No Fathers in Kashmir

No Fathers in Kashmir is an Indian drama film directed by Ashvin Kumar.[2] Written by Ashvin Kumar, the film stars Zara Webb, Ashvin Kumar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Anshuman Jha, Natasha Mago. Film released on 5 April 2019.[2][3]

No Fathers in Kashmir
Directed byAshvin Kumar
Produced byAshvin Kumar
Screenplay byAshvin Kumar
StarringZara Webb
Soni Razdan
Shivam Raina
Ashvin Kumar
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Anshuman Jha
Natasha Mago
Music byLoïk Dury
Christophe ‘Disco’ Minck
CinematographyJean-Marc Selva
Edited byThomas Goldser
Ashvin Kumar
Abhro Banerjee
Production
company
Alipur Films
Release date
  • 5 April 2019 (2019-04-05)[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
Urdu
Kashmiri

Synopsis

A tender fondness blossoms between innocent teens Noor (16) and Majid (16) who get lost searching for their fathers who ‘disappeared’ decades ago. They spend the night in the woods and wake to find themselves in a graveyard having unwittingly uncovered the hidden secrets of the lost fathers of Kashmir.

Plot

This is a coming-of-age film about friendship, hope and peace told through the innocent eyes of Noor (16), a smart-talking, selfie-obsessed British-Kashmiri teenager, who finds herself in a small village in Kashmir to meet her grandparents (Kulbhushan Kharbanda & Soni Razdan) who she has never met.

A tender and innocent friendship blossoms between her and a local village boy, Majid (16). She discovers that her dad and Majid’s father were inseparable friends too, as young men. As an opaque story of that friendship unravels, so does Noor’s curiosity about her father, as she stumbles on a series of long-held secrets.

Finally, she finds out that her father passed away under strange circumstances. What follows is a quest for answers in which a reluctant Majid finds himself taking her on a journey. They get lost in a dense jungle as they search for the last traces of their fathers without realising that the day has ended. As night falls, they light a bonfire, safe in the silent company of each other and fall asleep.

When they wake up, the teenagers are found by soldiers on patrol. Majid, initially safe from detection, could easily have escaped but he gives up his own safety to come to Noor’s rescue. In a heartbreaking twist, Noor is soon released because she is a foreigner with a British passport but Majid is not. The question now is what, if anything, will Noor do to secure Majid’s release?

Context

Ashvin Kumar’s third film on Kashmir, after Inshallah, Football & Inshallah, Kashmir is a coming-of-age story about innocence and the exuberance of being young and hopeful. Based on hundreds of true stories, this tender storm of first-love and heart-break tells a deeper story of truth, humanity and compassion; of a tragic land and its much misunderstood, beautiful people.

Cast

Music

The music of the film was composed by Loic Dury and Christophe (disco) Mink, two French composers who heard dozens of versions of the Cholhama Roshay song and decided to make it their inspiration.

The music of the film included instruments rarely heard in a sound track like the crystal bashe – an instrument that takes up an entire room to play. The composers never actually met Ali Safuddin. Nor did they ask him to re perform the title track in a studio. They took the same version as he recorded on YouTube sitting by the Dal Lake and added their own magic underneath. When Ali heard it for the first time at the screening of the film he was floored.[5][5][6]

Struggles

The struggles the film faced were not only with the internal conflicts of an artist and those of film production problems but the external conflicts of censorship made it a 5 year long bruising campaign of sorts. Part funded by a very successful campaign on Kickstarter which also helped gather private sources, producers faced the first in a series of several setbacks when on the 23rd of June Brexit happened and shaved off 10% of the funds raised with so much difficulty.

Just as the crew was gathering to shoot outside Srinagar, in June 2016, Burhan Wani, the militant who had become a social media sensation among the Kashmiri youth, was killed and there was a six month shutdown in the valley.

Two weeks before the shoot, three of the main actors of the film dropped out for various reasons sending the team who were as it is unprepared, scrambling around casting directors to look for replacements. The shoot began on the 07th November, 2016 and on the 08th of November the Indian Rupee was demonetised. When the shoot resumed, the location was changed to Bhaderwah, Kishtwar District, the film was given a different name, the crew had to shoot the film in an impossibly short schedule, in a bitterly cold Himalayan winter in a remote part of the world—no heating, electricity and 14-hour work-days. The budget already diminished by Brexit and Demonitisation was made for the long days of summer. It was simply insufficient for the shorter days of winter. The crew needed more days of shoot but funds were running thin. Posts the shoot while the film was being edited, producers got down to raising money again, and prepared another schedule in July 2017.

Censorship Issues

An eight month battle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) began in July 2018. After the first viewing that took place in October, CBFC passed the film with an 'A' certificate. The makers had then disagreed with the apex body and challenged their decision. They then went to the FCAT in November. Subsequently, two hearings were organised, one in December and another one in January.

