Film on Pak boy's plight in Bhuj jail

AHMEDABAD: Indians straying into Pakistani territory and vice-versa have led to tragic cases of prisoners held captive in jails on either side of the border over the years.
This trauma has now been captured in reel life in Pakistani film Ramchand Pakistani, which has become quite the rage in that country.
The film, which will be seen on Indian screens too, explores the plight of an eight-year-old Dalit boy who wanders into India via Sui gam border in Banaskantha.In search of him, his worried father too strays onto Indian soil. Father and son are captured and spend five terrible years in Bhuj jail.
The much-acclaimed film is based on the true story of a poor Pakistani Hindu peasant family in Tharparkar. Recalling the incident on which the film is based, a police officer says, "The small boy accidentally crossed the Indo-Pakistan border with some cattle. To find him, his father followed and both were captured by the Border Security Force near Sui gam. Police sent them to Bhuj jail where they spent many years. It was a tragedy for that little child who missed out on education."
The film also shows how the child copes with the double whammy of separation from his mother and being held prisoner. It's directed by young Mehreen Jabbar from Pakistan.
The director visited the main jail in Bhuj, close to where the child and father were held prisoner in reality. "Producer and I were able to guide the production designer in Karachi to recreate the jail on the outskirts of the city with a Gujarati signboard. It took hectic work for over three weeks to put the set up. It was also the only location in Pakistan, other than the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, where the Indian flag flew at full mast for three to four weeks!"
It's ironical that the protagonists in the film are Dalits, part of a small minority of Hindus in Pakistan. And, they are held captive in India - where 80% of the population comprises Hindus.