"Hamid" Movie Review: Aijaz Khan Brings A Warm Glow To The Strife Of Kashmir

Hamid

Director: Aijaz Khan
Cast: Talha Arshad Reshi, Vikas Kumar, Rasika Dugal, Sumit Kaul
Rating: 4/5

Directed by Aijaz Khan, Hamid has received positive reactions from the critics across several international movie festivals. At Rajasthan International Film Festival, while Aijaz Khan won the best director for Hamid, actress Rasika Dugal also took home the best actress award.

Though its main backdrop is Kashmir, Hamid is unique. It is unlike other Kashmir movies, which tend to focus on the wrong law and how it affect the residents, or how tyrannic the Indian Army could be. Hamid tries to view the matter objectively, showing that both the residents and the army are stuck in a bad situation. It is no one's fault, but they all have to suffer it.

The movie tells the story of an 8-year-old boy whose father went missing one night. He found out that God's number was 786, and he tried to dial this number in the hope of listening to his father's voice. Even though his mother told him his father had gone to Allah, the boy never gave up. One day, the phone call was miraculously answered, giving two lives a glimmer of hope in the strife of Kashmir.

Hamid is indeed poignant, but it is also a common thing in Kashmir. However, the movie is much more special thanks to an emotional and magical plot. Director Aijaz Khan has done such an excellent job with this movie, taking the audiences away from the complicated world of the adult and inviting them to such a light-hearted and innocent world of a child.

Talha Arshad Reshi has such a brilliant performance despite his young age. Hamid proves that Talha will be one of the most promising child actors shortly. Rasika Dugal has done well with Manto, and this time the actress once again shines in her role. She plays as Hamid's mother, and the way she portrays a desperate wife who comes to the police station every day just to find her husband is heart-breaking.

Vikas Kumar also has an outstanding performance. Being the CRPF police, he successfully portrays the loss of the army and their inner emotions that people rarely pay attention to. Hamid is also a beautiful movie thanks to other sincere and hard-working supporting actors and actresses.

Verdict

When it comes to Kashmir and its strife, the filmmakers usually focus only on the tricky and prickly side. Nevertheless, Aijaz Khan has his way to tell the story, and he proves that innocence is still an integral part of this world. Even in the middle of internecine strife, Hamid always makes you feel like you are bathed in a warm glow of love.