In October last year, Hina Khan shared the news that the script of her film ‘Country Of Blind’ had been acquired by the Oscars library. This is no small feat when you realize that the script will be available to filmmakers from across the globe to refer to and read when they are on their filmmaking journey. The film is currently doing rounds at film festivals worldwide. The makers have shared that the film has received great reviews from those who have watched it. ‘Country Of Blind’ is a one-of-a-kind film. It’s unique and has its value. Here’s all that you need to know about the film.
‘Country Of Blind’: Story
Based on H.G Wells’ short story – ‘The Country Of The Blind’, Rahhat Kazmi has moved the action from Ecuador to India. A young mountaineer, Abhimanyu Singh, falls off from a cliff and finds himself in a deserted valley. As he tries to figure out his way, he sees a few villagers. He asks them for help and realizes that they cannot see. The villagers are scared of him, and they present him to the King of their village. The King gives him a chance and he is adopted by a family. As he tries to understand their ways of life, he sees that they have built a peaceful and thriving community for themselves which is unfathomable to him. He wants to escape but he fails every time and he gets frustrated. He falls in love with Gosha, the daughter of the house and he decides to marry her. But the villagers are against their union. They think he is disabled just because he can see. The story follows Abhimanyu’s journey in this strange land.
‘Country Of Blind’: Performance
Shoib Nikash Shah is believable as Abhimanyu Singh. The parts where he expresses his frustration have been brought out well without being reduced to a caricature. With every move that he makes in the village, it feels like even he is taking you through his journey. You feel that even you are trying to understand how things work in this strange land along with Abhimanyu. There are scenes where he is trying to explain all that the world holds to the people and the king. However, they turn him down thinking he is just making castles in the air. Every time he is turned down, you feel for him.
Coming to Hina Khan who played the role of Gosha. Her character does not have a sense of sight. Her acting is commendable when you look at the fact that the role was difficult. You can see other characters sneaking in a look at the ground when they walk. However, Hina Khan stood true to her role, and she got into the skin of it. She feels believable and it does not feel like she is just enacting a role. You can see that she is bringing out her character alive. She has captured the body language perfectly and she gels well with the story.
Imaamulhaq plays the role of the stoic Paras who does not like Abhimanyu. He has had his reservations against him ever since he met him in the forest. He is angry and stern whenever he meets him. You understand that he is playing the role of a protector who only wants the best for his people. You don’t hate him but rather you humanize him. The other characters do a fairly okay-ish job. There is nothing noteworthy about it because it is Abhimanyu and Gosha’s story. Their chemistry will leave you thinking about them.
What’s interesting to note is that the actors do not really have to do much because the voiceover helps in setting the context.
‘Country Of Blind’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects
There is a stark contrast between how Abhimanyu speaks and how the people of the village speak. The villagers speak Hindi which is rooted in Sanskrit, while Abhimanyu speaks in the dialect that the common man speaks. This helps in making the distinction between the villagers and Abhimanyu more distinct.
Shot in Jammu and Kashmir, the cinematography captures the beauty of the place. It helps in establishing how beautiful the landscape is yet the villagers are unable to witness it. The wide shots make you realize how expansive the land is, but also the fact that there is no way to get out of it. It’s beautiful but also deadly.
The background score by Tuhin K Biswas works well with the film. The two songs that are inserted when Abhimanyu and Gosha are romancing and when Abhimanyu is ready to leave serve their purpose well. However, they aren’t impactful enough to stay with you after the movie ends. Apart from this, the ambient sounds and even the celebratory songs that the villagers play aren’t jarring. They do not stick out.
While the story deserves all the appreciation, you cannot help but notice the glaring loopholes. The villagers cook and gather around an open fire with their hair let loose. They work with sharp tools despite being unable to see things. While it’s fascinating to see how these villagers' made paths for different purposes and have a full monarch in place, certain things just do not make sense. Like how do they know the boundaries of their village? So many questions were simply unanswered. The screenplay could have been so much better in many places, but the opportunity was wasted. The actors performed well within their limited space but if the script helped them, their performance would have been elevated.
Talking about the screenplay, the kiss between Abhimanyu and Gosha was not needed. Neither was the scene where Gosha changes in front of Abhimanyu. To bring out the fact that our idea of romance and shame is different from theirs, a better way could have been used. Certain parts could have been edited to make the film crisper but that was also conveniently ignored. Mindless scenes were added which served only one purpose – to lengthen the duration of the film.
‘Country Of Blind’: Cast & Crew
Created By: Rahhat Shah Kazmi
Director: Rahhat Shah Kazmi
Cast: Hina Khan, Shoib Nikash Shah, Anushka Sen, Mir Sarwar, Ahmer Haider, Pradhuman Singh, Inaamulhaq, Namita Lal, Hussein Khan, Jitendra Rai, Yulian Caesar, Rahhat Shah Kazmi
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes
‘Country Of Blind’: Can Kids Watch It?
Yes
Outlook’s Verdict
The only thing that helps ‘Country Of Blind’ is the story. But again, it is an adaptation from a short story and it wasn’t anything that the makers had to think of from scratch. With a fascinating story like this, a lot of avenues could have been explored. But rather than doing those, the makers focused on unimportant things that could have been let go of. The film makes you question a lot of things. One of them might be why isn’t the maker covering up the loopholes. If you can look past the screenplay, the movie is a decent one-time watch. The first part might bore you. But the film picks up pace after the interval. I am going with 2.5 stars.
