I & B Ministry specially chose Nakkash for representing the spirit of communal harmony. The film represents a new and different prospective about India in the backdrop of Holy city Varanasi, which is PM Modi's constituency.

The Cannes festival is about to conclude its journey this year. From the red carpet of Indian Divas to the brilliant Indian films, this year India made a lot of headlines in Cannes Film festival. Among Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Manto and other remarkable films film 'Nakkash' also made a mark in prestigious 'Cannes film festival 2018'.

I & B Ministry specially chose Writer / Director Zaigham Imam's film Nakkash to represent the spirit of communal harmony in and the first look of the film was also unveiled in the India Pavilion, Cannes on 11th of May 2018 with the generosity of I & B Ministry.

Nakkash represents the Secular Indian ideology knitted in story with perfection. Zaigham says 'The positive response from Cannes and thought provoking feedbacks from the audiences is a delightful outcome to the hard work I put in making Nakkash'.

Very talented Inaamulhaq, the lead actor of the film was also present there and was overwhelmed with the response and gratified by seeing the result of his diligence.

This gem of a film is the third installment of Zaigham Imam's trilogy of stories revolving around the holy city Varanasi, India.

Zaigham's first 'Dozakh: In Search Of Heaven' was based on his own critically acclaimed novel with the same name. With the release of 'Dozakh' in March 2015, Zaigham's work got highly acclaimed by critics and won several awards & nominations in more than a few film festivals throughout the world.

Soon Zaigham wrote, produced & directed 'ALIF', his second feature film and released it in February 2017. As 'Dozakh' made him popular in the critic circle, 'Alif' made his name in critics as well as in the general audience. The film has been screened on a prestigious TV channel several times.

Zaigham says "I was born in a Muslim family near Banaras. Since childhood I had a peculiar relation with Mosques and Temples. That bond grew as I started my journey as a Journalist and became a successful one. That fascination became the fuel to my stories."


Zaigham made Nakkash with only one intention, to show that anyone can spread their wings breaking all religious boundaries and he believes that 'Nakkash' would force people to think hard and put prejudice aside.

Nakkash (The Craftsman) is all about humanity and spreading your wings breaking all religious boundaries.

Nakkash is produced under the collaboration of 'A B Infosoft of Zaigham Imam', 'Jalsa Pictures of Pawan Tiwari' in association with 'Padmaja Productions of Govind Goyal' & 'Muvizz.com of Piiyush Singh'.

Nakkash brings back the team of multi-talented Inaamulhaq & Sharib Hashmi, the stars of National Award winner film 'Filmistan'. Their on screen chemistry is unmatched. Inaamulhaq is in the lead role of Alla Rakha & Sharib Hashmi is playing his best friend Samad in the film. Inam & Sharib both fit the bill perfectly.

Zaigham said that ever since he saw Filmistan, he wanted to work with Sharib & Inam. And when he wrote it (Nakkash), he saw that they both are impeccable for Alla Rakha & Samad. Not only the lead stars but Mr. Kumud Mishra from 'Filmistan' is also the part of Nakkash. The best thing is that all three of them agreed for the film within a few minutes into the narration of the script. This film also marks Gulki Joshi's debut to the Bollywood Film Industry. She portrays Alla Rakha's second wife perfectly.

Apart from lead roles all the key cast - Harminder singh Alag as Mohammad & Pawan Tiwari, Rajesh Sharma, Siddharth Bhardwaj, Simala Prasad & Anil Rastogi did justice to their respected roles.

Nakkash is the story of a gifted Muslim craftsman Alla Rakha Siddiqui. Alla Rakha is a widower who has a son, Mohammad and a best & only friend Samad in the name of a family. Alla Rakha believes in no religious boundaries and uses his craft of engraving in the Hindu Temples. For that he gets boycotted by his community; Mohammad doesn't get admission in Madarsa & he faces a lot of oppression from both the communities as the film progresses.

Samad who is a poor e-rickshaw driver, wants to send his to holy Hajj but has no money for that. Samad steals the Temple trust's gold from Alla Rakha's custody. Alla tries to keep Samad out of this situation but Samad goes to jail for it.

A year later Alla gains popularity as a symbol of accord with a news article for which Munna, an aspirant Hindu politician loses his election ticket. What happens to Alla, a cast-off from his commune and disdained from Samad & Munna is the tale of Nakkash (The Craftsman).