Using children for war is not cricket, says film offering hope to war-torn nations.
Torbaaz (“Black Falcon”), a new Indian Hindi-language action thriller suggesting a unique solution to build the future of the war torn countries like Afghanistan, is available in America on Netflix.
Directed by Girish Malik, the film about Afghanistan’s child suicide bombers trained to believe that killing the enemy is a virtue and glory in afterlife, could not be released in theaters as scheduled earlier due to covid-19 pandemic.
Torbaaz touches upon a crucial subject, how to help build the future of the war torn countries. The film is based in Afghanistan but it is a wider subject. Even as it remains close to reality in portraying the situation, It suggests a unique solution too.
The film’s protagonist Nasser (Sanjay Dutt), is an ex-Indian army doctor who has lost his wife and son in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. He comes back to the place once again many years later to help Ayesha (played by Nargis Fakhri) who was his wife’s friend, with her NGO.
Nasser initially a reluctant visitor, somehow gets drawn to the refugee camp kids and decides that he needs to do something to bring hope in their lives.
He comes up with the idea of starting a cricket training camp for the refugee boys. What happens later forms the rest of the film.
As the film points out in the end there are many NGOs and individuals that are doing this kind of work in Afghanistan by bringing meaning into the life of refugee children through sports or other crafts and skills.
Where the film wins is in holding the attention of the audience. It is a fine example of marrying serious cinema with entertainment thanks to writers Malik and Bharti Jakhar.
After the acclaimed film Jal once again award winning Malik and producer Puneet Singh that helm the production company Clapstem Entertainment have brought out another well researched production.
it was huge challenge to make this vast scale film on such a small budget, they say. “But we really wanted to tell this story” says Singh. ” We really wanted the world to talk about the plight of the children of war” adds Malik.
Torbaaz is a film with its heart in the right place and commendable execution with great production design, costumes and the use of Pashto and Dari words.
It would be worthwhile if it starts a dialog about the plight of the children who are victims of war and terrorism.