Masand's Verdict: Ramchand Pakistani, a noble effort
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There's much to appreciate in Pakistani filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar's debut feature Ramchand Pakistani, and chief among them is child actor Syed Fazal Hussain's heart-breaking performance as Ramchand, the eight-year-old Hindu Dalit boy who lives with his family in a small border village in Pakistan.
When Ramchand and his father inadvertently cross over into the Indian territory, they're arrested by Indian patrol officers suspicious of their motives, and subsequently locked up in an Indian prison, where despite the lack of any evidence against them, they must languish for some five long years.
Ramchand's helpless mother, meanwhile, played by Nandita Das, is unable to do much more than wait for her husband and child to return.
There's merit in the core idea of the film, which dodges clichés and avoids stereotypical representations, but you can't help wondering aloud if – in an attempt to depict both sides as fairly as possible – the director might have made the story over-simplistic and even a little too unreal.
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