Srinagar: The “Valley of Saints” fame Neelofar Hamid who had begun her career in the field of acting from fifth grade is recognised internationally for her acting skills.
Although, Neelofar had no initial training in acting, the passion in her has lifted to international fame, also making her the first Kashmiri to act in the international feature film, ‘Valley of Saints.’
Speaking about her experiences in the initial stages of acting, she said that it was a hard time for her to convince her mother who was not convinced about this profession. She said that pleading and making her mother understand her dreams for a long time, paid off.
Neelofar said that she had no proper guidance and it was in the year 2000 that she had first met the theatre artist M K Raina. She said that with him she had begun her acting career and also debuted in a television show titled ‘Mapping Kashmiriyat.’
She recalls her days of struggle which according to her almost went on for about a decade, only after which she had bagged an opportunity to act in “Valley of Saints.’
Neelofar said that she could not believe that she was selected for the movie, as she was in a phase where she believed that she would never get a chance to act.
The movie has a romantic backdrop filmed on Dal Lake.
The movie directed by US filmmaker Musa Syeed, who is of Kashmir origin, makes way for a whole lot of unique experiences with a mixture of fiction and documentary, giving a picture of endangered Kashmiri lake communities.
