HAIDER - MOVIE REVIEW

“To be or not to be…” Barely had the bard any idea about a certain Mr. Vishal Bhardwaj adapting his most complicated work into a motion picture, capturing the troubled history of Kashmir, making a political comment and still be able to keep intact the hardcore essence of the play.

Shakespeare and Bhardwaj have had a glorious past. From Macbeth-isqe Maqbool to Othello’s tragic story Omkara to turning Hamlet into Haider, Bhardwaj has always given a totally different outlook, vision and canvas to the Bard’s work.

Haider as a film is much more than an adaptation. Way back in 1996, Gulzar had directed Maachis based on the Khalistan issue. Haider on a broad level tries to look at the issues at hand which were relevant to his Guru’s work but overall Haider is a film which showcases Kashmir in the light no one could have ever imagined.

While barely 5 minutes into the film, this happenes-

Tabu (to Shahid’s father) - Aap kis ki taraf hai? (India or Pakistan)

Shahid’s father - Zindagi ki.

This one line, a minute long sequence, gives the audience an idea of the kind of maturity and sensibleness on display. As the film progresses, the river Jhelum also turns out to be a very important character in the film; silent yet powerful, conveying and carrying myriad emotions but never for once interfering with the premise of the film; flowing through the valley (and the film), like a silent protagonist.

What is striking about Haider is the amount of emotions silence portrays. There is just the right amount of silence which brings out hallows in the life of Kashmiri's, the disdain in their lives and the meaningless in their existence. Eyes lit with hope, dreams set on wings and reality coated in poisonous pills.

The cinematographer helps the director a lot in terms of portraying the impact that was desired. The shots of the Kashmir valley are beautiful, or if I might put, hauntingly beautiful. The graveyard scene is an out an out classic. Do watch out for that scene, Goosebumps guaranteed. Unbelievably beautiful shot! Haider is poetry in motion, largely due to the camera work and the kind of screenplay that has been penned by Bhardwaj and Peer and to top all of that, the dialogues are an absolute delight to listen to thanks to Bhardwaj’s brilliance.

Much more than dishing out the staple diet of entertainment, Bhardwaj also informs; informs the truths that are largely hidden, the emptiness which is largely ignored due to the valley’s beauty and the truth behind the picturesque graveyard (Kashmir). 

So there are scenes in the film when a kid wakes up in a truck filled with dead bodies and dances on realizing that he is alive or a scene where a man refuses to enter his own house without being frisked and asked for an identity. Such is Bhardwaj's mastery over dark humour. Such is his vision to showcase reality, with a pinch of humour and a spoonful of bitter truths.

Bhardwaj sticks to his allegorical narrative pattern, extracting symbolic meaning from superficial sequences. The narrative flows in poetic patterns with beautiful use of imageries and rhetorical questions for obviously, the answers here are more apparent than the questions.

Tabu, playing the role of Gertrude has aced it. Driven by passion and desire, and rooted deep inside with care and affection, I could hardly imagine anyone else but Tabu in the role of Ghazala Meer. 

The penultimate scene where she instils the conflict in the heart of Haider is an example of a brilliant display of method acting. Never for once going overboard, she is consumed by her own fears and wishes. She delivers an absolutely mind boggling performance.

Shraddha Kapoor, playing the role of Ophelia, Hamlet’s love interest, does a good job. Though she seems a little out of place but manages to get through. Although it is only fair to say that she displays a huge improvement in her performance since her Aashiqi 2 days.

Irrfan Khan plays Roohdar or the Ghost and it is from his entry in the film that proceedings actually start to move. Needless to say, he outshines almost everyone despite a minimal amount of screen time that he gets.

Narendra Jha as Shahid Kapoor’s father is an absolute find. Amir Bashir manages pretty well in his role. The 2 Salman’s are hilarious and yes that is Bhardwaj’s way of putting humour on screen.

Kay Kay Menon being the wizard that he is, has given a different dimension to Claudius’s character. He is menacing while dealing with Haider and comfortably cosy when having to enact alongside Tabu. The makers have, at 2 instances tried to convey the meaning of the word chutzpah; Menon literally enacts out its meaning.

Dil ki agar sunu toh tu hai... Dimag ki sunu toh tu hai nahi. Jaan lun ki Jaan dun? Main rahoon ki main nahi..

Shahid Kapoor, given his talent has always been scarcely used in good films. But as Shahid delivers these above mentioned lines, you almost can see a reflection of Pankaj Kapoor, an actor within Shahid almost willing to break the shackles and explore himself. And he gets ample opportunities. If the monologue that he delivers at the crossroads does not make you stand up and applaud, the performance in Bismil surely will. There are so many instances in the film where you feel that Shahid’s choice of work in the initial stages of his career wronged him and his talent, because what you see in Haider is a performance consumed in so many shades and realms of life and yet brutally honest. He has performed with much maturity. KUDOS! Pankaj Kapoor surely would be a proud father.

Vishal Bhardwaj’s third adaption of the Bard’s tragic trilogy is probably also his most self indulgent work but it never gets in the way of his story telling. One has to praise Vishal Bhardwaj for the manner in which he has adapted Hamlet. Never for once does it appear that something is amiss. Everything is served just in the right proportions and what is fantastic about Haider is that it terrifies you with its content and yet never lets you go out from the essence of the film.  

Not only has Bhardwaj masterfully narrated the story but also has prepared an absolutely outstanding music album which, if listened to properly, conveys the entire story.

For a detailed music review oh Haider, please visit the below mentioned link-

http://arpitpokharna.blogspot.in/2014/09/haider-music-review.html

Overall Haider is a kind of cinematic experience that only Vishal Bhardwaj is capable of providing. It is disturbing yet evocative, grim yet hopeful, surreal yet realistic and disturbing yet engaging.

As the film ends, with Rekha Bhardwaj reciting Aaj Ke Naam (a poem by Faiz) there is invariably a sinking feeling that develops, a feeling which the mind fails to recognize, a feeling that states that yes, Kashmir is but a beautiful graveyard, a graveyard where thousands of dreams were buried whilst alive and yet it emerged out as the paradise as it once was. 

I would repeat, Bismil is one of the finest songs to have come out this year and its choreography and Shahid’s mind boggling performance only make it a rare masterpiece. Needless to say that Gulzar Sahab has worked magic with his words which very few are capable of.

It would be unfair to compare  the 3 adaptations by Bhardwaj and rank them as each one of them, apart from being radically different in their manner of adaptation, were also visibly different in the kind of cinematic experience they intended to provide.

HAIDER, to me is a film that rarely gets made. Rarity is what also happens to be Vishal Bhardwaj’s forte! Shakespeare would have been a proud man had he seen someone play around with his work with much finesse and command.

GULO ME RANG BHARE..BAAD-E-NO BAHAR CHALE

CHALE BHI AAO KI GULSHAN KA KAROBAAR CHALE.

**4.5 STARS**