"Hamid" bagged best Urdu film and best child actor award for Talha Arshad Reshi at the 66th National Film Awards but director Aijaz Khan is yet to connect with the young boy from Kashmir. The Valley was in a lockdown after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated the state into two union territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Phone and internet lines, which were suspended in the Valley before the Centre's big move on Article 370, are still inaccessible. "I have no words on the big win. I don't know what to say, I am thrilled. I just didn't expect it at all. I want to thank God for this. I am also trying to get in touch with Talha's family but I can't because all the phone lines are jammed. They still don't know and that's sad. I am trying my best to reach them," Aijaz told PTI.
"Hamid" chronicles the story of an eight-year-old Kashmiri boy who wants to talk to Allah over the phone so that he can convince him to send his missing father back. He dials the 786 number and ends up connecting with a hard-knuckled CRPF Jawaan, who he believes, is the God he is looking for.
Reshi shares the best child actor award with PV Rohith ("Ondalla Eradalla"), Sameep Singh ("Harjeeta") and Shrinivas Pokale ("Naal").