Chief Minister Vijay’s ‘Leo’-inspired cafe in Kashmir flooded with Tamil Nadu tourists

If you walk into Sifar Cafe in Anantnag district, 40 kilometres from Pahalgam in South Kashmir, it is guaranteed that you’d run into at least one Tamil person shooting an Instagram reel besides posters of Tamil Nadu’s newly elected Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.

What role does Vijay play in Anantnag, an area that was once known to be among the most militant zones in Kashmir?

Sifar, an unassuming cafe started in 2021, is now a prominent tourist spot for any Tamil cinema enthusiast who visits because it is the exact location where the film Leo (2023) starring Vijay was shot. Here, he dons the role of a secret gangster, leading a double-life as a cafe owner in a serene snow-covered setting. In the film, Vijay pulls shots of espresso, feeds his on-screen wife Trisha cake, fights an evil Sandy master, and meets his delinquent father, Sanjay Dutt there.

During my visit to the establishment called Cafe Wild Beans in the film, I run into a Chennai-based pastor and his friends who danced the hook steps of the song ‘Naa Ready’ from the film as soon as they arrived. They waste no time in pulling their phones out to click pictures of Vijay, and are jubilant to be at the same location where their beloved leader once bashed up the bad guys. Another six-year-old has apparently heard songs from the unreleased film Jana Nayagan on repeat while enroute to the place.

“In the last week since ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay was elected as Chief Minister, 90% of the people who have visited have been from Tamil Nadu. But we get fans from Kerala and North India too. On the day they arrive in Kashmir, most tourists tell their drivers to head to Sifar. They arrive here and want only one thing: Chocolate Coffee,” says Nadeem Bhat, an employee at the cafe.

The drink is exactly what Helson Vishal, a Catholic priest from Tondiarpet, will be ordering too. “This is a true fan moment for all of us who have travelled to Kashmir, especially in the wake of Vijay sir becoming the Chief Minister. The most famous dialogue from the film is ‘Chocolate Coffee’. I want to taste it,” he says.

At the cafe, Shaukat Rahman, a floor manager, says that tourists regularly ask the service staff what he was like when the film was shot. “I tell them about how some scouts came from Tamil Nadu in 2022 and looked at the location. The portion at the cafe was shot for 25 days even though the initial agreement was 22 days. I have been working here since the beginning and have served Vijay sir many helpings of the trout fish, a famous local fish here. He would be quiet and usually be at the caravan,” he says.

Since 2023, the team at the cafe seems to have piggy-backed on the success of the film. They now have pictures of Vijay and Sanjay Dutt spread all over the indoor and outdoor areas that seat 170 people; the famous chocolate coffee (30ml espresso, chocolate syrup, milk and foam) on the menu; and an LED screen that frequently plays scenes from the movie. “It is nice to see them be so fond of a cine star. I am proud to have served a leader like him,” Shaukat says.

Sifar Cafe is on KP Road (Khanabal-Pahalgam Road), Bomzoo, Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, 192125.