New Delhi: Eight-year-old Talha Arshad Reshi, who played the protagonist in the award-winning film Hamid, is likely still unaware that he has bagged the National Film Award for Best Child Artist.
With Kashmir currently under a communication blockade following the Centre’s move to scrap Article 370 and split the state into two union territories, those associated with the film have not been able to break the news to the boy.
An adaptation of Amin Bhat’s play ‘Phone No. 786’, Hamid centred around a boy from the Valley whose father goes missing and who wants to speak to Allah over the phone, asking him for his father’s return.
As the little boy dials 786, the call gets connected to a CRPF jawan Abhay – played by Vikas Kumar – who the boy assumed to be God. The film explores the bond between the two while delving into the difficulties in the lives of the soldiers deployed in the state and the local residents.
The other two characters in the movie are the boy’s father, Rehmat, played by Sumit Kaul, and his mother, Ishrat, essayed by Rasika Duggal.
The gripping story, its handling and the immersive acting, especially of Duggal, was widely lauded and won the movie two awards. The film was shot entirely in Jammu and Kashmir.
While Reshi has won the best child actor award – along with PV Rohith for Ondalla Eradalla, Sameep Singh for Harjeeta and Shrinivas Pokale for Naal – the film was also adjudged the Best Urdu Film.
Following the announcement of the awards on Friday, director Aijaz Khan tried to reach out to Reshi but was unable to do so due to the ongoing restrictions on phone and internet service in the state.
Speaking about how keen he was to break the news to Reshi, Khan told IANS: “I have been trying to reach Talha, the little boy who played Hamid but I just can’t get through to him or his father’s phone number.”
He agreed that it was indeed ‘heartbreaking’ for him that he could not share the joy of winning the awards with Reshi.
Khan also told PTI that he was “trying to get in touch with Talha’s family but I can’t because all the phone lines are jammed. They still don’t know and that’s sad. I am trying my best to reach them.”
The movie had several haunting moments. One of the most captivating was the last in which Hamid’s red boat is seen sailing away into the waters of a lake. It is a reflection on present-day Kashmir where recent developments have left the population rather numb – not knowing what lies ahead.