10 Years of Haider: How ‘Bismil’ sparked a tourism boom at Martand Sun Temple; haunting song from Shahid Kapoor-starrer also holds a Sanjeev Kumar connection

The acclaimed film Haider (2014) completed 10 years on October 2. Starring Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu and Kay Kay Menon, it is considered one of the finest films by director Vishal Bhardwaj. It is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello and is set in Kashmir where a young student goes on a path of self-destruction after his father is murdered. One of the most memorable parts of the film is when Shahid Kapoor performs the haunting song ‘Bismil’. The song was shot at Martand Sun Temple in Kashmir and thanks to this film, this historical place became widely popular among tourists. It’s a great example of how film tourism can impact tourism positively.

This piece of information was shared by Vishal Bhardwaj when he attended the Tourism Development Enclave in Srinagar earlier this year. Along with Vishal, prominent film personalities like Imtiaz Ali, Kabir Khan and Sanjay Suri also graced this event. Here, Vishal Bhardwaj revealed that ‘Bismil’ led to a spike in the footfalls at Martand Sun Temple. The filmmaker further said that the increase in tourist activity prompted the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) to remove encroachments from the site.

The Martand Sun Temple is located around 10 km away from the town of Anantnag in Kashmir and was constructed in the eighth century BC.

‘Bismil’ was penned hauntingly by Gulzar and interestingly, this is the second song of the acclaimed lyricist to be shot in Martand Sun Temple. His much loved song ‘Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa Toh Nahi’ from his directorial venture Aandhi (1975), featuring Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar, was incidentally also shot in the same place.

Coming back to 'Bismil', the song has also been loved for the thought behind it. Vishal Bhardwaj, in a recent interview with The Times of India, revealed his inspiration behind the visuals of the track, “We created this song like a mousetrap where Shahid performs a play within a play. I wanted to create our own ‘Ek Hasina Thi Ek Deewana Tha’ moment in my way for Hamlet (laughs). Karz (1980) had a similar situation where Rishi Kapoor performed in front of Simi Garewal about the murder.”

‘Bismil’ helped choreographer Sudesh Adhana win the National Award. On this, Vishal said, “I used long, oversized puppets by Dadi Pudumjee, a great puppeteer, and he introduced me to Sudesh. I worked with them for two months in Paris, and right after that, I started shooting Haider. I brought all the sensibilities I learned during the opera, working with Dadi Pudumjee and Sudesh. It was so unconventional, so un-Bollywood-like. I'm saying this and I belong to Bollywood. And Sudesh won a National Award for that choreography.”

The song has been sung by Sukhwinder Singh. In The Times of India interview, Vishal Bhardwaj revealed, “Sukhwinder ko bahut khula gaane ki aadat hai - he's used to improvise a lot - but I told him, 'Is gaane mein track pe gaana padega, this is like an opera. We are telling a story in it'. Itna khoobsurat Gulzar sahab ne likha hai. I had only given him the phrase ‘Bismil Bismil Bulbule Bismil’, and from that, he wrote an entire epic. He’s a master.”

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