''Half Widow'' is a 2017 Indian drama film directed by debutant Danish Renzu and written by Renzu and Gaya Bhola. The film tells the story of a woman from

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

in Kashmir, who tries to find her husband who is abducted by the

Indian army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. Jointly produced by Bhola and Renzu, the film stars Neelofar Hamid, Shahnawaz Bhat,

Mir Sarwar Mohammad Sarwar Mir is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Hindi films including '' Kesari'', ''Bajrangi Bhaijaan'', and ''Jolly LLB 2''. Career Mir Sarwar started his career with renowned directors M K Raina and Bapi Bose in Delhi. He was p ...

and Haseena Sofi. Because there are no theaters in Kashmir, the film was screened at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre. The title of the film refers to the namesake term used for Kashmiri women whose husbands have disappeared mostly in custody of security forces in the

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claim ...

. The film's official trailer was released in May 2017. The characters in the film talk in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Cineblitz ''Cine Blitz'' is a Hindi and English film magazine published every month from Mumbai about Bollywood, Hindi cinema. Started in December 1974, as of 2006, it was one of the top three film magazines in India. ''Cine Blitz'' belongs to E.N. Commu ...

. The film was released theatrically on 6 January 2020 in India.

Cast

*Neelofar Hamid as Neela *Shahnawaz Bhat as Zakir *

as Khalid *Haseena Sofi as Khala *Rhonda Leal as Eva *Yasmeena Wani as Zumba *Ayaan Sikander as Faizan

Production

Director Danish Renzu was doing a job at

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

in the United States. He came back to India in 2015 as he wanted to "tell stories from my world and the place I grew up in" that need attention and platform. The film was shot in the valleys of Kashmir with local cast and crew. Sheikh Neelofar handled the casting part and approached some actors including a Bollywood actor

. Due to the local people involved Renzu was able to shoot the film in several unexplored locations. The last schedule of filming was delayed due to the 2016 Kashmir Uprising in the valley. The film's dialogue writer Sunayana Kachroo, who is a poet, said that she felt the need to tell this story as "men in conflict zones are celebrated, decorated, and revered for their heroism", but the women and children are referred to as "the bystanders of the discord". She further said: "The first and the last victims of war are always the women and the children and, due to this, they are also the torchbearers of change and progress."

Reception

Niyati Bhat of

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

wrote: "'Half Widow' does not fall into the Bollywood trap of the formula Kashmir film" Aakansha Naval of

gave it 4 stars out of 5 and wrote "it's a hard look at the harrowing and emotional trauma of half widows in Kashmir, Danish Renzu’s directorial debut is storytelling at its best and not to be missed. Danish Renzu’s Half Widow differs. In fact, not just from these two films, but also from every other film that’s either been made, based, set or shot in Kashmir!" Keyur Seta of Cinestaan gave it 3 stars out of 4 and write: "It is a more intimate portrayal and captures the lives of ordinary Kashmiris. The simple and realistic dialogues are an example. The use of the local language in a number of places adds to the realism." Nandini Ramnath of Scroll in praised the lead actors performance and wrote: "Neelofar Hamid’s sensitive and affecting portrayal accommodates the spectrum of Neela’s emotional experiences, from loneliness to comfort in family and community, and from despair to hope. Neela’s dilemma, articulated through a voiceover by dialogue writer Sunayna Kachroo, moves away from politics towards the direction of poetics. There is immense poignancy and wistfulness in Neela’s ruminations. The seasons change, but no season brought you back, Neela says to herself as she remembers Khalid." Sanjana Bhagwat of Shorted wrote: "This is just what the film is – grounded, honest and real, without any glossiness of romanticism or manipulation. Familiar songs like ‘Dilbaro’ and ‘Ae Watan’ sound starkly different without the sheen of being in a Bollywood film; they can be heard in Half Widow through the static of radios or the off-key, asynchronous hum of a children's choir."

Awards and festivals

Festivals * CAAMFest , San Francisco *

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

, Seattle *

Asian Film Festival of Dallas The Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD) is a film festival held annually in July or August in Dallas, Texas. The festival programming consists of international films from Asia as well as Asian-American features and shorts. The festival is held p ...

, Dallas *Indie Meme International Film Festival, Texas *Vancouver South Asian Film Festival, Canada *South Asian International Film Festival, New York *Innovative International Film Festival, Bangalore *2nd New Delhi Film Festival, Delhi *Le Festival des Films Indiens de Toulouse, France *Jaipur International Film Festival, Jaipur *Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, Seattle *Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Chicago *Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival (HAAPIFest), Houston *

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...

, Los Angeles chapter (SPECIAL SCREENING) *Boston Indian and International Film Festival, Boston *Mustard Seed Film Festival of Philadelphia, Philadelphia *San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, San Luis Obispo *DC South Asian Film Festival, Washington DC *New Jersey Indian & International Film Festival, New Jersey *Caelesdoscope International Film Festival, Rhode Island *

Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival (HBFF) is a Bengali film festival in the city of Hyderabad and is being organized annually since 2014. The venue of the festival is the Prasad Film Preview Labs, Hyderabad (adjacent to L V Prasad Eye Institute). ...

, Hyderabad *Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati, Ohio *National Film Festival of Kerala, Kochi *Third Eye Asian Film Festival, Mumbai *Indian Film Festival Of Prague Nominations *Best Actress (Neelofar Hamid) - Boston Indian and International Film Festival *Best Film - Boston Indian and International Film Festival *Le Festival des Films Indiens de Toulouse -

Film Critics Circle of India Film Critics Circle of India (FCCI) is a society comprising notable film critics from all the major film producing states of India. At the AGM, conducted at the International Film Festival of India—2013, Subhash Ghai said, "You are in a highly ...

Award for the Best Debut Director Danish Renzu *In Competition at

Asia Pacific Screen Awards The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia. In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting and preserving the different cultures th ...

, Australia Awards *Audience Choice, Best Feature Film - 2017 South Asian International Film Festival, New York (world premiere) *Audience Choice, Best Feature Film - 2018 Vancouver South Asian International Film Festival, Canada *Best Film Award - 2018 New Jersey Indian and International Film Festival *Best Director Award Danish Renzu - 2018 New Jersey Indian and International Film Festival *Best Actress (Neelofar Hamid) - 2018 Caelesdoscope International Film Festival *Best Cinematography (Antonio Cisneros) - 2018 Boston Indian and International Film Festival, Boston *Best Film Critics Choice - 2019 Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati, Cincinnati

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt5012370 Films set in Jammu and Kashmir Films shot in Jammu and Kashmir 2010s Urdu-language films Indian independent films Kashmir conflict in films Films scored by Alokananda Dasgupta Films scored by Sonu Nigam Indian Army in films 2017 drama films