Seven year-old Hamid (Talha Arshad Reshi) wants nothing more in life than to have his father back. His father Rehmat (Sumit Kaul) is a boatmaker who leaves on a simple errand but never returns home. Wife Ishrat (Rasika Dugal) becomes a half-widow and patiently commutes everyday to the police station to find out her husband's whereabouts. She's suffering from depression since his disappearance and sort of neglects her child because of it. Hamid is yet not truly scarred by the incident. It's his innocence which becomes his shield. He comes to know that 786 is God's number and ingeniously converts it into a ten digit mobile number and dials up. The call is picked up by a CRPF jawan Abhay (Vikas Kumar), who starts humouring him. Abhay has inadvertently killed a child in the line of duty and his guilt finds an outlet during his conversations with the child. Hamid is also looking for a father figure and finds solace in these talks. An Islamic radical tries to brainwash him but Hamid wants nothing better in life than to be a good boatbuilder like his father. He takes it upon himself to complete his father's unfinished boat and learns some life truths from his co-workers. Somehow, despite the overwhelming odds, his innocence doesn't get spoiled...The film is based on Phone No 786, a play by Amin Bhat. The poignant story is reminiscent of Iranian cinema. The conflict is seen through the eyes of a child, who finds a way to live without hatred, prompting one character to say, ‘Bachchon ke usoolon pe duniya chalti to jannat ban gayi hoti’ (The world would have turned into heaven if it followed the innocent tenets of children). The director has shot the film on location and cinematography by John Wilmor captures the picture postcard beauty of Kashmir effectively. Composer Andrew T Mackay makes good use of local folk music to come up with a gentle score that compliments the theme of the film.
The makers have made sure of the diction and the milieu and the actors have made sure we're watching actual human beings going through turmoil. Rasika Dugal gets the body language of a half-widow just right. The last scene where she finally gives in to her grief says it all through its silence. Vikas Kumar too gives a nuanced performance as a guilt-ridden soldier who gets a shot at redemption. It's the child actor, Talha Arshad Reshi, who is really the soul of the film. He's as natural as they come and manages to convince you that you're actually watching a young kid coming to terms with life and not just an actor going through his lines.
At a time when intolerance is at an all time high, we need more such efforts to remind us of the common humanity that binds us. Kudos to director Aijaz Khan for his all heart endeavour.
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