A tale as old as time - the Kashmir turmoil. While many have attempted to tell stories around the issue, the simplest of those often get left behind. Hamid, a film by Aijaz Khan, beautifully manages to tell one such story.
It all begins with Rehmat (Sumit Kaul), a boatmaker from Kashmir who goes missing one day. What follows is the story of his wife Ishrat (Rasika Duggal) and son Hamid (Talha Arshad Reshi) and how they try to cope with his loss. Ishrat turns away from Hamid as she desperately tries police stations, checks on dead bodies to find her lost husband. In all of this, Hamid learns about 786 - God’s number. He calls the number only for the phone to be answered by an army man, Abhay (Vikas Kumar), who is dealing with his own skeletons, having mistakenly murdered an innocent child who was used as a human shield by terrorists. What begins is a story of pain and healing, where Hamid thinks he is talking to Allah, and asks him to help him get his father back.
What works best for this poignant film is the balance the director manages to capture.
He smartly chooses to not take sides, and offers explanation for both - the army, and the civilian population going astray. While the army is filled with men who are willing to do whatever it takes to serve their nation, it also has men who are too torn to go on with a rational mind, and a few who just choose to threaten those around them. SImilarly, the Kashmiri population is shown finding it difficult to mind their own business and live a normal life as they are constantly brain-washed and pushed into stone-pelting and terrorism. The fight to stay on the right path is difficult for everyone involved, and not everyone makes the right choice. The film addresses ‘Azaadi’, and how different it is from person to person.
Perhaps the most striking work in the film is the depiction of Kashmir itself. It is as if the beautiful lakes and swollen trees sing out in pain, just like the characters do.
If nothing at all, each frame is a painting in itself. That with a beautiful mix of raw human emotions grips you by the throat, many times you will find yourself holding back tears. Be it Hamid’s resilience in trying to find his father, Abhay trying to break through his own walls to help a Kashmiri boy, or Rasika - who is simply in pain. Her swing between strength and complete and utter dismay is as real as it gets. That and the fact that an old uncle sitting next to me was weeping throughout the movie really got me feeling some feelings; but anyway, I digress.
Another beautiful part of the film is Talha himself. His innocence cuts through your heart like a knife.
Little things, like Hamid putting on a skull-cap every-time he phone-calls “God”, or collecting money to paint his boat red just like his father wanted; the childish innocence leaks through the film, painting over any flaw.
For me, there was only one - the film is slow. Fortunately though the pace of the film is something you get used to right from the first half hour. It isn’t a loud, action thriller. The only thing Director Aijaz aims at is to throw light on the rawness of the human heart. A complete circle of pain, denial, acceptance and healing.
And for this honest film, it was just enough.
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