Srinagar: Hotels are fully booked in Kargil these days where Bollywood star Aamir Khan is shooting his upcoming film ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’.
Post divorce, Aamir Khan is back to shoot in the cold desert after ‘3 idiots’. Tourists too have started to return to Ladakh that became the first union territory to achieve 100 per cent first dose Covid vaccination.
“Kargil is bustling with life these days. All hotels are booked till July 28. While tourists have started arriving after the Covid lockdown, the film stars are lodged at ‘The Kargil’ , which is a luxury hotel. Other crew members are lodged at several other hotels of Kargil. As the crew has been shooting at Wakha that is around 40 kms away from Kargil, the cab drivers have been busy too,” an official of the Tourism Department told The Kashmir Monitor.
He said the shooting of ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ had augured well for the region.
“The shooting and the presence of film stars and crew has given a feel good factor. The people, especially the tourism industry stakeholders, are happy as things are looking to move back to normal after the Covid lockdown,” the official said.
The crew of ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, which is reported to be an adaptation of 1994 Hollywood movie Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks, is expected to shoot in Kargil for around two weeks more.
“Shooting for ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ has been going on for the past seven-eight days and it is expected to continue for 10 to 15 days more,” line producer for ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ Khawar Jamshed told The Kashmir Monitor.
Telugu actor Naga Chaitanya, who is playing the role of an army officer in the film, had recently shared a photograph on social media during the shoot in Kargil. Aamir Khan and his ex-wife Kiran Rao too were seen in the photograph.
Kareena Kapoor too is starring opposite Khan in ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. She had also starred opposite Khan in ‘3 idiots’.
Bollywood stars Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan will reportedly be seen in cameo appearances in the film. Makers of ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ had initially announced that the movie would be released on Christmas in 2020 but the shooting was delayed due to the Covid lockdown.
