Kashmiri musician to compose song for Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Haider'

A Kashmiri musician has been signed by Bollywood director Vishal Bharadwaj to compose a song for "Haider", an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet being filmed in the Kashmir Valley these days.

Raja Bilal, a young local composer, confirmed that Bhardwaj approached him recently to compose a song with the traditional Kashmiri music for his movie."Traditional Kashmiri musical instruments including the 'Tumbaknari', 'Sarangi' 'Rabab' and 'Nout' were used to compose the song by an orchestra of local musicians selected by me," Bilal told reporters here.

"Haider" has been exclusively shot in the Kashmir Valley and the film maker has spent months with his crew shooting the movie at different locations here.

The film has Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead roles while Irfan Khan and Tabu have guest roles in the film.

According to the film maker, "Haider" is completely based on Kashmir's past and present.

The movie is part of Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean trilogy after "Maqbool" which was based on Macbeth and "Omkara" which was based on Othello.

The film shooting had recently had a hiccup when some locals protested its schedule in the old city's Zaina Kadal area, but both the local authorities and the film unit said later the shooting schedule has been going on smoothly in the Valley.