In the wake of the Pulwama attack, the makers of Hamid have pushed back the release of the film, which explores the conflict in Kashmir through the perspective of an eight-year-old boy who develops an unlikely friendship with a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper.
Starring Talha Arshad Reshi as the boy and Vikas Kumar as the CRPF trooper, Aijaz Khan’s Hamid was scheduled for release on 1 March.
The makers are still in the process of deciding on a new release date for the film.
“The story of Hamid is of a relationship between a CRPF trooper and an eight-year-old Kashmiri boy named Hamid,” the director said in a statement. “The film was made with the attempt to bridge the gap of alienation because that is the root cause of what is happening in the valley.
“At this time, we feel that the very attempt of peace and the work that our jawans are doing is being undermined,” he added.
Hamid, produced by Yoodlee Films, is a sensitive portrayal of the fragility of the human condition in conflict-ridden Kashmir. The film also stars Rasika Dugal and Sumit Kaul.
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Yoodlee Films was also planning a special screening for CRPF troopers in Srinagar on Monday. The producers feel the film should not be released at this tragic moment.
Siddharth Anand Kumar, vice-president, films and television, Saregama India, and producer at Yoodlee Films, said, “The attack on the CRPF troopers in Pulwama district can only be termed a heinous and dastardly act by those who have negated all sense of humanity within them.
“We at Yoodlee Films stand in solidarity with the families of the soldiers whose lives have been so cruelly erased.”
Siddharth Anand Kumar also said Hamid carries a message of peace and hope in the most unlikely circumstances.
“We are under attack now and this is neither the time nor the right atmosphere for us to release our film or for people to absorb the narrative of the film. Hence we have decided to shift the date of release. We will take a call on the subsequent release date shortly,” he added.
A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed an SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district. The toll in the horrific suicide bombing rose to 49 on Friday.