Shah Rukh Khan has travelled around the world but stayed away from Kashmir for years because of his father, until Yash Chopra finally convinced him and made him visit the Valley

travelled across the world but deliberately kept off his list for years because of a promise he had made to his father. His father, whose mother was Kashmiri, had once asked him to visit three places in his lifetime, Istanbul, Italy and Kashmir. But while Shah Rukh could visit the first two without him, his father wanted him to see Kashmir with him.

His father died early, and Shah Rukh held on to that wish. Even when friends invited him to Kashmir and his family visited the Valley on holidays, the actor chose not to go. He said he had travelled extensively around the world but could not bring himself to visit Kashmir without his father.

Yash Chopra finally gave Shah Rukh Khan a reason to visit Kashmir

That changed when filmmaker Yash Chopra decided to shoot his next film in Kashmir. Shah Rukh recalled that he had turned down several opportunities to visit the Valley because of the emotional promise attached to it, but Chopra’s film gave him a different way to make the journey.

Chopra planned to shoot in Kashmir, with Shah Rukh in the lead. The actor felt that travelling there with Yash Chopra would allow him to finally see the Valley without feeling that he had broken his father’s wish.

Shah Rukh said he had refused earlier invitations “not for any political, geographical, or any other reason”, but because he had always imagined seeing Kashmir with his father. When that was no longer possible, he felt going there with Yash Chopra was the right thing to do.

‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ became Yash Chopra’s final film

Jab Tak Hai Jaan, which also starred Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, became Yash Chopra’s final directorial film. The romantic drama featured several portions filmed in Kashmir and gave Shah Rukh a deeply personal connection to the Valley.

The film released in 2012, shortly after Chopra’s death in October that year. For Shah Rukh, the Kashmir schedule therefore became more than another film location, as it finally brought him to a place he had avoided for years because of his father’s words.

Two other Khans: Salman Khan and Aamir Khan, in spotlight again

Shah Rukh’s Kashmir story comes as Salman and Aamir Khan have also recently made headlines over their exchanges involving activist Sonam Wangchuk. Wangchuk responded to Salman’s viral “Sonam, it’s done, bro” remark by saying everyone had their own “compulsions”. He also joked about Aamir’s denial that his 3 Idiots character Phunsukh Wangdu was inspired by him, quipping that the actor may have suffered short-term memory loss while wearing his Ghajini outfit.