Why Songs of Paradise is different from other Kashmir films
inam ul rehman I think the last film I reviewed for any newspaper or portal was Vishal Bhradwaj’s Haider. And it was in 2014. One of my colleagues at that time, and one of the brilliant journalists of Kashmir, Mir Hilal , on reading it said that it is a rant rather than a review. I disagreed and published it. Now I agree with what Mir Hilal said. Eleven years later here I am reviewing “ Songs of Paradise ” of Danish Renzu . A Kashmiri filmmaker’s inspirational take on the melody queen of music, Raja Begum. Remember, it is not a historical take, but an inspirational one. It is historically as correct as Salim-Anarkali stories of Bollywood , or Padmawat , the Kashmir files, Chhaava movies . Getting sponsors for a female protagonist film is tough. In Indian cinema only a few commercial films have succeeded with a female lead. These have mostly been driven by the star power of an actress. And some even needed male star power to get wide release. Alia...