Haider: A Movie Review

Haider 

I'm writing this blog almost immediately after having watched Haider (immediately if you don't count my dinner :P) I was awaiting the movie since long and was already mesmerized by it's soulful music. Bismil and Aao na are way too good to not be favourites.


my rating- 4/5  (go watch it!)

About the movie now.
Haider has been directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and is an adaptation of Shakespeare's play hamlet. Vishal Bhardwaj has adapted the bard's play into beautiful movies before too, Maqbool (Macbeth), and Omkara (Othello) were also based on plays by him. Siddharth Roy Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj have co produced the film. The cast of the movie includes a melange of talent ranging from Shahid portraying the young Haider, Shraddha Kapoor playing Aisha, a journaltist, Tabu, Haider's mother, Kay Kay Menon, as Khurram Meer , Haider's uncle to Narendra Jha as Haider's father. Irrfan Khan also has a special role in the movie.

The film is set in Srinagar in 1995. Haider's father the life saving doctor brings home a wanted militant to treat him when there is a crackdown. he is taken into custody and then disappears. Young Haider returns from Aligarh to see his mother enjoying her time with Khurram, her husband's brother not long after his father was taken away. He sets out on a search to find his father who has simply disappeared. He tries every legal option and when that is exhausted resorts to unlawful ways. Haider is then determined to murder his uncle, who, he is informed, was responsible for his father's death. The film then explores the various acts of aggression and the mental upheavals experienced by a young boy.

Haider is a bold film. its a fresh piece of daring cinema. it is probably Bhardhwaj's best film so far (don't take my word for it, I haven't seen all his films) the tragic location of Kashmir fits the cinema's atmosphere perfectly and it brings forth several word-less emotions. it goes beyond the entertainment, dance-and-songs and portrays a story worth watching. the characters are all strong in there own ways and they do not try to please the audience. Haider reminded me of the kite runner, the tortured soul,  he is too. the movie calls a spade a spade. the characters play hero as well as villains at different points in the movie. it explores the various facets of the Kashmir problem and does not, at the same time, endorse any particular way or solution.
Bharadwaj explores several themes- violence is Destructive is the most dominating one. Entire families are wiped out, policemen lose their lives within the blink of an eye, the young, the old, the troubled are all a depressed lot and this is somehow augmented by the location. Clouds of smoke against the pristine white snow, pools of blood too contribute to the haunting experience. The director has also dealt with the Oedipal Complex, Haider is a man who loves his mother beyond the normal and at the same time detests her for having betrayed his father.
the dialogues are good too. sentences like 'Hum hai ya hum nahin?', bring out the unconfirmed confused identity of the people. Haider even remarks 'Pura Kashmir ek quaid khana hai'.
The movie flows beautifully before the interval, no overwhelming songs, or dances and no melodrama. The second half however feels extremely long and towards the end one gets impatient due to the lengthy duration of the film.The music is nice and rustic. Some local songs have also been incorporated like Rosh Vallo; other than Khul  Kabhi which feels unnecessary and needless, the other songs blend into the movie and transport the viewer forcing her/him to feel the emotions of the scene.
There is flawless acting on the part of Tabu. she brings out the desire of Ghazala to experience happiness in conflicting, tragic situations and be denied of it every single time. She carries a major part of the film. Kay Kay Menon convinces one of his finesse in acting, he play the villain and the hero with equal grit. Shahid in the beginning feels disconnected however gradually the actor comes to own the role, he cries, screams, laughs, fights with equal passion. Shraddha does not have much role, the little that she has, she portrays confidently.
All in all, Haider is a must watch for people who are tired of entertainment movies. It leaves the audience with food for thought and is haunting and appealing at the same time.                 

Te Amo

( Gosh, my love for Spain and Spanish seems to be spilling into the titles! :P English next time, promise! )

Love. It is really one of the most used and abused word in our vocabularies. Ask a guy who hardly knows English, he will invariably know the meaning of 'love' even if he doesn't know the number of alphabets in the language! Love has been romanticized, idealized, worshiped and what not in the past. There are legendary love stories, pray, who hasn't heard of Romeo and Juliet? Or our very own Heer and Ranjhanna? Bollywood churns out movie after movie on the same theme : love. Our daily soaps cry for change!
(Obviously it's of no avail. )
Here I'm not going to further raise the status of love but rather present my views on it. They may, rather, they are cynical, but are mine and in no way wish to alter your views forcefully on the subject.
Love to me is humorous, silly. 

1. People in love are always consumed in thoughts
Thoughts about? Heavens know what! But you always see them thinking, musing with all seriousness, as if the future of the human race hangs on their pensive thoughts. Break their train of thoughts and they still seem disconnected. You have to repeat your description (from the beginning, yes!) for them all again. 

Yeah!

2. The wrong people always end up together.
The people who you least expect to see together take their vows of eternal love in front of your eyes! The Byronic hero/heroine gets the athlete, the poet gets the cheerleader, the sports king/queen gets the extrovert, and so on.. And even though reading them here does not make you realize the intensity of harm done to the universe by such "couples", you should take my word for it. It is always weird, at times super-funny too!

3. PDA
Need I say more? 

4.Silly names, rituals and wishes
Why on earth will you be liked to be called "puchu", "guchu" or wait, how about "tweety"? There are tons more I've heard people say. Some force you to stifle a laughter and look all serious and continue with utmost normalcy whatever you were doing. Tough.
Good morning, goodnight, good class, etc., etc. The wishes and simultaneous rituals don't seem to have an end. Exhausting. 

5. Stories you don't wish to hear.
Everyone has that one friend who tells you snippets of their life, even though you beg them to stop. From how they picked up their partner's pen to what the other has/had for lunch, nothing is left out and while your friend is telling you about it, you are busy planning an escape route! God be with you!