Debutant director Sathish Chandrasekaran says upcoming Tamil horror-comedy "Jinn" is based on some of the experiences from his own life.

"'Jinn' is a usual travel story with an unusual episode featuring five friends on a trip to a hill station. Working on the script and screenplay was not as challenging as recalling some of my old memories on which this story is based," Sathish said in a statement.

The movie features Kalaiarasan, Hari, Kali Venkat, Arjunan and Munish Kanth in important roles.

"To make the movie more realistic, we shot in a two centuries old bungalow spread across fifteen acres where M.G Ramachandran's 'Anbe Vaa' and Rajinikanth's 'Thambikku Yendha Ooru' were earlier filmed," he said.

Sathish has produced the film in association with Rite Media Works.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher has shared a photograph of himself cuddling a cute furry friend.

The 60-year-old took to photo-sharing website Instagram to share the photograph in which he was holding the puppy. Anupam was seen sporting an orange T-shirt while the Shih Tzu rested on his arm.

The “Shaukeens” actor captioned the image: “He is the cutest.:).”

Bollywood actor Ali Fazal will be seen in a short movie called “Cheers”, which will releasing on Sunday on the occasion of Mother's Day. He says he went through an emotional ride while filming it.

“There is good and there is bad and then there are mothers...I had a very emotional ride while filming this movie and it was a touching experience,” Ali said in a statement.

“Cheers” is a story of a grown up boy who meets his mother, who previously was alcoholic after 20 years of separation due to an estranged childhood. It dwells on a sweet conversation that happens between these two characters.

The movie is directed by Piyush Raghani and will be releasing on Youtube and other digital platforms.

Actress Priyal Gor, who will be seen with Ronit Roy in the forthcoming episode of courtroom drama series “Adaalat”, says she had a “comfortable” experience while working with the actor for the first time in the show.

“Ronit is a thorough professional and a friendly co-star. He made sure that I felt comfortable and it didn’t seem that I was working with him for the first time. Seeing him in action is a learning experience as he is dedicated actor who is in love with his work,” Priyal said in a statement.

Priyal, 20, will be seen playing the role of a pregnant woman named Uttara, who is forced by her husband Vivek and his family to leave their family after they find that she is a 'manglik'.

“The character of Uttara is very determined and emotional. From a simple girl, who is in love and who can bend backwards for her husband and family to someone who is determined to prove her innocence.

“You can see her endurance and strength of character when she takes all the hardships in her stride. I just hope that all the girls take inspiration from her,” Priyal added.

Priyal, who admits that she is a 'manglik', says she has gone through similar circumstances in her family.

“It's strange how people have misconstrued the whole concept of 'manglik' and treat us differently. It's high time that people break away from this orthodox thinking and accept reality,” she said.

Priyal has previously appeared in shows like “Ram Milaayi Jodi”, “Ammaji Ki Galli”, “Yeh Hai Aashiqui” and “Ek Boond Ishq”.

Luggage giant VIP Industries Ltd. has associated with “Queen” fame director Vikas Bahl and writer-lyricist and ad guru Prasoon Joshi for a new campaign "Where do you want to go?".

“'Where do you want to go?' is an attempt to portray the change in the new confident India through the differently abled whilst subtly displaying the new collection of VIP," Joshi, chairman, McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific and CEO McCann India, said in a statement.

“This creative thought is built around celebrating the new emotions around the journeys that Indians are undertaking, and the story of the blind girl as a protagonist is a creative metaphor which represents the emotions of a new and bolder India that is forging ahead,” he added.

Bahl, a National Award winner who has directed the campaign, says helming a movie is “far easier than making an ad commercial”.

“You barely have a few seconds to convey a message as compared to the hours one has for a movie. ‘Where do you want to go?’ is based on a concept that will make you think of those who can’t normally travel but how it’s possible if you put your mind to it. I hope justice has been done to the concept through my direction,” he added.

The TVC, currently on air, showcases ‘Verve Nxt’, a lightweight, stylish collection available in golden yellow.

Reading Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's works was a "turning point" in his writings, acclaimed lyricist Gulzar said on Friday and lamented the absence of the bard's creations in Indian school textbooks.

"I wish Tagore be taught in schools all over India. That is the desire I have. The way I learnt from Tagore in my school time, I wish this to go all over India and Tagore should be taught through school textbooks. There is no presence of his in textbooks... That should be done," he told the media here after being conferred the honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) at its 40th annual convocation.

