I have a special connection with Kashmir: Tom Alter

Alter, 65, had last shot Raj Kapoor's "Ram Teri Ganga Maili" here in 1984 and turned nostalgic when he returned to shoot in the Valley after 32 long years.

"I have been coming to Kashmir for many years now. Though I came here in 2010 as well, I had last shot in Kashmir for 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili' in 1984. I have a special connection with Kashmir. I even learnt swimming in the Dal Lake here," Alter told reporters here.

"I see people here are very supportive and always smiling. I could find deep peace and calm in Gulmarg." 

The actor said the hospitality and warmth of the people of Kashmir has not changed over the years.

"The hospitality of the people of Kashmir, their warmth, the Kashmiriyat (secularism) and Insaniyat (humanity) have not changed even after all these years." 

The actor said he came to Kashmir with a message of love and will return with the same message.

"I came with a message of love and I leave with a message of love," he said.

"Sargoshiyan" produced by Imran Khan is being shot extensively in the Valley and besides Alter, it stars Fareeda Jalal, Alok Nath, Shahbaz Khan, Khalid Siddiqui and Sara Afreen Khan.

"Sargoshiyan" is the first movie crew to have come here after former Chief Minister (late) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed invited several Bollywood bigwigs in Mumbai last year for the promotion of Kashmir tourism.

Alter said the present experience of shooting at Gulmarg had remained "fantastic" and it "felt like heaven".