Real Kashmir Football Club earns International Emmy nomination
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Real Kashmir Football Club, a show produced by SonyLIV, received a nomination in the Best Drama category at the International Emmy Awards 2026. The series tells the story of Jammu & Kashmir’s first professional football club and is India’s only dramatic series nominated this year, alongside Vir Das’s stand-up special.
Manav Kaul, an actor in the show, initially hesitated to join the project but was convinced after reading the script, which he found compelling.
He learned the club had brought peace to the Kashmir Valley and felt the story deserved to be told. Kaul, who grew up in Baramulla, Kashmir, was previously unaware of the club because of its distance from the capital city of Srinagar. The show brought together Kaul and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, who had met briefly years earlier at the National School of Drama in Delhi. Both actors collaborated closely during filming, sometimes even exchanging lines to better serve their characters.
Simaab Hashmi, a co-writer of the series, first became interested in making the show after reading a newspaper article about the football team. He travelled to Srinagar, Kashmir, and spent time with the team and local residents, observing their daily lives and experiencing their hospitality. Hashmi aimed to showcase a side of Kashmir rarely seen in films, the everyday lives within homes and communities, believing the club embodied the spirit of the region.
