Sometimes, a film comes exactly at the right time. Hamid, set in strife-torn Kashmir, tells us that there is still hope, something we desperately need in our worn, troubled nation. Eight-year-old Hamid (Reshi) makes a call to Allah, and lo, Allah answers. Through a set of entirely believable circumstances, Hamid gets connected to a CRPF jawaan's cellphone, on duty in one of the most stressful spots in the world.

Adapted from Mohammed Amin Bhat's play, 'Hamid' is an achingly beautiful portrayal of loss, love and longing in one of the world's most troubled and militarised zones, Kashmir. What's interesting and praiseworthy is that the writers don't pander to jingoism, as is the case in most Hindi films about Kashmir, and stick to the point. Rehmat (Sumit Kaul) is missing, who is father to seven-year-old Hamid (Talha Arshad Reshi) and husband to Ishrat.

At times films gain in heft because of the time and context in which they get seen. I may have otherwise been critical of Aijaz Khan's simplistic and too even-handed and deliberately balanced take on the Kashmir situation in Hamid. But given the recent turn of events it's the very simplicity, humaneness and a sense of poise that resonates, connects and is profoundly moving.