Hamid is an achingly beautiful film about love, loss, faith, duty, and keeping humanity alive in a
climate of injustice and dangerous politics. Adapted from Mohd. Amin Bhat’s play ‘Play Phone No
789’, the film follows a seven-year-old Hamid (Talha Arshad Reshi) in Kashmir, trying to find his
footing in a world where his father has gone missing. Unable to comprehend the implications of his
father being taken by the police, or his mother’s (Rasika Dugal) isolating grief as a half-widow, Hamid
embarks on a quest to get his father back. When told that his father is with Allah, Hamid puts two
and two together, and calls Allah’s number – 786. His call is answered by a CRPF officer, Abhay (Vikas
Kumar) who decides to play along, and an unlikely connection blossoms between the diametrically
opposite individuals. 

<h2>In recent years, without a doubt, if there ever was a region creatively and emotionally exploited by
filmmakers, “hami asto, hami asto, hamin ast” (it is here, it is here, it is here). Kashmir has become a touchstone for
creating darker, more relevant content for artists, focused on emotionally overwhelming their
audiences rather than actually tapping into and depicting the raw reality of Kashmir. </h2>

Hamid manages to never lose sight of the issues that allow its protagonists’ story to exist, without
continually exploiting them. The film rests on Hamid’s belief that his father is in “jannat” with God,
but everyone other than the young boy is painfully aware that his father is merely a casualty of the
conflicts in “Jannat-e-Kashmir”. Hamid, his parents and their story are casualties of Kashmir’s
trauma; his grief is almost an archetypal one – part of a collective subconscious of the Valley. The use
of a child’s lens to view dark and traumatic events isn’t a new concept, but Hamid never treats its
foundational concept as something unique or ingenious.

 

The cinematography is wonderful, bringing something novel to even the cliché, quintessential
'Kashmir shots'. As engaging as Hamid’s humorous naivety and heart-breaking determination is, the
film dominated by long shots engulfs him in Kashmir’s expansive greenery and tumultuous politics.
Rasika Dugal’s performance is phenomenal; every posture, every expression and every move
exude destitution and resilience, anguish and numbness, heart-break and anger, all at once. Reshi is an impeccable Hamid; he plays the part of an innocent and stubborn child with
surprising maturity and intuitiveness. 

The film truly is heart-breaking; I’ve watched it thrice in the span of a year, and I’ve never managed
to hold back my tears when Hamid reads out a letter he’s written to his father, begging him to
return, when talking to “Allah” on the phone. 

<h2>What is even more heart-breaking, however, is the
fact that when Hamid won a National Film Award for best Urdu film and best child actor in August
2019, the filmmakers were unable to communicate the celebratory news to young Talha Arshad
Reshi – a resident of Kashmir - owing to the state-wide lockdown and internet shutdown in the
region. </h2> 

The helpless anguish depicted in the film extends to reality, especially today, when Kashmir’s
state of affairs has so quickly barrelled out of control.

Like most films based on Kashmir, the conventional happy ending is not possible for a film like
Hamid, as there hasn’t been a happy beginning, middle, or end for Kashmir. Giving in to the grief,
burying the past, and moving on seems to be the only form of closure a film like Hamid can offer to
its characters and viewers. 

 
Written by Sanjana Bhagwat

Hamid | Rasika Dugal | Review

Trigger warning: The purpose of art is to reflect all that is wrong with society, to trigger thoughts that lead to reformative action. Agli Baar succeeds in doing precisely that - holding up the mirror to a very ugly reality of the world we live in. Not for the emotionally fragile, the short film is for an audience which is willing to swallow the bitter truths of a society divided on the lines of religion, class and a mindlessly rigid sense of community. It further invokes the idea that while we may choose to ignore them and be mute spectators to the wrongs being done around us, we are not immune to the agents of evil which may target us next.

Agli Baar | Short Film of the Day

The short film is subtle and calm which is precisely what makes its climax significantly disconcerting for the viewer. The narrative starts off as a regular story of gossip, scandal and infidelity in a small pocket of Delhi. However it progesses unpredictably to catch even the most prepared viewer off guard. Tisca Chopra's performance in the film is a dream, just as strongly supported by Rasika Dugal. The major chunk of Chutney is a conversation between two housewives over a plate of pakodhas. While the audience might be preoccupied with the more obvious narrative of addressing a disloyal husband who has taken fancy to a woman younger than his wife, the dark soul of the film rests peacefully within the recipe the displeased, older, but also the more experienced woman has to share.

Chutney | Short Film of the Day

Some of the most beautiful stories are the saddest and the short film goes ahead to prove that. School Bag, as the name suggests, revolves around one inane object that a seven-year-old child dearly desires as a birthday gift. Of course his loving mother would try to ensure that he is the happiest boy on his birthday. However, at the heart of this unadulterated happiness, lies a deeply moving tragedy. Based on true events, the Peshawar school massacre that took place on 16th December 2014, the short film touches the right chord with the viewer without even remotely falling prey to sentimentalism. One of the major reasons for this is the effortlessly convincing performance by Rasika Dugal as a young mother, busying herself for her son's birthday preparations. The film also portrays that the victims of mindless violence and terrorism are not simply confined to a community, nationality or age group, and that pain cuts the same gash universally.

The School Bag | Short Film of the Day

The very first visual of the ad film sets the premise for what the rest of it is going to be about. Two women sit watching the television, when one of them, played by a chippy Rasika Dugal, spies the entry of a cockroach, timed at the same time as the entry of the hero in the film they are watching. As the two women figure out the solution to their problem of insect control, the film maintains its chirpy, effervescent tone. It does not pretend to be anything more than what it is - a crisp narrative that talks about a product in an impactful manner, and that indeed works for it most successfully.

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