All this while, support from the film fraternity did not slow down. Pritish Nandy and actress Swara Bhaskar lent support to the film. Also, expressing her disappointment in the matter, actress Alia Bhatt[7] had written, “Was soo looking forward to mom's @nofathers_movie #nofathersinkashmir!! @Soni_Razdan @ashvinkumar & team worked super hard for this honest teens love story in Kashmir. Really hope the CBFC would #lifttheban. It’s a film about empathy & compassion... let’s give love a chance!” [8][9][10][11][12][13]

Critical response

No Fathers in Kashmir received glowing reviews from critics and audiences alike making it one of the best reviewed films of 2019.

Udita Jhunjhunwala wrote on Scroll.in that Ashvin Kumar offered a "sobering view of a situation that he seasons with hope".[14] A powerful drama that terrifically encapsulates the robbed childhoods and broken dreams of Kashmiri adolescents, Kumar uses a British-Kashmiri teenage girl to propel his narrative that dwells deep into the darkest, most horrific corners of the valley, writes, Ankur Pathak in Huffingtonpost.in[15]

Utkarsh Mishra of Rediff.com gave 4.5 stars out of 5, writing, "can be watched again and again to understand each and every aspect of it".[16] Samrudhi Ghosh of IndiaToday wrote, "No Fathers In Kashmir leaves you thinking of the thousands of disappeared fathers, sons and brothers long after you leave the theatre".[17] Paulomi Das of Arre thinks that film is a tender portrait of first love in the time of the Kashmir crisis.[18]

Saibal Chaterjee of NDTV gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and commented, "the impact of the quality writing, the steady cinematography and the sharp editing is enhanced significantly by a cast of actors who strike the right notes all the way."[19] Chetna Kapoor of Republic World rated the film 4 out of 5, wrote, "Zara Webb And Shivam Raina shine bright in this dark tale of a paradise at war".[20] Sreeparna Sengupta of Times of India rated it 3.5 stars out of 5.[21] Suguna Sundaram of Cineblitz gave it 4 stars out of 5, applauded the performances and direction, and concluded "This simply told tale touches one deep inside, where it matters.[22]

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gollark: That's scheduled for 2024.
gollark: SPUAMAI!
gollark: Just inverse indent.
gollark: Malbolge ASIC when?

References
  1. "Soni Razdan's No Fathers in Kashmir 's' to Release on 5 April". The Quint. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  2. "Censor Woes for No Fathers In Kashmir Are Over, Ashvin Kumar's Film Released on April 5". News18. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  3. IANS (14 March 2019). "'No Fathers in Kashmir' to release on April 5". Business Standard India. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. "No Fathers in Kashmir: After eight-month-long CBFC tussle, Ashvin Kumar's film to release on 5 April- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  5. "No Fathers In Kashmir song Chol Homa Roshay is a soul-warming Kashmiri rendition". 29 March 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  6. "No Fathers In Kashmir | Song - Chol Homa Roshay | English Video Songs - Times of India". Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  7. "Alia urges CBFC to let her mother Soni Razdan's film 'No Fathers In Kashmir' release". Latest Breaking News, Live TV. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  8. Pundir, Pallavi; Solani, Dhvani (24 October 2018). "Ashvin Kumar's Latest Film on Kashmir Hits a Roadblock with the Censor Board". Vice. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  9. "This Film on Kashmir Sought CBFC Clearance 6 Months Ago – and Is Still Waiting". The Wire. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  10. "CBFC Denies Banning 'No Fathers in Kashmir', Says Reports "False"". The Quint. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  11. "'Let's Give Love A Chance:' Alia Bhatt Tweets In Support Of Mother Soni Razdan's No Fathers In Kashmir". NDTV.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  12. ANI (17 January 2019). "CBFC denies banning 'No fathers in Kashmir'". Business Standard India. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  13. "'No Fathers In Kashmir': It's an all-out war between film on Kashmir and the CBFC". National Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  14. "'No Fathers in Kashmir' movie review: Loss, love and hope in the Valley of Tears".
  15. "'No Fathers In Kashmir' Review: Of Robbed Childhoods And Broken Dreams". HuffPost India. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  16. "Review: No Fathers in Kashmir is a must watch". Rediff. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  17. DelhiApril 5, Samrudhi Ghosh New; April 5, 2019UPDATED; Ist, 2019 12:07. "No Fathers In Kashmir Movie Review: Soni Razdan film is poignant tale of love and loss". India Today. Retrieved 10 April 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. "No Fathers in Kashmir Review: A Necessary Film that Poses Questions that Can't Be Ignored". Arré. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  19. "Saibal Chatterjee: Latest News, Photos, Videos on Saibal Chatterjee". NDTV.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  20. "'No Fathers In Kashmir' Review: Zara Webb and Shivam Raina shine bright in this dark tale of a paradise at war". Republic World. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  21. No Fathers In Kashmir Review {3.5/5}: Untold stories from the valley, retrieved 10 April 2019
  22. Sundaram, Suguna (4 April 2019). "No Fathers In Kashmir review: Ashvin Kumar's film dares to seek the truth at any cost". CineBlitz. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
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