Patna: Hyder Kazmi, an actor from Bihar's Jehanabad district, is ready with his new film Jihad, which has as its backdrop militancy and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The first look of the film, directed by Rakesh Parmaar and shot in Kupwara in J&K, was released in Ayodhya on Tuesday. It is set to hit the screens in February next year.

Kazmi, who is also the producer of the film which took three years to be completed, said Jihad was his dream project. "I am really excited and on Tuesday itself I released the first look of the film in Ayodhya. It is my dream project. The best part of the film is that we had to train 80 Kashmiris to act and I had to conduct a week's workshop for this."

The two-hour movie had to face several problems during the shoot as local residents had objected to the filming since it coincided with Ramazan.

Even on Tuesday, he faced problems when he was detained by police in Ayodhya on the eve of the Babri Masjid demolition. He was released after he assured the police that the film was about militancy and had nothing to do with the Babri demolition.

Dubai-born actress Alfeeya plays a Kashmiri Pandit named Bhavna in the film. "It was really exciting for me to play a Kashmiri Pandit. Hyder's character Altaf, a militant, takes shelter in my home so that people will not have any suspicions about him," said Alfeeya.

Kazmi's first Bollywood film was Patth with Sharad Kapoor and Payal Rohatgi in 2003.