliefs and their will to survive against all odds creates a special bond between them.          The film crew chose to explore the valley and even shoot at places that no other crew has visited before. The Jama Masjid, for example, is one such location. The crew reveals that one isn't supposed to get scared if they hear the sound of an AK-47 firing as it is considered to be a sound of jubilation here. Apart from the Jama Masjid, the crew also shot at places like Lal Chowk and Hazaratbal. Not just that, they even shot during a real curfew, which has been used in the movie.           Speacking about the shoot, Jamie Fowlds, the director of photography for the film, says, "We spent quite a few days shooting in restricted / high - security areas of Kashmir. It was certainly a guerilla style of shoot. On occasions, we had the camera and crew all squeezed into a very small van with blankets covering us, and we would try and take shots as per the director's requirements."          Of course, shooting such scenes meant that the crew had to face many tough situations. Fowlds adds, "One day, when we were driving and shooting scenic spots, through the zoom lens, I noticed an armoured vehicle with a gun pointing directly at us, as our van had the very suspicious-looking missile launcher-sized movie camera. The troops stopped us and surrounded our van. I noticed that they all had one finger on the triggers of their guns. It was very scary for a moment! Luckily, they realised we were only a film crew.          There were many such incidents during our schedule, mostly with positive outcomes. The shooting in Kashmir was challenging, but the locals looked after us very well, they made the overall experience beautiful and memorable." The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu and Kunal Kappor, and will release worldwide on July 16.