Shot on iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The story of Qandeel, a 6 year-old Kashmiri Tribal girl, is set in Kangan, a village on the outskirts of Srinagar Kashmir. Even before Qandeel was born, one day, her 14 year old brother Nadeem went to school and never came back. They looked for him everywhere but could not find him. Some have said that he has crossed the border and gone to Pakistan for arms training. Others thought he was killed while he was crossing the Indo-Pak border. Since that day, Nadeem's family has lived in dark alleys of sadness and uncertainty. His father could not take this blow and eventually died in pain. But his mother lost herself to the hope of finding her son one day. Constant visits to police stations, government offices and NGOs became her life. She did fend for her three daughters after the death of her husband, but she was always preoccupied by the thoughts of her son. Her two older daughters were bearing the brunt of her absence from their lives and resented her for it. But her younger daughter Qandeel could feel her pain. She felt helpless for not being able to help her mother. Till one day she heard that there is a shrine in the village, where if you pray hard and make a cash offering of 1100 Rupees, their wish comes true. She made it her mission to earn this amount and get her missing brother back and put an end to years of pain and suffering for her mother. Embarking on this journey turned into a roller coaster ride of emotional mishaps and helpless surrender.

Director's Statement

Listening to stories of compassion, swimming endlessly in the dew like waters of the lakes, trekking up the hills, growing organic vegetables in the backyard, and naming hens and roosters after popular film stars is what my childhood was made of. I loved sports and this passion for it led me to explore my hometown more than my peers. I formed a very personal and intimate connection with the mountains, valleys and streams of Kashmir. It was somewhat a very peculiar love story between my valley and me. But the advent of the armed conflict in 1989 uprooted the ethos and culture of a place that fed on Rishism and Sufism. In no time, in the very same place, gun became the culture and blood painted us red. With this my stories of peace became irrelevant. I could never come to terms with this change, so I started escaping it. I joined the glitzy world of advertising and every night I went to sleep holding Kashmir in my arms. A few years back, an incident rattled me. I met a woman in my village with a stoned expression on her face, holding her young teenagers picture close to her chest and silently protesting outside the district commissioner’s office. Her little daughter was clinging on to her arm with a sad face. The gate keeper told me that she has been coming here for the last 7 years. The picture of these two stayed with me for days. I could not stop thinking about them. I researched about the missing youth of Kashmir and it spent shivers down my spine. This is how the story of Qandeel came into being. I chose to tell the story from the point of view of a child because I wanted the message to be non-judgemental but intense. I have witnessed how women bear the brunt of all the battles in Kashmir. So I wanted a female perspective and a female protagonist to pull off the narrative. I made a conscious decision to train the locals to perform and use their spaces. and day today rituals to grace the narrative. I went with just a story and a step outline. Discussed and talked to the actors, I chose and crafted the dialogues according to their experiences. I stayed with them for a week, trained them and shot the film after that. Shooting and working on this film has been the most enriching experience of my life. It is a film that is meant to celebrate the dignity of life and protect the sanctity of a normal death.

Director's Bio

Ms. Rabiya Nazki is a versatile and seasoned professional with rich experience in creative producing, script writing, direction, film production, account management and strategic planning. Working with well-known organizations across arts and entertainment, she has produced ad films, corporate AVs, fiction and non-fiction shows. Before joining Whistling Woods International, she launched the HS-18 Channel for Network-18 and headed the programming department. 

Her association with Whistling Woods International began more than a decade ago– She heads the Producing Department, mentoring students’ projects from ideation till the final execution.