Haider

After a long time, you come across a movie which unnerves you. Set amid-st the landscape of beautiful and serene Kashmir Valley, the film starts in the background of insurgency times in the valley. 

A doctor who lives with his wife in a small town/village and his son (Haider=Shahid Kapoor) staying away in Aligarh doing a research (PhD) on the topic of Revolutionary Poets of Modern India. The Doctor favors the insurgents and justifies that by saying that He is doing his duty of a doctor. When his wife (Ghazala=Tabassum Hashmi aka Tabbu) asks him which side he is and he says on the side of LIFE. 

Scenes of roll call in the village with people running with their identity proofs is chilling. The doctor who is operating a terrorist/insurgent gets caught by the military and his house is bombed by the Army in the cross fire. 

Here comes the adaptation from Hamlet where Ghazala moves to the house of Haider's Uncle (Khurram= Kay Kay Menon). Haider on his way back to his hometown was interrogfated by the army commander by inviting it saying that he is going to Islamabad (Anantnag is also known as Islamabad by locals, which heroine (Arshie=Shradhha Kapoor) explains). The Army Commander says that there is only one Islamabad they know and that is across the Border. 

In a short role, (Irfan Khan=Roohdar) is impressive as an ISI agent who meets the doctor in one of the camps administered by the Army. The song or ghazal  "gulon me rang bhare baad e naubahar chale / chale bhi aao ki gulshan ka karobaar chale" has been beutifully used as a connecting tune between the father and the son and Irfan Khan. The verse in the dungeon beautifully portrays the agony of the prisoners. Again written by a stalwart Faiz Ahmed Faiz because he felt what it is being in jail where he was for the Rawalpindi Conspiracy. 

Qafas udaas hai yaaro saba se kuchh to kaho

Kahin to bahr-e-Khuda aaj zikar-e-yaar chale

Qafas-Jail पिंजड़ा

You can't come to terms with Arshie or shardhha pronouncing loved as lovud despite her being a journalist for a English daily.  The quest of Haider to trace his father is superbly pictured and the one monologue he delivers at Chowk is brilliant with the content. (Chutzpah=AFSPA) 

हम हैं या हम नहीं हैं , The other two fellows who add some comedy are Two Salmans who are photographers cum informers are good add on. Haider stays with them as he choses not to live in his Uncles house seeing the closeness of his uncle and mother. 

The kashmiri song "Rosh wala miyane dilbaro" used in the backdrop is another superb scene when Haider reaches his uncle's home after returning from Aligarh and finds his mother and uncle in a happy mode breaks his heart. Tabbu and Kay Kay are awesome in this scene.

Post interval the movie is focused more on adapting it to Hamlet. The Bismil (Bismil=Sacrificed) song which is actually a Bhand Pather (kashmiri folk theater form) is superb w.r.t lyrics (because written by gulzar) and portrayal. 

Bismil bismil bulbul-e-bismil 
Mat mil mat mil gul se mat mil 

(bulbul e bismil denotes Tabbu , bismil is the doctor)..So, words become alive and explain the story-line and are not added just like that. 

The climax is a little over the top with more gunfire and blood. What makes it interesting is the Graveyard song and the grave diggers. Never seen a song based on grave diggers. This was the most interesting takeaway from the movie.  

The red muffler which was woven by Arshie and the way she unwove  it singing again a kashmiri song is terrific and later she commits suicide as she could not bear the pain that her father was killed by her own lover. 

All in all you will remember the movie for its beautiful portrayal of Kashmir valley's landscape, the insurgency horror (although it misses the Kashmiri Pandits part and only shows the missing people during those times), some good songs with lyrics, some kashmiri folk theater and music, and acting of Shahid Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Kay Kay Menon, Shradha Kapoor and others who were equally good. 

The walk of tabbu with shahid in the garden with long leaves of Chinaar lying on the ground is just awesome and similarly the snow in the deserted land. 

The film ends with the nazm of Faiz which was called Intisaab which means dedication is the real dedication for people for whom the movie has been made, the people who were reported missing, for wives who did not know whether they are widows or not (half widows), for mothers who looked for their children to return. 

Aaj ke naam aur

Aaj ke gham ke naam

Un dukhi maaon ke naam
Raat mein jin ke bachche bilakhte hain aur
Neend ki maar khaaye hue baazuon se sambhalte nahi
Dukh bataate nahi
Minnaton zaariyon se behelte nahi

The message is इंतकाम से इंतकाम मिलता है, आज़ादी नहीं मिलती। Kulbhushan Kharbanda as the grand father of Haider aptly replies to one of the separatists that हिंदुस्तान को आज़ादी भी एक लाठी वाले ने दिलाई थी , बन्दूक वाले ने नहीं।

A little bit of Hamlet , with a little bit of Kashmir this is one good movie one must watch.