Away from B-town rush, Madhur enjoyed a peaceful sojourn in Kashmir : Bollywood News

Goa, as has been the trend during the entire first decade of the current millennium, was the hottest spot for Bollywood folks this New Year eve. Akshay Kumar and Neha Dhupia were just some of the film celebrities who flew down to Goa with their friends and families. Shah Rukh Khan was in Dubai while Karan Johar preferred work over worldly pleasures and stayed back to keep the pace on for My Name Is Khan.

Away from B-town rush, Madhur enjoyed a peaceful sojourn in Kashmir

Others like Vidya Balan chose a quieter Kerala, Katrina Kaif spent her time abroad while Bipasha Basu, Celina Jaitly, Mugdha Godse and Aarti Chhabria saw big bucks coming their way by means of New Year eve performances. Meanwhile for Aamir Khan, Rajkumar Hirani and Co., the party was closer home with their country wide visits continuing way into 2010, what with 3 Idiots all set to be the biggest grosser ever.

With entire Bollywood immersed in some crazy revelries and night long parties, filmmaker Madhur Madhurkar preferred to distance himself from the mad rush and chose a much quieter Kashmir. Though his films are primarily Mumbai centric and have a gritty look and feel to them, personally he preferred the scenic beauty of Kashmir and was happy with his wife and daughter in tow.

"It was a conscious decision to bring on New Year in a place which is far removed from the madness of big cities", said Madhur from Srinagar, "The world could be seen and heard in Goa and I wanted to stay away from anything which is Bollywood for the time being. Break matlab break. Goa mein hota toh I would have invariably bumped into dozens of other people from the film fraternity. Phir wahi filmon ki baatein hoti. With my family I wanted to celebrate some good times and talk about things other than films."

Kashmir is indeed an unconventional choice for film folks because except for shooting a film (and that too mostly carrying terrorism as the theme), not many have stepped into the state for the celebrations purpose. There have been on and off visits by B-town folks but Goa followed by Kerala have been the most popular and the chosen destinations for all looking at taking a break from studios and the sound of lights, camera and action.

"When it comes to work, I would be glad to be back in Mumbai", says Madhur Bhandarkar, "However, as of now it's only Kashmir for me. It is so heavenly out here. It's a much deserving break for me."