After watching Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Shikara, James Cameron was reminded of his favorite film.
Trigger Warning: This article contains references to alcohol.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra is an Indian filmmaker credited for helming several box-office sweeping movies, from Mission Kashmir to 12th Fail. In his extensive career, the director has learned enough lessons that keep him motivated even when things don’t go as planned. Hence, when his 2020 romantic drama received mixed reviews from critics and didn’t do great business, he was motivated by the kind words of Titanic maker James Cameron who stated that VVC’s film reminded him of his favorite movie in the world, Doctor Zhivago.
During an interview, Vidhu Vinod Chopra told PTI that he didn’t see Shikara’s failure because when James Cameron saw the film in New Zealand, he walked up to him and said, ‘This film reminds me of my favorite film in the world, Doctor Zhivago. For the unversed, Doctor Zhivago is the 1965 epic historical romance film set in war-struck Russia, much like his movie, which is set against the backdrop of the Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir.
VVC’ further revealed that even though the ace Hollywood filmmaker Cameron is an occasional drinker, he sat with Chopra in a cinema hall for a drink. He stated that three bottles of wine were arranged for them, and they drank till the early hours of the morning. At that time, Cameron was in the midst of shooting the sequel to Avatar. “That for me is success. Your success or failure comes from you. You need to do your best, if your best is not good enough, don’t worry, do it again,” Chopra told the publication.
While having this interesting conversation, the Parinda director also said that he has plans to re-release Shikara next year with its original title, Love Letter from Kashmir. For those unaware, Shikara is produced and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and is loosely inspired by Rahul Pandita’s novel, Our Moon Has Blood Clots. It stars Aadil Khan and Sadia Khateeb.
Disclaimer: If you know someone who is struggling with alcohol or substance abuse, please reach out to the authorities and report it. There are several helplines available for the same
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