Noted cartoonist Narayan Debnath also was conferred the honorary degree on the occasion.

Gulzar, an Oscar and Grammy Award winner, expressed his reverence for Tagore's writings and said he learnt Bengali to read him in original.

"Tagore has been a turning point in my writing. It is because of Tagore that I started reading Bangla, to read Tagore in original I learnt Bangla," he said.

Gulzar, 80, said he was working on translating two volumes of Tagore's works, which will be published sometime later this year.

"I will be back here to release them," he said.

Musician Vishal Dadlani has requested people to stop following a fake account of lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya on Twitter.

“Just got a text from Amitabh Bhattacharya, the lyricist. He's being impersonated on twitter by A FAKE called @MainAmitabh. Unfollow/block,” Dadlani, who has worked with the lyricist in movies like “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani” and “Chennai Express”, tweeted on Friday.

“This fake account, @MainAmitabh is writing to ppl in the film business, pretending to be Amitabh Bhattacharya. Block,” he added.

Described as “National Award Winner Lyricist. Singer. Something. Everything. Nothing”, the “fake” Bhattacharya has been tweeting about new film releases like “Piku” and “Gabbar is Back”.

With over 300 followers, he is following celebrities like Anurag Kashyap and Amit Trivedi.

“Chaar Cutting”, a compilation of four short stories including "Skin Deep", written by filmmaker Vikramadiya Motwane of "Lootera" fame, is set to release on May 29.

A compilation of four short stories of different genres - thriller, drama, love story and comedy - "Chaar Cutting" is the first feature film of Jamuura, in association with Celebstall.

The four short films, apart from "Skin Deep" (written by Motwane and directed by his assistant Hardik Mehta), are "Blouse" (directed by Vijayeta Kumar), "Manila Running" (directed by Anuj Gulati), and "Bawdi" (directed by Vivek Soni).

Starring Aditi Vasudev and Naveen Kasturia of “Sulemani Keeda” fame, "Skin Deep" is a quirky short film.

“Blouse” revolves around Shyam getting the perfect blouse stitched for his beloved wife Roopa from the famous Babu tailor.

“Manila running” will see the central character Jacques caught in a quagmire of predicaments in Philippines where he has landed to get himself an operation that he is too shy to talk about.

"Bawdi", based on drought-hit village, explores the plight of the water-starved villagers made worse by the arrival of a cola plant.

"Short films are not widely considered as an option for entertainment yet. However, we believe that this is an extremely potent medium to bring out the many brilliant stories, which don't require substantial resources and 150 minutes to be effectively created and consumed," Munish Tewari, founder of Jamuura, said in a statement.

"Our aim is to create a bridge between the new generation of storytellers and audiences, through a collaborative and transparent system, which safeguards the interest of the filmmaker. With 'Chaar Cutting', we have tried to put together four entertaining films we believe the viewers will enjoy," he added.

The film will be releasing in Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahemdabad through PVR Director's Rare.

The Jammu and Kashmir government is going to rope in the Bollywood film industry to revive Kashmir as an "ideal place for film shooting so as to give a fillip to the tourism sector in the state and fight against perception mismanagement".

"We have decided to have single window clearance system wherein filmmakers can provide us details of locations they want to shoot at.

"We will process that within seven days. Our work is to facilitate such things here", Shailendra Kumar, commissioner tourism, said at a press conference on Saturday that was also attended by the crew of forthcoming movie "Welcome 2 Karachi".

The film crew is in Kashmir as part of a three-day promotional tour of the movie, which is a satirical comedy.

The film's producer Vashu Bhagnani said: "We are happy to come to Kashmir for the film promotion. It feels good to start the promotion from such a beautiful place as Kashmir.

"Hopefully next year we will shoot our new movie in Kashmir".

Shot in different parts of the United Kingdom like Wales, Birmingham and Bradford, the movie has actor Arshad Warsi and Jackky Bhagnani in lead roles.

"The film is about two innocent and stupid guys who start their journey from Gujarat coast on a boat and reach Karachi, Pakistan, without any travel documents. This is where humour begins in the movie.

"Hope the story works and the film does good business", Jackky said.

It is the actor's first visit to Kashmir.

"Kashmir is 10 times more beautiful than I had heard. It is just a beginning, more films should be promoted here. Kashmir should not only be the first choice for film shoot only for Bollywood but even for Hollywood, because it is a beautiful place", he said.

