Inshallah Football, a film on how the sport becomes a catalyst for youth in the Valley and suggests a solution to the Kashmir problem, has a limited reach due to its ‘adults only’ tag. Is Indian politics at work here?

Aseem Chhabra (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 17, 2011)

 

Towards the beginning of Ashvin Kumar’s remarkable documentary Inshallah Football, the film’s protagonist Basharat states his case and that becomes the basis of the film.

Basharat is an 18-year-old high school student in Srinagar, a star footballer who has a chance to go to Brazil to play in the minor leagues. But unfortunately, his passport application has been delayed for one obvious reason his father is a former Kashmiri militant, who travelled to Pakistan for training and was later arrested and tortured by the Indian security forces.

Basharat was only two years old when his father joined the militancy and he rightly feels that he is being unfairly punished for something he had no control over.

The passport application of the protagonist, an 18-year-old star footballer, is delayed as his father is a former militant

His father has since renounced the militancy and now runs a legitimate business in Srinagar. The film follows Basharat’s struggle to get a passport. He eventually succeeds with the assistance of the state’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Inshallah Football is a rare film that provides an alternative solution to the crisis in Kashmir, at a time when nobody seems to More >