by Babra Wani
SRINAGAR: In 1904, celebrated WG Wells penned a story with Nunez, the main character, who goes on to discover the hidden valley of Andean which is dominantly inhabited by blind people. Nunez however, can see and falls in love with Medina Sarote, a member of the blind community.
Medina’s father rejects Nunez because of his sight, which was considered a kind of disability in the country of the blind. This left him confused between two worlds, whether he should stay for his love or go back to his world.
Now a film based on this story is in the news.
Shot in Kashmir and after being praised for its storyline, characters and performances, the movie Country of Blind, is now in the coveted race for the Oscars.
The movie was previously screened at the Cinelounge in Los Angeles and the screenplay previously found itself a spot in the Permanent Core Collection of the Oscars in October earlier this year.
The film’s storyline and performances has now left different people demanding the movie’s coveted Oscar nomination.
Interestingly, the movie was shot entirely in Kashmir, with limited finances and even most of the characters in the movie have been played by Kashmiri artists like Hina Khan, Shoib Nikash Shah, Ahmer Haider, Mir Sarwar, and Hussain Khan.
This movie has been directed by Rahat Kazmi and co-produced by Tariq Khan.
This one hour and 42 minutes movie was released in the United States of America on the sixth of October and was well received by the audiences.
Hina Khan, who leads the movie took to her social media to show her gratitude. “In a world of awards, to be in the running for the most prestigious of all, The Oscars is special,” she wrote. “We are still far but we are inching closer and fingers crossed that we reach the nominations and slowly inch towards our dreams! Keep the good wishes coming because together all our wishes can make dreams come true!”
The Director of the movie Rahat Kazmi, who also wrote its screenplay, also took to his social media and said, “Gratitude and proud as a writer and director that the script of our film ‘Country of Blind ‘is acquired by Oscars library to keep in the library and to use it for study purpose!”
The story of the movie takes place in the 18th century in the Indian Himalayas, and centres around a mountain climber named Abhimanyu who, while assisting a group of European climbers in ascending an unclimbed peak, tumbles over a cliff and plummets 1,000 feet to the bottom. Although the group believes he is dead, he manages to escape and finds himself in an odd valley where the locals have been blind for generations and have no concept of vision. When a man with exceptional sight fails to demonstrate his abilities in the land of the blind, he is deemed incapacitated. Through Abhimanyu’s trip, the movie subtly addresses several socioeconomic issues.
After watching the screening of the movie, Golden Globe winner and filmmaker Siddiq Barmak praised Country of Blind as an “enchanting” cinematic experience.
“Country of Blind is an enchanting film,” Barmak was quoted as having said. “It emerges as a battleground where love contends with freedom, where the decision to stay or depart teeters on the precipice, and the relentless struggle between blindness and sight reaches its zenith.”
The movie will soon make it to the theatres in India for the audiences to watch. “This is an interesting period adventure film that is also a romance, a fish-out-of-water story and a journey of self-discovery,” film critic Jason Knight wrote. “It centres around a place hidden from the world, where life is happy and simple. The main messages appear to be that it is the simple things in life that matter and that some things should remain unchanged.”