Actress Lauren Gottlieb, who plays the role of an intelligence officer in the movie, said: "People here are lovable, warm and affectionate. It is a great feeling to be here".

This is the first film promotional tour in Kashmir after Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed visited Mumbai to woo the film industry back to the state.

"There are so many negative tendencies here and this is important for us to send a positive message outside Jammu and Kashmir," Shailendra Kumar said.

Asked about the government's purpose in inviting Bollywood personalities to promote their movies in Kashmir when there are no cinema theatres open here, he said: "We are looking at these things from a larger perspective.

"The last two decades of turmoil in the state have hit the infrastructure here. Film shoots and events like this help us in fighting a perception management and conveys Kashmir is heading back to its lost glory", he added.

"Nearly 12-13 lakh tourists come here every year, this is besides people coming for Amarnath yatra. Our target for coming years is to have 50 lakh tourists.

"It is wrong that tourism helps only a small percentage of people. A tourist comes here, stays in a hotel, goes around, buys things from the market, hires transport. It propels our economy", Shailendra Kumar said when asked how many Kashmiris are associated with the tourism sector.

Vashu Bhagnani said the film fraternity will work with the Kashmir government to reopen theatres here, so that more films are shot here and the locals work in such films.

"We want to engage with the youth of Kashmir".

The itinerary of the film crew's tour of the valley includes shikara rides on the Dal lake, a dunga dinner and a run and meet with school children in the old city of Srinagar on Sunday morning.

The film is slated for a May 28 release.

Having been close to classical Indian music herself, singer Shilpa Rao says the youth of the country need to value and learn the musical heritage that India instils.

"We often tend to overlook our own Indian music and culture. It's great that we're very hospitable and welcome all forms of western music, but it's also very important for our youth to value our own Indian music and learn Indian music," Rao told IANS.

"If you have to do something big then you have to be truly Indian from inside. Be yourself, that's very important," she added.

The award winning-singer says being from a small town doesn't matter when it comes to being successful as long as one is focused towards their goal.

"There's a myth that 'I'm from a small town, I don't have that much exposure'. It doesn't really matter where you're coming from, be it a metropolitan or a small town, as long as you're working hard and you have the patience to keep trying and chasing your dream," said the singer who hails from Jamshedpur.

Rao is currently working for a film, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Danis Tanovic with music composer Pritam Chakraborty.

Southern actress Trisha Krishnan, who has recently signed a Tamil film each with Kamal Haasan and filmmaker Sundar C, has opted out of filmmaker Selvaraghavan's yet-untitled Tamil project starring Silambarasan aka Simbu due to date issues.

"Trisha was so excited about Selva's project. But since she had also signed two more Tamil projects, she couldn't allocate dates. The problem was that the dates she had given didn't match with that of Simbu's, who is busy with two projects as well," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

Simbu is currently busy working for Tamil romantic-drama "Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada" and will soon resume work on "Vettai Mannan" as well.

Selva's project, which also features Taapsee Pannu, was slated to go on floors few days back but has been delayed.

"Trisha thought she could juggle between the projects, but since Selva's project didn't start on time, she was left with no other option than walking out of it," the source said.

Trisha will soon start working on yet-untitled Tamil thriller with Kamal Haasan, while "Aranmanai 2" will also start shortly.

This is the second Tamil project Trisha has walked out of in the last few months.

Actor-filmmaker Raghava Lawrencce, who is basking in the success of his latest Tamil directorial "Kanchana 2", is all set to play the lead in yet-untitled Tamil remake of recent Telugu hit "Pataas".

"I'm taking a break from direction. I'll be acting in the remake of 'Pataas'. It was a fun film and I'm going to love working in it. We are on the lookout for a suitable director for this project," Lawrencce told IANS.

Producer R.B. Chaudhary has bagged the film's remake rights.

A sleeper hit, "Pataas" revolved around a corrupt policeman who gets changed for good due to an incident.

Meanwhile, Lawrencce has a few scripts ready for some of the leading heroes of southern cinema.

"I have two scripts ready for superstar Rajinikanth. I'm working on a script for actor Pawan Kalyan. As soon as I complete it, I intend to go and meet him. I'm also getting ready with the next part of 'Kanchana'," he said.

