Dehradun, April 7: The much-awaited Dehradun Literature Festival, an annual event is back in Doon valley and the fourth edition had Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami as the chief guest at the concluding session ‘Uttarakhand Growth Decade’.
The CM promised that in the coming years, Uttarakhand would become one of the leading states in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dhami said that, in his opinion, brand ambassadors of the state ought to promote Uttarakhand and he looked towards them to boost it as a film destination as well as an upcoming industrial hub. He was in conversation with senior journalist and Editor Garhwal Post, the premier daily of Uttarakhand Satish Sharma. Besides making a name in journalism, Sharma has acted in scores of movies including Sultan, a movie made under the Yash Raj Films banner and rubbed shoulders with the mega star Salman Khan.
Satish Sharma observed that Dhami, as a young leader to whom the baton of leadership had passed, had managed to create a lot of hopes and aspirations for a great future ahead for Uttarakhand. His humble nature and easy access were able to put even youngsters at ease while communicating with him. He also said that Dhami had the vision, capacity and energy to turn that baton into a magic wand for Uttarakhand and take the state towards rapid progress!
Sharma began by pointing out that there were lots of hopes and aspirations when Uttarakhand was created as a separate state twenty-two years ago, but these years were full of aspirations as well as some element of despair. In response, Dhami highlighted his vision for the state. He cited some incidents to show how Prime Minister Narendra Modi had an emotional bond with Uttarakhand and reminded that Modi had mentioned several times that the present decade would be that of Uttarakhand. He said that tourism, rural tourism including the homestay scheme, hydropower, and several other industries were the sectors in which Uttarakhand had great potential and would be seeing a rapid growth in the present decade.
Sharma also pointed out that Prasoon Joshi, leading lyricist and poet had spent his formative years in Garhwal and Kumaon and his lyrics and poetry reflected the impression he gathered while being here. He also introduced Bollywood director Ali Abbas Zafar, as someone who began as just another Dehradun boy and became an achiever with hugely successful films like Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Sultan, Gundey to his credit. Sharma said that Zafar was a source of inspiration for the people of Uttarakhand. He also stressed on the need to promote the state as a major filming destination and the need for making it a hub for regional films.
Joshi said that it wasn’t enough to merely shoot films in Uttarakhand but also to base their stories in Uttarakhand. Ali too agreed that it would be nice to be able to take up local stories and culture and make films based on them. Joshi recited an inspiring poem at Sharma’s request. Well known singer Sonu Nigam also sang on this occasion on the demand of the gathering.
