Hamid

“Disarmingly simple, fable-like tale depicting the repercussions of protracted, intractable political turmoil both on the combatants and ordinary folk caught in the crossfire. Admittedly, the film only just about dips its feet in the simmering cauldron that is Kashmir, but that is all it needs to do to drive home the poignancy of the story.”

Rating: 4 stars | Full review

“Lobs weighty questions over the tender shoulders of its seven-year-old lead character. Is redemption possible when the seeker represents the enemy? Can there be dialogue between intractable foes? If there indeed such a thing as God, and if the answer is in the affirmative, why do the faithful feel bereft?”

Rating: stars | Full review

““Treat others as you treat yourself”, a moral principle found in different religious texts, is a sound filmmaking dictum, too. Flattening the humanity of ‘others’ – in most cases, our ideological nemeses – often results in substandard films, because that mindset does not empathise but derides, fixated on advancing a worldview that craves nothing but echo chambers. It is also an easier route, heavily relying on the hero-villain trope, reducing characters to mouthpieces. But, as Hamid shows, good art is much more: It is entertaining, artistic, complex – always willing to challenge our beliefs – unfolding as a curious voyage rather than a predetermined destination.”

| Full review

“The eyes of a child have often been used as a cinematic lens to scrutinize – and humanize – history’s darkest pages. In most cases, such as the Holocaust, this is effective, because there is only one way to shed light on the atrocities; the evils were blatant, the failure of civilization was unprecedented, and kids became the colours that were being erased out of a stark black-and-white portrait.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

“Tells us that there is still hope, something we desperately need in our worn, troubled nation.”

Rating: 4 stars | Full review

“This film is amongst the most sensitive, balanced and heart-stopping representations of the conflict that has grown into a cancer that may seem impossible to cure.”

Rating: 4 stars | Full review