and emotional trauma of half widows in Kashmir, Danish Renzu’s directorial debut is storytelling at its best and not to be missed. Danish Renzu’s Half Widow differs. In fact, not just from these two films, but also from every other film that’s either been made, based, set or shot in Kashmir!" Keyur Seta of Cinestaan gave it 3 stars out of 4 and write: "It is a more intimate portrayal and captures the lives of ordinary Kashmiris. The simple and realistic dialogues are an example. The use of the local language in a number of places adds to the realism." Nandini Ramnath of Scroll in praised the lead actors performance and wrote: "Neelofar Hamid’s sensitive and affecting portrayal accommodates the spectrum of Neela’s emotional experiences, from loneliness to comfort in family and community, and from despair to hope. Neela’s dilemma, articulated through a voiceover by dialogue writer Sunayna Kachroo, moves away from politics towards the direction of poetics. There is immense poignancy and wistfulness in Neela’s ruminations. The seasons change, but no season brought you back, Neela says to herself as she remembers Khalid." Sanjana Bhagwat of Shorted wrote: "This is just what the film is – grounded, honest and real, without any glossiness of romanticism or manipulation. Familiar songs like ‘Dilbaro’ and ‘Ae Watan’ sound starkly different without the sheen of being in a Bollywood film; they can be heard in Half Widow through the static of radios or the off-key, asynchronous hum of a children's choir." Awards and festivals Festivals CAAMFest , San Francisco Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Asian Film Festival of Dallas, Dallas Indie Meme International Film Festival, Texas Vancouver South Asian Film Festival, Canada South Asian International Film Festival, New York Innovative International Film Festival, Bangalore 2nd New Delhi Film Festival, Delhi Le Festival des Films Indiens de Toulouse, France Jaipur International Film Festival, Jaipur Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, Seattle Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Chicago Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival (HAAPIFest), Houston UN Women, Los Angeles chapter (SPECIAL SCREENING) Boston Indian and International Film Festival, Boston Mustard Seed Film Festival of Philadelphia, Philadelphia San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, San Luis Obispo DC South Asian Film Festival, Washington DC New Jersey Indian & International Film Festival, New Jersey Caelesdoscope International Film Festival, Rhode Island Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival, Hyderabad Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati, Ohio National Film Festival of Kerala, Kochi