If industry sources are to be believed, filmmaker Puri Jagannadh may most likely direct the much anticipated, yet-untitled Telugu comeback film of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, who is one movie short of a milestone in his career.

Chiranjeevi has so far starred in 149 films in his over two-decade long career.

"Puri is the top contender for this prestigious project. Writer BVS Ravi has already penned the story. Chiranjeevi's son Ram Charan will produce his father's 150th film under his home banner," a source told IANS.

On Saturday, actress Charmme Kaur spilled some beans regarding this project.

"Huge confirmed good news for all Chiru fans coming out soon! I wish I cud leak it (sic)," Charmme posted on her Twitter page.

Charmme and Puri recently teamed up for Telugu film "Jyothi Lakshmi", which the former has co-produced.

"It is quite possible that Charmme may be part of Chiranjeevi's 150th project with Puri Jagannadh. Official announcement regarding this collaboration is expected to happen soon," the source added.

Tamil star Suriya has teamed up with filmmaker Venkat Prabhu for the first time in forthcoming horror-comedy "Masss". He says he likes how Venkat presents his actors in out-of-the-box subjects.

"Venkat's penchant for out-of-the-box stories has always impressed me. I also love the way he presents his actors in his films, as they've always been very realistic. aMasss' has portrayed me in two completely different avatars," Suriya told IANS.

"Venkat and I had initially planned to work in a love story. But as Venkat and co. managed to give this story a twist, I really liked the final output," he said.

The film is about a conman who is taken for a ride by someone who's not a normal human being.

"It has all the commercial elements, yet it's not your regular hero versus villain film. There's something very special about it and that credit goes to Venkat," he said.

The film, which is slated for worldwide release on May 29, also stars Nayanthara and Pranitha Subhash.

It will have a simultaneous release in Telugu in which it's titled "Rakshasudu".

Suriya is currently busy shooting for Tamil action-thriller "24", while he awaits the release of his maiden production "36 Vayadhinile", starring his wife Jyotika.

Suriya is happy for his wife, who is making a comeback after eight years.

"We're all excited about the movie. It's a movie for the society, especially for women who give up on their dreams. Jyotika is glowing on screen," he added.

Meanwhile, his second production venture "Haiku", a Tamil children's film, will also release soon.

Working frame by frame for over a thousand hours in a labour of love spread over seven long years, top notch technicians have restored Indian master filmmaker Satyajit Ray's masterpiece "The Apu Trilogy".

The restored films - "Pather Panchali" (Song of the Little Road), "Aparajito" (The Unvanquished) and "Apur Sansar" (The World of Apu) - opened Friday in New York City and will open in many more American cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington in the weeks ahead.

Restoring Ray's masterpiece that put Indian cinema on the world map "was challenging at every stage", Peter Becker, president of the Criterion Collection and partner in Janus Films, a leading distributor of classic foreign films, told IANS in an interview.

The negatives of all three films about a poor boy growing up in India nearly a century ago burned in a massive nitrate fire in 1993 at Hendersons Film Laboratories in London where they were temporarily stored on way to Los Angeles for preservation at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"Collecting, scanning and comparing alternate film elements from around the world was a huge job by itself, but when the fire-damaged reels turned up at the Academy Film Archive, the restoration stepped up to a whole new level," Becker said.

"Nearly 1,000 hours were spent just repairing the physical film material so that it could be scanned," he said.

"Determining what was fixable using digital tools and when we would need to resort to our alternate elements was another significant load of work."

"Even after all that, marrying and matching the elements and doing the digital restoration work took more than six months; so this one was challenging at every stage," said Becker.

Criterion and Janus Films together restore about 20 or more international classic films every year, but not every film is ripe for a major theatrical release or multi-platform re-launch, Becker said.

"Last year it was the Beatles''A Hard Day's Night'. This year 'The Apu Trilogy'. These films were desperately in need of being seen again in high quality versions," Becker said.

Given "the challenges associated with the restoration meant that if we were going to undertake the effort, we had to take a big bet that critics and audiences would embrace the films," he said.

The key to restoring Ray's work "was digital scanning and digital cinema projection", said Becker, explaining how the old method of making a new print photo-chemically could not have achieved this result.

As the surviving parts of the original negative, even after repair, were unprintable, the film was scanned a frame at a time in super high 4K resolution.

Using precise and targeted digital restoration tools, "we were able to repair only the damaged parts of each frame" and "maximize the amount of original film we could use, matching positive and negative elements in the digital space without generational loss".

