Do you recall the time when Dia Mirza made her OTT debut, long before the medium experienced a significant surge in popularity? Yes, we are referring to Kaafir, a series that premiered in 2019. The web series is making a comeback in the news for a compelling reason. ZEE5 (OTTplay Premium) has created the movie version of Kaafir and released it on their platform, streaming beginning today. Siddharth P. Malhotra created the series, Bhavani Iyer penned it, and Sonam Nair directed all the episodes.

The premise of Kaafir

In Kaafir, when a Pakistani woman named Kainaaz (Dia Mirza) inadvertently crosses the border, people mistake her for a militant. After some time has passed, an Indian journalist named Vedant (Mohit Raina) decides to stand up for her cause. The narrative unfolds around Kainaaz Akhtar, a woman from Pakistan-administered Kashmir who finds herself on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LOC) and faces detention due to her suspected militant status. After Kainaaz gives birth while incarcerated for seven years, an Indian journalist comes to her aid, determined to ensure they both receive justice. Based on the life of Shehnaz Parveen, it is an inspirational tale.

The filming of Kaafir took place primarily in Himachal Pradesh, although the story takes place in Jammu & Kashmir. Reviews for the series ranged from positive to mixed.

Dia Mirza on the story's impact

According to Mirza, there was a profound interest in learning about the conditions under which women lived and how they achieved their independence, as the story takes place in Kashmir and is based on real events.

Her immediate thought upon hearing Malhotra's one-line narration was, "You have to tell the story." The script's incredibly personal elements were a complete surprise to her when she read it, thanks to writer Bhavani Iyer.

Mirza believes that the primary challenge was gaining a comprehensive understanding of the impact of prejudice on humans, given the story's introspective nature and the rich representation of characters and narrative. She continued by stating that the goal was to understand how prejudice essentially robs us of our true essence, which is love. This necessitated familiarising oneself with the poetry of the Progressive Writers' Movement, particularly as it referred to the period of partition and the hardships endured by families both then and now, regardless of the economic climate.

Connecting to Kainaz's humanity

Explaining her immediate connection to Kainaz, Mirza went on to say that deep-rooted prejudices make them forget that they are humans first, and Kaafir continues to remind them of this fact. The actor added that the story's fundamental humanism informs the character. Hate erodes their capacity to empathize with one another, tainting life so that they lose sight of the importance of love, and kindness, and creating a world with more light than evil.

Mirza's goal as an actor was to subtly yet powerfully convey the character's inner agony, and the outpouring of support she received from viewers and reviewers alike following the series deeply moved her.

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