[Reader-list] 5th posting: Kashmir's only poster boy

[MRSG]

Indian film is banned in Kashmir, in Manipur and may be at other places in
India. Have you ever seen any so-called human rights group, the so-called
human rights activists and even the bollywood firebands busy to release the
criminal Sanjay Dutt, raising voices against this? No they will never. This
is the great Indian secular-human rights show.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shahnawaz Khan" <fsrnkashmir at gmail.com>
To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 4:59 PM
Subject: [Reader-list] 5th posting: Kashmir's only poster boy


> *Kashmir's only poster boy*
>
>
> Not only in Srinagar but in whole of Kashmir Valley with a population of
> six
> million, Neelam is the only functional Cinema hall. With people having
> lost
> interest in cinema halls and there has been a considerable fall in the
> number of cine-goers since 1990, the management of Neelam is struggling
> hard
> to make their presence felt within the city limits.
>
>
>
> Putting up posters of the coming film is a small task in other places, but
> it is a daunting job in Srinagar.  The cinema is unable to pay for
> advertisements in the local papers.
>
>
>
> In order to boost their business and to announce about the latest shows or
> new releases of Bollywood films, pasting film posters in the city's space
> is
> really a challenging task. Prior to insurgency each cinema hall used to
> have
> few people on the payrolls for the job of pasting posters in and outside
> the
> city.
>
>
>
> For Neelam Cinema today Ashraf is the only poster boy. A man in late
> twenties, Ashraf was employed as a sweeper in the Cinema hall after it was
> thrown open in 1997.
>
> However, Ashraf is not comfortable with the job of pasting the film
> posters
> on the city's walls and intersections. Since there is a ban on cinema
> halls,
> he fears the backlash from the people who ordered the ban.
>
>
>
> "See ours is the only cinema hall functional in the city. That way  we
> have
> defied the diktat.  It is really a challenging job to paste a poster in
> the
> old town or locality. Anyone can create trouble anytime," said Ashraf.
>
>
>
> Though Ashraf is reluctant to talk about his job of pasting the posters
> and
> feels that it would land him up in trouble.
>
> "See I am a poor man and do this for making two ends of my family meet.
> While pasting posters, my effort remains that no one should see me," he
> said.
>
>
>
> There have been instances when he was rebuked by some youth for pasting
> posters. Even some posters were torn from the walls the moment he pasted
> it.
>
>
>
> "I don't want to indulge in any fight with anyone. One day some guys told
> me
> that I am promoting obscenity and Allah will not spare me," recalls
> Ashraf.
>
>
>
> The management hires an auto rickshaw and always sends another person with
> Ashraf, while he pastes the posters. Most of the posters are being pasted
> in
> high security zones, where there is constant presence of army and
> para-military forces.
>
>
>
> "Mostly I paste the posters in Badmibagh cantonment area and outside our
> own
> Cinema hall, where there is lesser movement of people," Ashraf said.
>
>
>
> After the opening of cinema hall the biggest challenge with the owners was
> how to advertise about the show and timings. Initially they used to buy
> the
> space in the newspapers for advertising new releases and show timings but
> poor response from the people forced them to change their modus operendi.
>
>
>
> "We could not afford to buy the space in newspapers, therefore we were
> forced to sent our guys to paste the posters on the street walls," said
> Mohammed Ayub, the project operator at Neelam cinema hall.
>
>
>
> Pasting of film posters undergo a censorship when it comes to Kashmir and
> the censorship lies with the poster boy. Ashraf in consultation with the
> cinema management often artfully blacken the bold exposures by women
> celebrities on these posters. The glaring example of censorship was
> evident
> in the month of June from a bold exposure of celebrity showcasing the
> film,
> "LOU- Ek Ehsaas".
>
>
>
> "I remember when I was asked to paste the posters of Ahsaas, I thought
> that
> it will not go well with the people over here. I bought a black ink marker
> from the stationary shop and artfully tried to hide the breasts and naked
> legs of the star by drawing lines on her body. After that it looked as if
> she was wearing a net," said Ashraf.
>
> "You have to do it, it you want to continue with it," he adds.
>
>
>
> In the Srinagar city today you won't come across bigger than life size
> images of celebrities on the film posters nor would find any full size
> poster pasted on the wall. What usually is seen the torn away posters on
> the
> walls.
>
>
>
> Noor Mohammed, the ticket seller and the oldest employee of the Neelam
> cinema says that in past tongas (horse driven carts) were hired and then
> decorated with the film posters so as to sent it inside the Srinagar city
> and outskirts for announcing the show and timings.
>
> He misses the fervour and the presences of large film size posters in
> every
> nook and corner of the city.
>
>
>
> Are you a publisher interested in indepth news features from Kashmir?
>
> Visit www.kashmirnewz.com
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