Oscar-nominated Indian filmmaker Ashvin Kumar's new film, Inshallah, Football is the story of a young Kashmiri boy whose father's terrorist leanings mar his chances of playing football. With plenty in here to embarrass the Indian government, you'll be lucky if you get to catch a screening
Oscar-nominated Indian filmmaker Ashvin Kumar's new film, Inshallah, Football is the story of a young Kashmiri boy whose father's terrorist leanings mar his chances of playing football. With plenty in here to embarrass the Indian government, you'll be lucky if you get to catch a screening
You are who your father is. Lopsided? To say the least. But this was the verdict handed to Basharat Baba, 20, a talented footballer from the strife-torn state of Kashmir, who was denied a passport by the Indian government. The reason: The son of Bashir Baba, a Pakistan-trained terrorist leader of the armed group Hizbul Mujahideen, Basharat was not to be trusted, even if he had never picked up a gun in his life.
Even though all he ever wanted to do was join a football camp in Brazil, the land of Pele, for which he had been selected. Even though football was his life, his raison d'etre.
Basharat's story was translated into an 80-minute feature documentary film, Inshallah, Football, by independent Indian Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ashvin Kumar in 2010. It premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival and received a Special Mention at the Dubai International Film Festival.
Ironically, Inshallah, Football is yet to get a certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in India, which would enable it to be screened officially in the country whose youth the film is targetted at. The government is obviously doing everything in its power to stop the screening of a film that says little about its attitude of justice and even-handedness.
And so the film that portrays Basharat's fight to acquire a passport, a symbol of an individual's identity and dignity, has now become Kumar's weapon in his war against "nonsensical" censorship laws.
"I don't understand the over-protective approach of the bureaucracy in trying to stifle voices such as mine in an attempt to keep people ignorant of what's going on in the country. What is the use of a fossilised board that has no understanding of Indian youth fed on a regular diet of violence on television channels and computer games anyway? I mean, what about the coverage of 26/11, for instance. Wasn't there enough violence in it and wasn't it aired on every news channel?" 
Kumar's research for Inshallah, Football led him to the state
that offers little infrastructure and few positive choices to its
youth.
Predictably, there is plenty in the film to embarrass the government. Kumar's research for Inshallah, Football led him to the state that offers little infrastructure and few positive choices to its youth. As a representative of a generation of Kashmiris who have grown up in the cusp of political conflict, Basharat found liberation in football.
With a ball between his feet and the wind in his hair, he was free from the shadow that loomed large over his existence since his father left for a training camp in Pakistan when Basharat was a few months old.
The narrative concerns itself with the struggles of Bashir, Basharat, and that of an extraordinary gentleman called Juan Marcos Troia, an Argentinian FIFA-accredited football coach dedicated to producing world class players in Kashmir. He discovers Basharat's talent and takes it on himself to hone it along with that of a clutch of other boys.
Kumar describes the film as "the story of three remarkable men -- one, a father who fought for his beliefs, another is a football coach who's come all the way from Argentina to start a football academy, and a young man who is struggling to play football."
Not a fan of violence and obscenities, Kumar has carefully avoided graphic depictions in his film. "Violence is only spoken of. And how long are we going to allow bodies like the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) control what the country's youth are allowed to see?" asks Kumar.
His film, The Little Terrorist was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Live Action Short Film category at the 77th annual Academy Awards 2005. It's the story of a Pakistani Muslim boy who accidentally crosses the Pakistani-Indian border riddled with landmines, ending up in a strange country that regards him as a terrorist.
Having sought controversial inspirations for his films, freedom is an important issue for Kumar. "Clear thinking individuals have to speak up in public about issues that matter. My resolve has been strengthened, and I'm ready to fight the war till the end."
Kumar has appealed to the CBFC, seeking a U/A certification for Inshallah, Football. Even if it means "endless harassment" for the Delhi-based filmmaker.
"We will have to hire an auditorium in Mumbai when the board is ready for a screening so that we can get its representatives to watch it," he says.
Meanwhile, clandestine screenings of Inshallah, Football all over the country are making sure the film is already a debate-starter.
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