MUBI

A Pakistani boy crawls inside the Indian border fence to pick a cricket ball but ends up being mistaken for a terrorist and comes under heavy gunfire. The boy escapes the mine field on the alien side of the border and seeks help from a Hindu school master. The old man takes him to his house after initial hesitation. But his niece protests when she discovers the Indian security forces are combing the village for the Muslim kid. As they are likely to be persecuted for helping the boy, they have to think of a way to save their lives.

Although radicals with the power to influence the politics of both countries have tried to wreck havoc in the two countries, the truth is they cannot completely cut off centuries-old ties between the people in the region. The film successfully shows how our compassion can easily melt any religious or ideological differences.

Pakistan and India share a border which didn’t use to exist until the creation of Pakistan as an independent state. This film tells a story of a young Muslim boy who unintentionally enters India by crawling under a fence, trying to retrieve a cricket ball. Frightened by gunshots fired by the border patrol, he manages to cross a field filled with land mines and is taken under the wings of a Hindu school teacher and his niece. The fear of cultural and religious contamination as well as the longing for brotherhood and unity are depicted simply and powerfully in this touching and heartwarming film.