Haider Official Trailer - Page 20

Haider

Phew, give us a moment as we recover our breath...we've just watched one of the best Bollywood trailers of the year so far.Vishal Bhardwaj reunites with Shahid Kapoor for the third instalment of his Shakespearean trilogy, this time with an adaptation of Hamlet. Shahid's decision to go bald for his role had caused palpitations in the hearts of zillions of Twitter fans, but we think it might just start a new fashion trend. Before we go into all the reasons why we can't wait to watch Haider, here's a quick warning - if the only movies you enjoy are upper class romances or family dramas that end with "And They Lived Happily Ever After", this movie is not for you.

And now, back to our eulogizing:

1. Very few directors understand the Indian "hinterland" as well as Vishal Bhardwaj, and it's a rare Bollywood director who has the courage to depict human relationships with honesty and a wicked sense of humour. As if that wasn't enough, he's also a brilliant music composer.

2. Tabu and Kay Kay Menon return in what we hope will be meaty roles that do justice to their formidable talent (if only we could delete Jai Ho from Tabu's CV).

3. The movie is set in the vales of Kashmir and the screenplay is co-written by Basharat Peer, whoseCurfewed Nights is one of the most nuanced takes on Kashmir in recent times (he's also one of theReal Men that the MBRB girls have a not-so-secret crush on!)

4. No other play has been dramatized, and dissected, as much as Hamlet. Numerous interpretations of his character have been offered, but the one that has stayed is Sigmund Freud's declaration that Hamlet suffered from a Oedipus complex. There is a single scene in the trailer which reveals that Bhardwaj has taken this conjecture seriously - we're curious to see how he handles the difficult subject of Haider's (Shahid Kapoor) sexual feelings for his step-mother (Tabu).

5. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, courtiers who spy on Hamlet under the guise of friendship, are bit characters in the original play. Unwittingly, they provided inspiration to many satirists, most notably Tom Stoppard. The two make an appearance in the trailer, so the question that has us biting our nails is - what new twist will they bring to the tale?

6. Shahid Kapoor

7. Shahid Kapoor

8. Shahid Kapoor

9. Shahid Kapoor

10. Shahid Kapoor: Ok, we've admitted in the past that Shahid Kapoor is one of the yummiest stars in Bollywood. Sadly, he's also a highly under-rated actor and has terrible sense when it comes to choosing his movies. We thought Kaminey would set things right, but when he went on to act inR...Rajkumar, we were ready to Unfollow him. Thankfully, Bhardwaj returned to his rescue. It's evident from the first scene that Sasha has given Haider his all. He's brilliant throughout the 2.23 minutes, but our favourite scene comes at the end of the trailer (at 2:05) - from the altered voice to the glint of insanity, this is not the Sasha that we've got used to watching.

Thumbs down: Shraddha Kapoor, who should can shots of her wide-doe-eyed look for every film maker to easily reuse.

Excitement Meter- 11/10. We can't wait for October, Bang Bang be damned!