Film Review - Haider

A Chutzpah To Admire

Film: Haider
Cast:Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Shradhha Kapoor
Directed by: Vishal Bharadwaj
Duration:2 hr 23 mins
Rating: * * * *

After dabbling with other subjects, director Vishal Bharadwaj returns to his favorite milieu, Shakespearean tragedy.  This time he has opted for Hamlet, one of the Bards longest works. The result is stunning - Haider gives a lot to talk about and raises the bar considerably on just about every count, especially political cinema.

Co-written by the Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer, Haider is poetry in motion, which is also sprinkled with the verses of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Gulzar. Most of Shakespeare’s tragedies have betrayal and conflict so Kashmir is an apt place for the latter. It should be made amply clear here that the story is set in Kashmir and it is not about Kashmir per se.

In 1995, militancy was growing in the valley and so was the army’s presence. Paradise was on the verge of being lost for everyone concerned. Haider (Shahid Kapoor) returns home after studying in Aligarh only to discover that his house has been burnt to the ground. His father, a doctor shielded a militant and ends up in the hands of the army.

Tabu plays Gertrude or Ghazala as she is known here, who may or may not be responsible for conspiring with her husband’s brother (Kay Kay Menon), a lawyer and aspiring politician, for her husband’s fate.    

In the snowy mountain caps, there are fumes of deceit and revenge.  Bharadwaj has got all the characters from Hamlet in place, Irrfan Khan plays a militant who has crossed over to the other side, he is the ‘ghost’ who reveals the fate of his father, leading Haider to seek vendetta.

There is some crackling humor as well in the form of two Salmans, who are fans of Salman Khan.  As a native of the valley, the final encounter between Haider and the duo was almost allegorical. What doesn’t work very convincingly was how and why Haider slides into madness although that scene in the public place where he first shows signs of going off his rockers is pulled off with élan.

Although there are many remarkable scenes but the pièce-de-resistance would be the grave digger’s song and you can only marvel in admiration at it.
The finale deviates from the original and in the changing times, it is only fair – after tying so many knots, the climax on the whole is not as engrossing as the rest of the film. There is also a forcefully induced romantic song in the latter half which only makes the film longer.

As for the politics of it all, this is one side of the story, the director is by no means is compelled to tell the whole story, this is a film after all, not a documentary.  The Kashmiri Pandits and the good work done by the Indian army during the recent floods, gets a mention in passing.

Technically, this is the most accomplished feature of the year. Pankaj Kumar’s cinematography, Aarif Sheikh’s razor sharp editing contribute immensely. Even the background score adds to the effect, take the scene where Irrfan Khan makes an entry for example.
 

The cast is in splendid form. Narendra Jha may not be a well known name but he contributes a great deal to the character of the doctor. As for the rest, Tabu, irrfan and Kay Kay Menon, such roles are another opportunity for them to show their acting prowess.
 

Haider is eminently worth a watch. Above everything else, it has the chutzpah.    

Published in The Navhind Times on 5th Oct. 2014

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