Life and death imitate art in Kashmir

CNN's Martin Savidge

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SRINIGAR, India (CNN) -- The next time you stop in your local Indian video shop (there's one down the street from my home in Atlanta), pick up a copy of the movie "Mission Kashmir."

The film is an action-packed thriller that was shot on location here in Srinigar several years ago. It's a romantic tale of Kashmir's ongoing battle against terror, albeit with a heavily pro-Indian skew.

Sure it's all in Hindi, but the plot has enough action and is simple enough that even us non-speakers can get the gist. Like Kashmir – the land at the source of the tensions between nuclear powers India and Pakistan -- the film is marked by beauty and violence: It shows all the magnificent scenery of Kashmir, yet it is violent even by American standards.

The plot is fairly typical. Tough, heroic special-forces commander loses young son in tragic accident, and adopts a local boy after wiping out his family in a raid. Boy grows up happy until he realizes his new father killed his old family. Boy runs away and becomes a terrorist.

Now don't go rolling your eyes mumbling, "Not that old plot again." I left out the ending so not to spoil it for you.

Unlike your typical, gratuitous, explosion-packed, bad-guys-get-it-in-the-end saga, the Indian directors have worked in something that is the staple of all their movies: singing and dancing.

Day 1: On the way to the Kashmir front Day 2: A storm gathers in paradise Day 3: A paradise lost to guns, bullets and bombs

It's not your typical militant musical, so it's worth a peek.

I bring this up because what goes on at times in this lesser- known war on terrorism can seem almost as odd. There's really nothing to smirk about.

India says since cross-border terrorism began here in 1989 more than 30,000 people have been killed. Other unofficial estimates say the figure is closer to 80,000.

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Anyway, I'm wandering. A source who helps keep me in the know calls me up to say seven militants have been killed in a gun battle. I take down the info, including where and when, and then say, "So, they were killed in a shootout with police?" "No" he said.

Now, this is where it gets a bit Keystone Kop-like, minus the cops. There were actually two groups of militant/terrorists in the same town, the bad and the really bad. Turns out they had a few words over turf rights. By way of settling it, the terrorists decided to kill each other.

When the shooting cleared, six of the less bad guys were dead, along with one really bad guy. Three of his co-terrorists were wounded.

What do you think the police were thinking when they rolled up? Of course there's nothing funny about this, but I did laugh when the source told me.

Somehow I thought it would make a great plot for a movie. If only I could find a good score writer and choreographer.