“To any Kashmiri, the movie might not have been anything to write home about. For instance, the human rights violations shown in the film may not be anything new for them. The film stays away from rooting for Azaadi, nor does it take a firm stand against the occupation. Also the draconian law, AFSPA, that appears under the garb of a joke was hardly registered by anyone.” writes, Deepti Sreeram
Dool Theater Rating : ★★★☆☆
Film: Haider
Directed by: Vishal Bhardwaj
Written by: Basharat Peer, Vishal Bhardwaj
Produced by: Vishal Bhardwaj, Siddharth Roy Kapur
Music by: Vishal Bhardwaj
Cinematography: Pankaj Kumar
Running time: 162 minutes
Language: Hindi
Budget: 
340 million
Revenge, is Bollywood’s biggest success formula. How many times has one seen a son avenge his father’s death? How many times have we seen him wait patiently for the time for vengeance? How many times has he expelled a breath of content as he slayed his enemy in movies? In its barest essence, Haider is a revenge thriller that is set around love and betrayal.
With a powerful star cast, a complex narrative marred with Oedipal tones, sensational music and a troubled Kashmiri landscape, Vishal Bhardwaj effortlessly adapts Shakespeare’s Hamlet onto screen despite its length and complex nature. Haider is very much mainstream Bollywood. It is its strength as well as limitation. If you are expecting a factual film on Kashmir or a strong political statement, you are likely to be disappointed. At the same time, Haider does not shy away completely from being political.
Even before Haider’s release, many interventions at the level of censorship were proposed over its content. 48 cuts later, when the movie had released, these interventions appeared again with the demand of a ban. This clearly suggested the importance of the terrain.
Any Shakespearian loyalist can easily zero in on the love that the director has for the playwright instantly, carrying it over from films like Maqbool and Omkara. For instance, the careful mapping of the grave diggers scene with the song Aao Na onto Haider had almost broken the dark mood of the movie. Suddenly, the pace of the thrill had taken a leisurely pause to let music overcome. This break, that Baradwaj took could have become a costly liberty had he not painted it in black humour. Those who consider it blasphemous to earn a few laughs from the spectators while handling a serious subject like Kashmir, Haider is best avoided. But it can also be thought of as a clever use of humour and the Bollywood formula.
More than Hamlet, it is Kashmir that drives the chief protagonists of Haider and Gazala forward. It is the forced disappearance of Hilal Meer (Haider’s father) that ruptures their home. (“No, it can”t be”, a resistance builds up inside the “Indian” audience.) It is Haider’s anguish at his father’s forced disappearance and Gazala’s half-widowed state that stakes these characters in clouds of ambiguity. In any other terrain, the death of the father would have a mere reason to avenge for the son. To Haider, this is a glowing reminder to what he has seen for long. This, is the everyday of a Kashmiri’s life.
[]Even before Haider’s release, many interventions at the level of censorship were proposed over its content. 48 cuts later, when the movie had released, these interventions appeared again with the demand of a ban. This clearly suggested the importance of the terrain.
To any Kashmiri, the movie might not have been anything to write home about. For instance, the human rights violations shown in the film may not be anything new for them. The film stays away from rooting for Azaadi, nor does it take a firm stand against the occupation. Also the draconian law, AFSPA, that appears under the garb of a joke was hardly registered by anyone.
Lastly, the scenes that depicted custodial torture were barely an eyeful. And yet, as the director unravels Kashmir through his cause-effect tool, there is an audible squirm that he leaves with the heartland occupying Indian spectator. That is not to say that this squirm or unease is an event that would break the faith of anyone upon army occupation. Nor is this any signifier to Vishal Bhardwaj’s comprehensive understanding of Kashmir or its politics.
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At the level of performances, Tabu stands tall. Be it the silent wait for negotiating her widowhood, or her vulnerable self seeking security or her indescribable need for Haider, Tabu lends magic in ways more than one.
As mentioned earlier, VB is a clever filmmaker. Like any other filmmaker, making the platter palatable to the taste of a patriotic film certifying board and audience has compelled him (unsurprisingly) to deploy a balancing act between state sponsored violence and militant violence.
Revenge is never an alternative and must not be sought for achieving freedom. To be free, one must be free of these shackles of revenge. This warning repeated by characters and narrative
For example, a visual showing the crackdown at Kashmir is balanced with the notion that this crackdown is for the search of the militant. A visual depicting the army identifying militants from Kashmiri men is balanced out with the army requesting a militant to surrender. Similarly, a constant dialogue or repetition device that plays throughout the movie is the warning that it gives against seeking revenge. Revenge is never an alternative and must not be sought for achieving freedom. To be free, one must be free of these shackles of revenge. This warning repeated by characters and narrative alike, most often overshadows Haider and figures as the covert message of the movie. Like a warning against militants and militancy.
It also comes as no surprise to see “Madrasi” characters such as Murthy and Natarajan playing cunning army personnel who are harsh with their modus operandi. Similarly, all protagonists involved in the violence of Haider’s revenge are Kashmiri Muslims. Even through its climax, if one takes a head count, the men and women killed are Kashmiris. This suggests an implication of the turf-war being a fight amongst the Kashmiris. Almost giving a feeling that this whole Hamlet thing is adapted to Kashmir only to make fun of Kashmiris.
At the level of performances, Tabu stands tall. Be it the silent wait for negotiating her widowhood, or her vulnerable self seeking security or her indescribable need for Haider, Tabu lends magic in ways more than one. Despite having founded on the Shakespearian / Victorial morality, the director makes sure that the audience do not hate Ghazala. However, the over-emphasis on morality remains difficult to digest – for instance, “Shoot him in his eyes that eyed his brother”s wife” is the message that Haider”s father has for his son.
Though Kay Kay Menon delivers Khurram to the t, it is Irfan Khan’s Roohdar that is taken home. In one sense, Irfan has transitioned to stardom in Haider. With a brilliant entry and an interval punch, backed by some amazing score, Roohdar gets a solid round of applause throughout his scenes, underlining that stardom.
Though Kay Kay Menon delivers Khurram to the t, it is Irfan Khan’s Roohdar that is taken home. In one sense, Irfan has transitioned to stardom in Haider. With a brilliant entry and an interval punch, backed by some amazing score, Roohdar gets a solid round of applause throughout his scenes, underlining that stardom. However, the surprises of the casting package were Shahid, Shraddha and the two Salmans. Though Shahid appears to be conscious of the magnanimity of Haider through the first half of the movie, his calm transition to uncontrollable rage, love, revenge and desire has been phenomenal. With questioning vulnerable eyes, Shraddha depicts Arshi well. The two Salman’s who lent many laughs across the audience, were eye-poppingly synchronous in their scenes together.
Apart from the stars and the craft of the makers , the background score and music are immensely overpowering. Though some songs act as odd interventions to the narrative, they also contribute to producing a theatrical quality to the movie. Even better than the music, is the powerful lyrics penned by Gulzar. Bismil Bismil, Aao Na are songs that has to be translated for the sheer volume and depth of meaning.
Despite many glaring political contradictions and factual errors, Haider is a necessary movie to the undisturbed conscience of the patriotic Indian. If words like ‘crackdown’, ‘disappearance’, ‘AFSPA’ has worked its way to the mainstream audience, then Haider has achieved the first near minimal step to voicing the ignored and the suppressed. It could be ambiguous, its subtle hints or black humour might never be understood and yet it is probably the first commercial movie that had its protagonist lend his voice to the most powerful soliloquy ever.
“Areh koi to hum se bhi ye pooche.. ki hum kya chahte..”
(Someone please ask us also what we want.)