Does Utah look like Kashmir? Mukul Anand thinks so

Mukul Anand, writer-producer of Dus, is shooting near the airport in Utah, apparently because its mountainous backdrop makes it resemble Kashmir, where he and his crew are not allowed to go. He apparently finds some similarity between Utah and Delhi, since he is shooting with a replica of India Gate there.

Anand is the first Indian director to shoot in Utah though another film-maker recently used Scotland's highlands as a substitute for the disputed area straddling India and Pakistan.

"Kashmir is out of bounds, because of the militancy there,'' Anand said, adding that he found the areas around Salt Lake and Utah matched locations in the valley perfectly. He liked it so much that he has 72 locations in mind for three weeks of stunt work now and six weeks of filming in the fall just in the Salt Lake valley.

A 65-member crew -- half from India, the rest hired in Utah and California -- is working on the stunts. The crew has built the 50-foot replica (at one-third scale) of India Gate, as well as full-size models of the monument's base -- into which a flaming limousine is supposed to crash.

It was only recently that regulations in India let producers spend money freely abroad. Immediately thereafter Indian film-makers began rushing abroad with camera and crew at regular intervals.

If you're from Kashmir and if you find something odd about the vegetation in Dus, don't complain. Put it down to cinematic licence and a slow government.