By Rohan Rai, Toronto: Footprints, a film by award winning director Javid Banday, is about five college friends who now moved away from each other and settled in their lives. Mohsin, the protagonist, loves to capture the natural beauty of Kashmir through his still camera as he is going to lose his eyesight in the next six months, which his non-Kashmiri friends are not aware of. So, he wishes to spend some time with his friends and invites them to Kashmir. Despite resentment of the families of the non-Kashmiri friends, they make it happen, and the friends start their journey, which somehow, from a charming expedition, turns out to be a mysterious and odious one.
The World premiere of Footprints is being held on June 17 at 7:30 pm at the Central Parkway Cinemas at 377 Burnhamthorpe Rd E in Mississauga.
Bollywood actors Sarfraz Khan, son of the the late legendary actor Kader Khan and Uppekha Jain will join the celebrations. Khan is known for his roles in blockbusters like Wanted, Tere Naam, Milenge Milenge, and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobara, to name a few.
Jain is a former Miss India Worldwide, Miss India-Canada Worldwide, and the first Canadian actor to land a starring role on Star Plus prime-time Indian TV soap opera Saath Nibhana Saathiya.
In conversation with the Javid Banday:
Please tell me what inspired you to make FOOTPRINTS?
My inspiration for making FOOTPRINTS was to tell a well visceral story in the backdrop of Kashmir. My first love is writing. I have written a few award-winning scripts in the past. The writer always keeps victualing his characters and scene while writing them. As a director, we get an opportunity to bring our characters to life; we interact with the characters and have their input about the characters; overall, that’s an inspiring and exciting experience for a writer turned director.
What was the biggest challenge in completing this film?
Location – was the biggest challenge for our film. My base is in Canada, and arranging a film shoot in another part of the world is a big challenge, especially for an Indi filmmaker like me. However, since I was born and brought up there, I was pretty fortunate to have a dedicated local team behind me to make it happen. Fortunately, the challenge “Locations” turned out to be the USP of our film. Kashmir is a character in our movie, and its mesmerizing and breathtaking beauty will always leave its footprints in people’s memories.