Since "the entire process from scanning to final projection stays in the digital realm, we are able to show an image with a clarity and luminous quality that wouldn't even have been possible with new prints in 1956", when the films were made, Becker said.

Restoring the trilogy "was a very expensive project, but it was also a labour of love", he said. "We work to control costs, but we did not tailor the restoration to a particular budget. We chose at the outset to do what needed to be done."

The Academy Film Archive provided invaluable support as did L'Immagine Ritrovata, the laboratory of the Cineteca di Bologna, "who shared our passion and did the necessary film-repair work at a cost that didn't sink the whole project". So did the Criterion's lab.

"Therefore, it is impossible to put an actual price tag on this work. Priceless is probably the best answer," said Becker.

Asked how they planned to draw audiences to theatres, Becker said the trilogy will play all over the country starting with New York's Film Forum and the Landmark Theatres chain with screens in many major cities.

The company's social media presence on Twitter and on Facebook and Instagram will help drive the word-of-mouth for this release, he said.

"I think it will grow organically and that more and more theatres will adopt the films each week," Becker said, noting: "That is also something we could not do in the age before digital cinema projection."

Becker hinted that his company may restore and release other classics from India, but would not reveal the names. He is also dead set against colourising classics.

"We have never done it and won't. We believe films should be shown as their makers intended them to be seen.

Kapil Sibal along with actor Jimmy Sheirgill and music director Lalit Pandit has announced upcoming socio-political romantic drama "Zainab - A Celebration Of Humanity", for which the former union minister has penned five songs.

The event on Saturday, hosted by TV actor Jay Bhanushali, also featured a dance performance on a Qawwali song written by Sibal. The film's poster was also unveiled at the event.

"Cinema is the most effective way of creating awareness and spreading the social message. Through this film, I'd like to convey the principles of happiness, humanity and harmony," Sibal said.

"Until and unless we change our perception and mentality, no law will be able to bring change in the society. If we want to make our society more compassionate, the psyche of every individual needs to change," Sibal said.

Directed and produced by Pranav Singh, the film stars Jimmy, Ashutosh Rana, Sanjay Suri and Hiten Tejwani, Suha Gezento among others.

"The film is inspired by several women harassment incidents that took place in Uttar Pradesh between 2011 and now. It's a movie with a political touch and addresses an issue which needs to be discussed in our society," Singh said.

Jimmy said he was initially apprehensive about the film since he hadn't done a politician's role, but eventually he was very happy with the way the movie turned out.

Pandit, who has given music in the film and will also be singing some of the songs, said: "I am experimenting with my sound and introducing new talent. The music is meant for easy listening and yes, I will be singing too."

The plot of the film traces the romantic journey of a Hindu boy and a Muslim girl, Zainab, set against the backdrop of communal riots and political unrest, seen through the eyes of Zainab.

Originating in the small town of Matiyana Buzurg, the story is based on true events pertaining to the chaos in western Uttar Pradesh which began in 2011. Politics is used as a medium to interpret their romance leading to disastrous riots.

The film will hit theatres by end of 2015.

Chennai-based filmmaker Thamizhz Thiyagarajan, whose short film "Donna" has been selected for screening at the forthcoming Cannes International Film Festival, believes the coveted nomination is a big boost for independent filmmakers.

The festival runs from May 13 to May 24.

"The Cannes tag is a blessing for any filmmaker. Films that are nominated for this prestigious festival will automatically make heads turn and attract lot of attention. I think such a nomination is a big boost for independent filmmakers like me," Thamizhz told IANS.

"Donna" will have its world premiere in the short film catalog section of the gala on May 18.

"The film is six minutes long. It features no dialogues and music, and is about the ego clash between a boy and a girl. Although there are no dialogues, you'd still sense a story running in the background when you watch the film," he said of the silent movie.

The film stars Heethesh Sami in the lead alongside Mallika Choudry.

Thamizhz admits it wasn't easy to make a film without dialogues.

"I've always been inspired by parallel cinema and it's through that, that I decided to make 'Donna' without any dialogues or music. It was extremely challenging. To keep audiences engrossed solely with the help of visuals is what I've achieved through this film," he added.

The idea behind making a film sans dialogues was to differentiate it from his previous short films, he said, and added: "My first film, 'Aariyar', was about a Sri Lankan issue with a lot of dialogues; my second short film, '84 MM PSA', didn't have dialogues either but we used music and sound effects."

