'Hamid' to be screened in Kashmir before release

The makers of "Hamid", a film which tells a story about a Kashmiri boy in search for his father, are planning to show the movie to the people in the Valley before its theatrical release.

The Yoodlee Films' project is directed by Aijaz Khan.

"We feel this film has the power to touch lives in one way or the other. We thought what better than show it to people in the valley first. The film is about healing and about hope," Siddharth Anand Kumar, Head, Yoodlee Films said in a statement to IANS.

"One of our lead actors is from Kashmir and we felt the journey of the film's release should start from where the story is situated," Anand added.

"Hamid" has been shot entirely in Kashmir.

Aijaz said the "idea for 'Hamid', came from a Kashmir acquaintance of mine who narrated a one liner -- a seven-year-old Kashmiri boy whose father has disappeared calls up 786 and speaks to Allah".

"The idea engaged me so much that I developed it into a screenplay. What I found compelling, as the story developed was Hamid's world, and how it turned upside down after his father's sudden disappearance, and his mother's apathy towards him," he added.

"The story of three fractured souls, against the strife of present day Kashmir, consumed me. It's been a deeply emotional journey for me and everyone involved in the project."

The film, scheduled to release later this year, features Rasika Dugal, Vikas Kumar and child artiste Talha Arshad Reshi.

--IANS

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