How one filmmaker is gamifying Kashmir to preserve its culture

When GTA came to Kashmir

In Arafat Baktoo’s videos, the Grand Theft Auto gaming universe gets a distinct Kashmiri remix.

Here, the stakes aren’t about million-dollar heists; they’re about reaching the kandur before the last batch of bread is gone. Supercars give way to shikaras, missions range from winning over Sweety to ticking off everyday errands, and everything is fueled by a steady supply of noon chai ( Kashmiri Chai). The weapon of choice is not a gun, but soye, the stingy nettle plant.

It started as a childhood dream. “When I was in the fourth grade, I thought there had to be a GTA Kashmir,” says Baktoo. “I remember seeing GTA Punjab when I was a kid. I kept waiting for Kashmir to show up. Then one day, I just thought maybe I should make it myself.”

Baktoo began this passion project of making short gamified videos just months ago. Today, his videos have garnered over a million views on Instagram and YouTube. The character played by Baktoo, Shuja, Kashmir’s parallel to GTA’s CJ, takes on missions and challenges, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding.

The stakes are bread, not bank heists

This isn’t the usual guns and gangs. Baktoo calls it “Halal Chaos,” running errands, evading nosy aunties, and exploring cultural corners of Kashmir we’ve stopped noticing.

In this world, chaos isn’t about crime; it’s about missions like these, the kind that start with your mother’s instructions and spiral into something else entirely. One of his most popular videos, with over 750,000 views, follows Shuja on a quest to fetch chochwur (bakery) from Nabbe Kandur in downtown Srinagar, a mission he spectacularly fails after zigzagging through the old city. Another sends him to an old-style barber shop where you can walk out with a Tere Naam hairstyle. There’s the search for a black-magic peer called Ramza Bab, and the episode where, after a fight with his mother, Shuja ends up working in an apple orchard. Reconciliation comes not with flowers, but when a delivery company, featured in the video, arrives with a steaming pot of noon chai. It can’t get more Kashmiri-coded than that.

Kashmir is the main character

His compass, his sense of direction and inspiration, comes from the protagonist of his videos: the place itself. Kashmir, he says, is the Resh Waer, the land of saints. His approach includes exploring Kashmir as more than just a backdrop, preserving its identity and cultural elements.

Instagram has seen a surge of Kashmiri creators: travel vloggers, lifestyle influencers, and food bloggers. While the internet creates a singular online culture, where trends spread in seconds and everyone speaks the same digital language, Arafat’s differentiator is his focus on Kashmiri culture.

“Kashmiri culture has become synonymous with extravagance, big weddings, luxury. But there’s another side, without cultural innovations, the things we’re forgetting,” he says. This effort, alongside his journey and learning about Kashmiri culture, encourages his audience to “relook, rethink, and remember the culture that actually matters, in its true essence.”

Language, memory, and connection

The project is currently in the Kashmiri language, a deliberate choice. “It’s our biggest strength, and an obstacle. But if I’m making this for us, it changes the narrative,” he explains. He is mindful of the impact on his audience.

For Arafat, the game is about memory. “Two generations have played GTA. So when you mod it to look like home, it hits differently.”

The community response has been overwhelming. While most of his followers are aged 18–24, he’s surprised by how many older people engage with his content. “People with full-time jobs tell me they check my page every day. They say it makes them feel seen.”

A follower, gamer Mujtaba Shah, 22, shared: “I’ve been playing GTA since 2011. I came across this page, and it perfectly captures all the details, body movements, gameplay style, even the glitches. It brings those old days back. That’s what makes it stand out from the rest.”

Even those who’ve never picked up a controller, unfamiliar with GTA, relate to the videos, enjoying the storytelling, humour, and structure. Each video unfolds like a small episode, taking viewers to corners of the valley rarely shown on screen and showcasing forgotten traditions like making lotus necklaces on the Dal Lake.

Reclaiming the city

His humour touches on taboo or tricky subjects, such as black magic, corruption (escape cheat code: 500 rupees to a cop), and problems in the valley, such as substance abuse. Localised maps of Srinagar are part of the game, with renamed places like “TikTok Kadal” and “Minister Road.” “This, in a way, is us, young Kashmiri people reclaiming our city,” explains Baktoo.

In a region where stories are often told about people rather than by them, Arafat’s gamified storytelling bypasses gatekeepers and extends the project beyond nostalgia and entertainment to preserving identity, showcasing forgotten traditions, and connecting generations through a shared cultural lens. Representation doesn’t mean showing Kashmir in the typical tourist-trap way or how it is in the news. Through a third lens, it shows everyday moments, humour, language, and emotion.

Art vs algorithm

 Despite his background in IT and commerce, Arafat has carved out a place for himself as an artist and filmmaker in the world of art cinema.

This GTA-Kashmir project, he says, is just him dipping his toes into showcasing his work to a wider audience. It’s a pilot of sorts, balancing his art practice with mass appeal, a more socially acceptable project than art cinema, for which the appetite is still limited, though slowly growing. In the age of Instagram, he points out, the creators who thrive are the ones who know which audios are trending, what visuals will grab attention, and how to work the algorithm to their advantage, which is very hard to apply to an art practice.

 Still, he’s candid about the challenges. “There’s no real creative circuit here, no institutional ecosystem for artists,” he says, a gap he hopes projects like this can begin to bridge.

The backbone of the project is Arafat’s family. His father, a writer, helps him with cultural references and script ideation. His brother is now his trusted cameraperson, and his wife has been one of the strongest pillars of support.

Building worlds to change perceptions

So, can game mods reshape how conflict zones are seen?

“Definitely,” Arafat says. “Because when you let us build our worlds, we show you the parts you never thought to ask about.”

In the GTA Kashmir universe, no heists unfold. But there’s a warm stove burning, a neighbour calling your name from the balcony, and a mission waiting that involves a packet of salty biscuits and a mother’s instruction.