Imtiaz Ali Brings Authentic Kashmir Wedding In Rockstar

(Press Release)

Director Imtiaz Ali has gone to great lengths to make sure everything shown in Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision and Eros International's Rockstar is as authentic as possible..and buzz is that for the first time ever onscreen a Kashmiri Pandit wedding will be shown, with all its rituals and traditions!

During the recce, Imtiaz had asked the line producer to make him meet a Kashmiri Pandit family in order to maintain authenticity. His house was located in a small hindu settlement in Srinagar and the team went all the way to his house, sat for 3 hours with his wife over tea to understand all the nitty gritties of kashmiri weddings.

Great care was taken to make sure everything that would appear on screen was completely accurate and as real as possible!

They then walked to the very popular Kheer Bhawani temple, met the priest and watched his own daughter's wedding video to have a visual understanding of the rituals. The designers Manish Malhotra and Akki Narula roamed around the streets for hours to get the traditional attire perfect to the T.

Right from the way food is served in the tram (copper plates) to the traditional Dejhor which is Kashmiri jewellery worn in the ears (symbol of a married woman) along with the shaneel fyran (velvet dress/outfit), the intricate henna pattern and the tarang (cap) the girl wears during the wedding rituals, etc, were painstakingly researched for the shoot.

In fact, during the shoot, the locals who were part of the scene were given full freedom to inform Imtiaz if something was going wrong and wasn’t part of the tradition!

The Ranbir Kapoor- Nargis Fakhri starrer releases on 11.11.11

Imtiaz Ali's favourite movies

(Seema Sinha, TNN)

Imtiaz Ali lists 17 movies to die for...

Big Fish, 2003
The reconciliation of the father-son relationship was the key theme in this American fantasy adventure film based on the 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace.

Chunking Express, 1994
Directed by Wong Kar-Wai, this Hong Kong film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a love-sick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman.

Underground, 1995
The story follows an underground weapons manufacturer in Belgrade during World War II.

Prisoner of the Mountains, 1996
Based upon a short story by Leo Tolstoy, two Russian soldiers are ambushed by Muslim rebels and taken as prisoners.

Lage Raho Munnabhai, 2006
The film has had a strong cultural impact in India making peace and non-violence hip and cool.

Sholay, 1975
One of the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema.

Shri 420, 1955
The film charts the moral corruption of an innocent soul coming to the big bad city to make his fortune.

Nayakan, 1987
Mani Ratnam recreated the life and times of a local mafioso in the slums of Mumbai flawlessly.

Junoon, 1978
Directed by Shyam Benegal film was a runaway commercial success as well.

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, 1983
Directed by Kundan Shah, the film was a non-stop laugh riot.

Lawrence of Arabia, 1962
David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia is exactly what everyone describes it as - one of the great cinematic achievements of all time.

Before Sunrise; Before Sunset, 1995; 2004
Before Sunrise is a simple story of two strangers bound in Vienna's lonely night splendour. Before Sunset is its sequel.

Godfather, 1972
Known to be an epic crime film, Godfather, reveals something new every time you watch it.

II Postino, 1994
The film is about a simple Italian postman who learns to love poetry while delivering mail to a famous poet.

Cinema Paradise, 1988
A filmmaker recalls his childhood when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theatre and formed a deep friendship with the theatre's projectionist.

Map of the Human Heart, 1992
The love story is about the human adventure and a personal journey of a man who could not have imagined his end is his beginning.

Yojimbo, 1961
Akira Kurusawa's Yojimbo is pretty close to Yojimbo merely depicts varying levels of greed, hatred and cynicism.