Thamizhz is currently busy with his debut Tamil feature film.

"I'm busy meeting heroes with the script. I have a few appointments this week as well and because of which I may not be able to make it to the festival screening. My film's editor Dani Charles is most likely to attend on our behalf," he said.

Actor Deepak Dobriyal, who will be seen in "Tanu Weds Manu Returns", says he tries his best not to get typecast in Bollywood by doing a variety of roles.

Seen in films like "Omkara" and "Dabangg 2", Deepak told IANS: "After 'Tanu Weds Manu' (2011), I knew I will be offered only comedy roles and I was pretty sure I will reject all of them."

"If it's my type of role I will do it but as an actor one should decide what to do and what not to do. That's why I try to do all kinds of films so that I don't get typecast."

Deepak, who is often seen in supporting roles, says he wants to feature in a biopic.

"I want to do full-fledged roles like biopics. We think about these things, but don't get the roles that you (we) dream of all the time. Now lets see what's in my destiny. I am keen on doing a biopic," he added.

Delhi-based Navdeep Chhabra, who idolises the success stories of Bollywood superstars like Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar, says people who hail from a non-film background bring in a "different brand of passion" to the cinema industry as they think from "heart".

"I’m glad to hail from the city great stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar. I've grown up seeing them on screen and it is a dream to work with them," said Navdeep.

“I think what differentiates outsiders from the industry people is that we bring in a different brand of passion, as we have not grown up surrounded by cinema like Mumbai artists. Also, we are guilty of thinking from our heart,” Navdeep, who hails from a business family, told IANS.

“Like Shah Rukh and Akshay, I don’t have a godfather in this (film) town either. When you are in that position you need to have faith in yourself and your talent, and keep going at it. Failure is not a real option for me,” added the 26-year-old, whose debut film “Kuch Kuch Locha Hai” released on Friday.

The film has more emphasis on characters essayed by actors such as Ram Kapoor and Sunny Leone. But Navdeep is not “insecure”.

“I am new and still to make a mark in the industry, and Sunny is a very popular actress. So (I knew) the tilt of attention will be in her direction and I am not an unaware, insecure person to let such things bother me," he said.

So, what all has Navdeep learned from his debut film?

“The learning curve was unbelievable. I used to stay back on set even after my part was over. I'm not here to be just an actor but want to be aware of the whole process of filmmaking. One can learn a lot from observing experienced actors working on the set," he said, while also thanking the director for being "like a father".

Navdeep has also already signed two more films -- one with “Jal” fame director Girish Malik and "Kuch Kuch Locha Hai" director Devang Dholakia's "Zoom - Straight to the top".

Asked about his wishlist of directors in B-town, Navdeep said: “I'd love to work for the Bhatt camp and I find Rajkumar Hirani and Zoya Akhtar’s work inspirational."

“I'm a young guy and I am aware of the likes of an urban young population. To sign a script, all I need is to be convinced that I would want to go and watch this film myself as audience.”

Perceptions about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir were fast changing in a positive manner, and the return of Bollywood can make a huge difference to the state, Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed said on Sunday.

"Perceptions about the ground situation are changing in a positive way and the return of Bollywood to their choice outdoor locations can contribute significantly in helping that change," Sayeed told media persons here during a luncheon interaction.

He said superstars like Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan were eager to shoot movies in the Kashmir Valley and their eagerness would be an "ambassadorial effort" for the tourism industry here.

"I met Shahrukh Khan and others who came to see me during my recent visit to Mumbai. They feel positively about Kashmir.

"These superstars can work as brand ambassadors for our tourism industry," he said.

Sayeed, however, lamented that high-end facilities for "lavishly spending tourists" were lacking in Kashmir, where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was running a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"We need to provide them the right facilities if we want them to come here and spend money during holidays. That kind of infrastructure is still lacking and we are working to have that in place soon," he said.

The chief minister said his government has decided that professionals with the right qualifications would be employed in information, agriculture, horticulture and power development departments in the state.

He agreed that roads, educational institutions, hospitals etc. were in bad shape, but asked the people and the media to give him time to put his developmental plans into practice.

The PDP leader said the central government was not delaying allocation of funds to his state.

"No, there is no such delay. Yes, there are procedures which need to be followed and completed.

"I am sure shortage of funds would not be allowed to come in the way of implementing the developmental vision my government has in mind."