HAIDER MOVIE REVIEW

Haider, set in 1995, is a well-served adaptation portraying the rather non-scenic mood of Kashmir. Vishal Bharadwaj and his co-writer Basharat Peer have phenomenally cookED a stirring tale holding on to a very strong base - ‘Hamlet’. 

 

The director has brought into frame the plight of Kashmir - how people go missing all of a sudden - turning wives into half widows, painstakingly hoping their husbands would be one among those lucky people who would wake up from a heap of dead bodies and rejoice for the fact that they are still alive. Amid all the gunshots and bomb blasts in the movie, Vishal unwinds a silent tale of love, betrayal, hatred and revenge.

 

The movie revolves around how happenstances of assumed betrayal, right in front of the naked eye transforms Haider (played by Shahid Kapoor), a college student, into a desperate murderer. Shahid Kapoor has proved yet again that he can deliver and his performance penetrates right into us as deep as the bullets in the movie. 

 

Tabu is spot on in the character of a half widow / half bride, pulling out a performance that she has always been capable of. Kay Kay Menon as Haider’s 'chacha' gets into the very soul of the role he plays, accomplishing his task to perfection. Although Shraddha Kapoor’s role of a journalist and Shahid’s love interest appears for a brief period in the movie, she brings out a few laughs with her good - humourED English accent. Irrfan Khan’s appearance is short, yet serves as the turning point of the story that primarily involves Haider’s quest of his missing father.

 

Pankaj Kumar’s cinematography is right on the money when it comes to portraying the cruder side of an aesthetic Kashmir. The final top angle shot of a blood soaked ‘graveyard-turned-battlefield’ is a thoughtful portrayal of the unfortunate situation of Kashmir.

 

The movie has a decent BGM that does not disrupt its mood - the graveyard song being an interesting piece among Vishal Bharadwaj’s list of offerings. 

 

The film might fall under the list of slow movies, but the steady screenplay, the breathtaking performances and the intensity in the narration definitely give it that elevation to stand tall.

 

Produced by Vishal Bharadwaj and Siddharth Roy Kapur, Haider is a haunting movie that might have some unsettling visuals, which unfortunately is a hard-hitting reality.