A message of hope

Gurnaaz Kaur

Terrorism is a global issue and how it affects innocent children forms the theme of Girish Malik-directed Torbaaz, starring Sanjay Dutt and Nargis Fakhri in the lead roles. The film, produced by Puneet Singh and Amardeep S Reen, has been released on Netflix and has received positive reviews from netizens.

Girish, who along with his team was in Chandigarh on Saturday to celebrate its release, says, “People have called me in the middle of the night to appreciate my work; someone cried and said they were moved by the film. Be it Instagram or Twitter, I am flooded with messages. The film’s theme is very serious, yet an inspiring one. There are many layers to it, but it explores the human angle in the larger debate about terrorism.”

Story line

Torbaaz is the story of an Army doctor Nasser Khan (Sanjay Dutt), who has lost his family in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. Some years later, he returns to the country to help his friend Ayesha (Nargis Fakhri), who runs an NGO for children there. It took years, after the National Award-winning film Jal, for Girish to bring out a new film because he was looking for an idea to which he could give his all. “It is natural for people to think why so many years but to make a good film, it is very important to love what you are doing. When you make a film, you don’t want to make it for one week, you want to celebrate it for the rest of your life. It is a legacy that you create, so Torbaaz came across as one of those ideas I knew I had to give it all I had.”

The director knew Sanjay Dutt could take the idea forward because, according to him, he brings a certain gravity to the role. “Sanju is a very sensitive actor; his eyes speak volume, he came to the sets with so much empathy, an understanding of the character. At the same time, he bonded with the children so well; I saw loss in his eyes but when he smiles, the world smiles and children were so comfortable around him.”

Children rock

Apart from the main characters, the child actors are garnering rave reviews. “I chose children from Kashmir —Anantnag, Baramulla — and even Afghanistan. I’ve really worked hard with them, each one of them did a six-month-long workshop even if they were playing small roles.”

In war-torn Afghanistan (shot in Kyrgyzstan), if on one hand innocent children were being brainwashed into becoming suicide bombers, on the other hand they were learning how to play cricket. In this terrorism versus cricket plot, Girish says there is a message of hope. “There are so many films on the subject, but nothing with hope. I believe in one thing that I may not be able to change the present and past as a writer-director, but I can change the future.”