“Allah bohut khoobsurat hain. Allah bohut takatvar hain, aur Allah acchey gaatein bhi hain (Allah is very beautiful. He is strong and sings really well),” says eight-year-old Hamid, a young boy searching for his missing father. Hamid is a character of Aijaz Khan’s film of the same name, which portrays the true story of many lives in strife-ridden Kashmir. The story is inspired by Kashmiri playwright M Amin Bhat’s Number 786.

The film is about the young boy’s quest and his unlikely friendship with a CRPF jawan. Hamid is told 786—the number considered holy in Islam—is the phone line to Allah. He dials the number hoping to speak to God and this is how accidentally he connects to the jawan. And therein begins an unlikely bond between two fractured souls.

Just before its release, we speak to Rasika Dugal, the versatile actor who depicts the role of Ishrat, Hamid’s mother, and the filmmaker Aijaz Khan.

Rasika Dugal: ‘It was a difficult role to play’

How did you prepare for your role in Hamid?

I am playing the role of a Kashmiri woman whose husband has gone missing. It is a very difficult role to play. When filmmaker Aijaz Khan first called me to offer the role, I said “I don’t think I will be able to do it because I don’t have enough time to prepare for the role. And I don’t want to do any kind of disservice to the story of the Kashmiri people, as they have already been through so much.”

But Aijaz was very confident that I could pull it off. And because of his confidence, I ignored my nervousness and went ahead with it. I tried to read and watch as many documentaries as I could on the subject. Also, I went to Kashmir 10 days prior to the shooting because I cannot prepare for a role like this sitting in Mumbai.

In Kashmir, I spent a lot of time with the people of the village we shot in. That is how I picked up their accent. And during my research, there was one documentary—Where have you hidden my Crescent Moon by Iffat Fatima—that really stayed with me and moved me. It became a very essential part of the process of understanding Ishrat (Dugal’s character in the film).

The entire film was shot in various parts of Kashmir. How conducive was the environment?

We found it a friendly place to shoot in. The people of Badarkund village went out of their way to make us feel at home and to give us whatever we needed. They were very hospitable. They fed us a lot (laughs). In between shots, I would go to different houses in the village and eat the delicious meals they cooked. So, it was fun.

The challenging part was being able to do justice to the part I was playing. And I was constantly nervous about that. I never felt I was fully prepared. In one sense, as an actor, you should never feel prepared, as there’s always more to explore in every part you’ve been offered.

Your co-actor Talha Reshi (who plays the protagonist Hamid) is a young Kashmiri boy. Was it tough acting with a newcomer, that too an eight-year-old?

Kids are much better to work with if they are newcomers. They are totally open to receiving whatever you have to offer. So, whatever you give them, they respond instinctively and give you back so much.

Talha is a lovely child. He is naughty but also very respectful. I had a great time with him. Also, he was happy to be in the film and wanted to do his best. That was lovely to watch. He even helped me out with my Kashmiri accent. He would keep watching me repeat the same line again and again to get the accent right. And when the time came for me to deliver that line, I would see Talha would start smiling, wondering whether I am going to get it right.

Your biggest takeaway from the film?

This film gave me an opportunity to be a part of the world and a situation which is beyond my realm of experience. Those are the kinds of experiences, as an actor, one wants to have.

Tell us a little about your upcoming projects.

I have been part of a series Delhi Crime which is coming up on Netflix next week. It is a fictionalised version of the investigation around the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It has been very sensitively written and executed. I am very happy that the world is going to watch it soon.

Besides that, there are couple of other things which will be coming out. I am also part of a comedy film which is more of a commercial than most of the other films I have done. So, it is a new space for me.

Aijaz Khan: ‘I want the audience to see the honesty of the story’

What were the challenges you faced while shooting the film?

We were a little wary initially, as we were shooting in Kashmir. Besides that, there were no other challenges as such.

Since the film deals with an unconventional subject, that too based in Kashmir, was it tough to get a producer?

Initially it was. When the script was ready, and I went looking for producers, the big production houses did not want to take it as the film deals with a different topic altogether. So, I am really happy that Saregama Yodlee films eagerly took it up and liked it very much. Thus, I really appreciate what they did and it was really nice on their part. Not very many producers have the guts to sponsor films like this.

You’ve mentioned somewhere that you have shaped Hamid’s character around Talha, and not the other way around. Could you please explain.

Instead of letting the kid act, I turned that around and thought maybe the character will be what the person is. That’s how we extended it and it worked, as he did not act—he was just being himself. It definitely helped.

How did you strike a balance between the political, personal, social and cinematic aspect of the film?

It was a deliberate attempt not to take sides. I wanted to portray them the way they are. The film will reach an audience in India—and thus it is important to keep a balance. It is not fair to take sides.

What message do you intend to convey through Hamid?

It is an honest attempt. It is a story from a child’s point of view so that is how I want the audience to see the film and connect. It is a film which doesn’t have a big release, but if the audience connects to it—it becomes much better. I would prefer the audience to see the honesty of the story we are trying to portray.

Any plans to screen the film in Kashmir?

Yes, we do. It was initially planned that we’ll screen the film for the Kashmiris and the CRPF—in Kashmir itself. The agenda is still there, I am not sure when but we hope to do that.

This article was first published in Patriot.