The Bard meets masala in this highly stylish and excellently crafted adaptation of 'Hamlet'
From the moment I saw the trailer I was hooked. It was a breath of fresh air among the nonsensical commercial movies which had occupied the Indian screens for much of 2014. I went in the theatre anxious, I had so much expectation from this movie, will it deliver? And it did deliver, in a big way.
The setting is Kashmir, a far cry from the state we saw in 'Kashmir ki kali '. A wonderful and chilling opening sequence shows men being taken by the army ,paraded in front of a masked man. A simple nod of head is a passport to freedom, that is until the next inspection. A single pressure on the car horn means arrest and disappearence into one of the infamous prison camps. Such a fate awaited Dr. Heelal Meer (Narendra Jha), a doctor sympathetic to separatists He is arrested and his house demolished. Enter Haider (Shahid Kapoor). A student, he is disgusted to find his mother Ghazala ( Tabu) indulging in a small song and dance routine with his uncle Khurram (Kay Kay Menon). Haider goes around searching for his father till a mysterious person Roohdar (Irrfan Khan) instills one word in his brain-Revenge.
 |
Shahid Kapoor and Tabu, performing the hard task of portraying Gertrude and Hamlet's complex relationship |
Vishal Bhardwaj completes his Shakespeare trilogy after the wonderful 'Maqbool' and 'Omkara' with a blast.
The script is excellent and I particularly loved the idea of adapting the famous stage play into a song (Bismil). Songs in Indian films have seldom being used as a storytelling device, and the whole sequence plays out beautifully.
The cinematography by Pankaj Kapoor is equally excellent. Bhardwaj focuses on close shots on the ground instead of grand cinematic view which nicely intertwines with the movie's theme. Kashmir may look beautiful and peaceful from outside but the ground reality is very much different. Regarding the faithfulness of the movie to the original play, Vishal has craftily adapted it into the setting. The gravediggers' scene is particularly well done. Equally innovative is the transformation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern into Salman and Salman, two ardent fans of Salman Khan. He has even added new scenes like the brilliant 'AFSPA' speech. The movie is not flawless though, it takes too much time in setting the premise and picks up steam in the second half.
 |
In many ways Ghazala is the protagonist of 'Haider' |
All the brilliance of Shakespeare and Vishal Bhardwaj couldn't have save -ed ( I blame Arshia for this ) this movie if the performances were anything less than exemplary . And they were excellent. Shahid Kapoor is like Colin Farrell, he shines in small budget movies. After 'Kaminey' this is his best performance. Shahid, stick with Vishal, please. Kay Kay Menon is equally brilliant. Shraddha Kapoor, Sumit Kaul, Rajat Bhagat,
Lalit Parimoo provide excellent support to the main trio.
But one lady steals all the scenes she is in. Tabu plays Ghazala as a lady torn between love for his husband, lust for his brother in law's power and affection for his son. We never know whose side she is on, and that adds to the mystique. And Irrfan Khan's cameo is one of the best I have ever seen.
The soundtrack is very good. The background score is touching, sentimental and epic in the right places. The team of Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar had created wonderful songs, which progress the story instead of hampering the flow, like most Bollywood songs do. 'Ao na', in particular is a wonderful mix of folk and rock and Dadlani's vocals are excellent as usual. ( 'Madaari' and now this. Vishal Dadlani is my favorite singer now)
'Haider' may not be in the crore club and neither will it defeat 'Bang Bang' in the box office. But what Vishal Bhardwaj has created will go down in history as one of the best Indian movies ever made. 'Haider' shocks us, makes us laugh, makes us cringe, makes us cheer, makes us cry, it is cinematic brilliance at its peak.
