A Chopra cousin discovers Kahwa in Kashmir

Express News Service

When you haven’t travelled in 18 months and suddenly find yourself amidst the snow-capped mountains of Kashmir at a short notice of three hours, you know the universe conspired to make you wear a pullover in summer. “When I was a child, I dreamed of looking like a Yash Chopra heroine, all dressed up in red chiffon and dancing in the snow to a dream sequence number. And it came true,” says actor Mannara Chopra, who debuted in the Telugu film Prema Geema Jantha Nai in 2014, and Bollywood in Anubhav Sinha’s Zid, co-starring Karanvir Sharma in the same year. It was her first outdoor shoot during the pandemic. The Himalayan backdrop made it special, she says.

Flights to Jammu and Srinagar are typically in high demand and expensive now. “My producer Dr Pranjal asked me to pack my bags for Kashmir immediately. I was surprised I even got a ticket at such short notice,” says Mannara. So off she flew to Patnitop to shoot for Na Hona Tumse Door, a Bollywood music album that was released on YouTube on August 6.

While Mannara will be shooting for two web series and two music albums abroad later this year, the cousin of Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra is grateful to be able to work and travel during the pandemic. The team shot at Patnitop, Daksum and Gulmarg for five days from July 15 when the temperature touched minus five degrees. “Every place we shot at was picture perfect. The mountains dressed in every colour of brown with green shadows, kept the soul of the place alive,” she confesses.

A chai buff, Mannara became addicted to Kashmiri kahwa. “This tea with spices and saffron has me hooked. I would down eight cups a day. People often talk only about the sights and sounds of Dal Lake and Gulmarg. But Kashmir’s cuisine is so rich that I think travel companies should arrange for food trails too,” she says. Kashmiri Dum Aloo, and Modur Pulav, a sweet-salty rice delicacy, were her favourites. Ask her about her most memorable Kashmir moment and pat comes the reply, “The sunrise and sunsets here are the most beautiful in the world.”