Shoot at sight

Even cinema exploring the conflict between the state and the non-state actors finds an echo as the Mani Ratnam-led crew Dil Se captured the desolate wonders of Ladakh. Now directors J P Dutta and Akhtar are keenly watching their actors don the olive green in the frozen deserts of Ladakh for a re-telling of the Kargil war. Earlier, Chetan Anand had captured the 1962 conflict with China in these very hills and introduced Leh to the world.

Across town, sitting in his wood-panelled office behind the now-famous Polo ground Deputy Commissioner Tashi Dorje, a local who joined the civil services, has a lot to thank the renewed interest of modern day filmmakers in Leh. It is doing wonders to the district8217;s efforts to sell Leh to the world as the latest tourist hotspot this side of the Himalayas. Since the mid-1970s when Leh was officially thrown open to the world attracting 400 visitors, tourism has taken huge strides 8212; this year a record 30,000 visitors trooped in bringing in a revenue that is, at conservative estimates upwards of Rs 20 crores.

8216;8216;After we saw Haqeeqat as a child, we kept going back to it to see it again and again,8217;8217; he says. But most of all, he is happy how Ladakh is benefitting from the free publicity that the war films are bringing in. 8216;8216;First there was Haqeeqat, then films like Pale Khan, Joshiley, Dil Se and they have all helped raise awareness of Leh. Now LoC and Lakshya here to capture the Kargil war are also doing their bit,8217; says deputy director of tourism, Urgain Lundup.

As the films raised curiosity, the number of festivals, started with seasonal regularity, is also doing wonders for the hill district which depends on tourists and the Indian army for sustenance. First there was the Sindhudarshan festival started in 1997, which was soon followed by another at the picturesque Nubra Valley.

Now the Ladakh festival is also doing its bit for tourists, banking on the vigorous polo sport for support. Polo, once played in the main bazaar and encouraged by the royal family travelled from Baltistan, along with the traders crossing the Himalayas for business.

Sitting in the Omasilla hotel, a Bollywood favourite these days, the crew of Lakshya has a back-breaking schedule. Producer Ritesh Sidhwani has daily planning sessions, working out the transfer of blank artillery shots and ammunition that will add the realistic touch that friend and director Akhtar is looking for. Consciously maintaining a low-profile, they are dependent on the Parachute battalion stationed here for searching for locales and administrative support. And the land they are scouting, is rugged enough to not only portray the Kargil war, but also attract Israelis, Germans, Britishers and East Europeans to try their hand at adventure tourism.

All STD/ISD booths double up as travel agents doing the hard-sell for package tours. And it has done wonders to the local economy.

Taxi driver Tashi is actually an employee of the state8217;s animal husbandry department but takes his annual leave in the summer months when the tourists arrive. Surfing on the internet comes at Rs 120 an hour, far above the usual rate of an internet cafe anywhere in the country.

Lundup and other officials in tourism department are also lobbying with the Union ministry of tourism for sprucing up the historical monuments. 8216;8216;If we can clean our existing monuments like the Mane Wall in the Nubra Valley, close to the Tiger village, which was once part of the Old Silk route, then that would be a major tourist attraction,8217;8217; says Lundup. The 30,000 tourists who arrived from across the world this year would agree.