[1] Jointly produced by Bhola and Renzu, the film stars Neelofar Hamid, Shahnawaz Bhat, Mir Sarwar and Haseena Sofi.

[2] The title of the film refers to the namesake term used for Kashmiri women whose husbands have disappeared mostly in custody of security forces in the Kashmir conflict.

[8] The film's dialogue writer Sunayana Kachroo, who is a poet, said that she felt the need to tell this story as "men in conflict zones are celebrated, decorated, and revered for their heroism", but the women and children are referred to as "the bystanders of the discord".

"[4] Niyati Bhat of The Hindu wrote: "'Half Widow' does not fall into the Bollywood trap of the formula Kashmir film"[9] Aakansha Naval of Cineblitz gave it 4 stars out of 5 and wrote "it's a hard look at the harrowing and emotional trauma of half widows in Kashmir, Danish Renzu’s directorial debut is storytelling at its best and not to be missed.

"[11] 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.

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.