Haider - Movie Review

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon; Director: Vishal Bharadwaj; Rating: *** (3 stars)

Shakespeare's plays have been seen highly by and appreciated over all literatures.  There have been many movies that have been made on various plays by Shakespeare. Vishal Bharadwaj himself has completed his trilogy by making an adaptation of Hamlet with Haider. The magic he created on screen with Maqbool and Omkara somehow seems half baked with Haider.

Haider - a young man returns home to Kashmir on receiving news of his father's disappearance. Not only does he learn that security forces have detained his father for harbouring militants, but that his mother is in a relationship with his very own uncle. Intense drama follows between mother and son as both struggle to come to terms with news of his father's death. Soon Haider learns that his uncle is responsible for the gruesome murder, what follows is his journey to avenge his father's death.

Shahid Kapoor does a fabulous job in the role of Haider and does complete justice to the overall character. The revenge he has is portrayed well through his expressions. The most impactful scene of Shahid is his monologue when he gets to know his father is no more. Shahid does a fantastic job in this one for sure.

Shraddha Kapoor plays Haider's love interest in the film, she does a fine job. The worth mentioning point of her performance is the Kashmiri accent that she talks in. she doesn't enjoy a lot of screen time but neither wasted either.

Tabu is worth looking out for. She too is fabulous in the film in the role of Shahid's mother. The agony of a missing husband, pain of a rebellious son and fondness towards another man, all these extreme emotions are very well justified and portrayed by her. The chemistry she shares with Shahid as a mother, or her chemistry with Kay Kay Menon is just flawless and doesn't make you feel uncomfortable at all.

Kay Kay Menon plays Haider's uncle in the film. Yet again the venom that Kay Kay Menon spurts onscreen is just phenomenal, he is so well connected to the evil side in him that is looks perfectly normal and natural onscreen.

The movie becomes very lengthy in the due course of making an adaptation of Hamlet. Thus, the audience feels very exhausted by the end of the movie. Songs don't seem forced, as it flows along with the course of the film. The only drawback of the music is even though it is very soothing to the ear, it isn't very hummable.

Overall the film looks beautiful because of the picturesque locations of Kashmir. The special appearance by Irrfan Khan does give a boost to the film right before the interval.  In the course of making Hamlet, unfortunately Vishal Bharadwaj leaves the background story half-baked. It also looks a little anti-national overall. Cinematic liberty has been exploited a little too much which the audience would skip conveniently.

Thus, if you want to take a different kind of a film, Haider is definitely your pick. With the long weekend coming one should definitely get to one of its shows as Haider has something completely different in the offering.

Anita Menon