Haider

Shahid kapoor has hit the bull's eye this time with haider. The ease with which he unveils the character of Hamlet on screen needs an OUT- standing ovation. He has exploited all his talent in the movie and has left no stone unturned. The other eye catching character is the protagonist's mother and I guess no one could have dine it better than Tabu. She has been a brilliant actress and again proves her mettle here. Kay Kay menon and Irrfan Khan are as always superb. Shraddha kapoor is sweet but does not have much to do. Overall, to go or not to go is not a question at all. It's a must watch and undoubtedly the best movie of year 2014 till now.

When films transmute William Shakespeare's poetic imagery and the atmosphere that his verses conjure into re-imagined, re- contextualized visuals, and not merely reproduce the action with select dialogues, a movie adaptation of a Shakespeare play can be considered successful. That is why, thought British film scholar Roger Manvell, Shakespeare often translates best in what he considered "foreign films". The setting is one of the reasons Haider, Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of Hamlet, works. It is true to the haunting ambiguity of the characters' motives in the original play, Shakespeare's most opaque of tragedies, but the Kashmir canvas is potent. Bhardwaj's visual intelligence and the screenplay by Bhardwaj and Basharat Peer, one of India's acute commentators on Kashmir, his home state, add to the effective localization. Shakespearean purism aside, Haider is a thrilling film. It is a film of luxuriant paranoia. It is about Oedipal love. Unlike the cardboard insurgency imagery or images of damaged beauty that soak most films about Kashmir, Haider is an unflinching take on the Kashmir malaise, the tragedy infused with a sense of dark humor about the ordinary Kashmiri's hopelessness. Compared to Bhardwaj's earlier two Shakespeare adaptations, Maqbool (Macbeth) and Omkara (Othello), both of which depended heavily on language and dialogues and used Shakespeare's stories rather conveniently to propel the plot, Haider is a quieter yet richer spectacle and a convincing standalone piece. Bhardwaj chooses bold strokes over gloomy introspection, and in that sense, Haider is in the tradition of mainstream Hindi cinema. The picturization of songs is riveting to watch (Pankaj Kumar's cinematography is breathtaking throughout, and especially in the songs) and the songs are some of Bhardwaj's best compositions as a music director in recent times. The melodrama towards the end loosens the narrative and the last half hour feels like a bit of a drag, again a typical affliction in Hindi films. The protagonist is far from the melancholy Dane; Haider, which Shahid Kapoor plays with impressive zest and inventiveness, is more a dashing, combustible figure than a brooder. Bhardwaj also does away with the supernatural horror so integral to the original play, and which can be an easy tool for creating suspense and drama in cinema. The horror is in the everyday macabre reality of death, loss and waiting, and in the manipulation of a Kashmiri Muslim's emotions and insecurities. Haider (Kapoor) arrives in the Kashmiri village he left long ago to study at Aligarh after his father, a doctor, has disappeared. His mother Ghazala (Tabu) is romantically close to his father's younger brother (Kay Kay Menon). Arshi (Shraddha Kapoor), his childhood sweetheart, is torn between her pro-Indian establishment family and Haider, who is devastated to see his mother's sudden transformation. His idyllic childhood with parents seemingly in love is shattered. When Roohdar (Irrfan Khan), a mysterious man with a limp sends him a message from his lost father, Haider is on a destructive path of jealousy, hatred, turmoil and doubt. Central to the story is the relationship between Ghazala and Haider— a tender as well as anguished bond between mother and son, fueling the film as essentially an Oedipal drama. The romantic love between Arshi and Haider is almost a sweet afterthought. The casting ideas work impressively well. Kay Kay Menon stands out as a superbly calculating man, the villain in Haider's mind, and Tabu makes a heart-rending Ghazala. Shraddha Kapoor delivers an earnestly fervent performance and Irrfan Khan is pitch perfect as a quietly menacing presence, the only personification close to a ghostly apparition. Salman Khan is here too, in a deliciously manufactured ode to the Hindi film hero through Salman and Salman, Haider's friends and a pair of all-round crooks, an interesting replication of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the original play. Haider is an immensely effective re imagination of Shakespeare—and the film's biggest triumph is that the provincial, in this case Kashmir and the characters defined by its reality, shine in a universal and timeless tragedy

HAIDER to me is an acronym that means the following:

H. Haunting. Be it in its background score, music, lyrics, playback (especially Rekha Bharadwaj, Sukhwinder Singh, and Arijit Singh), cinematography, or backdrop of Kashmir in 1995, Haider is Haunting, and how! The film will stay with you long after you have left the theater.

A. Astounding. Haider is an astoundingly adept adaptation of a classic written almost 415 years ago that can be enjoyed irrespective of your knowledge about the Shakespearean Tragedy - Hamlet. If you don't know Hamlet, great! You do? Even better!

I. Incredible. Haider is incredible - in terms of its performances. Be it that of Shahid Kapoor (Haider/Hamlet) who performs a complex role with the kind of award worthy chutzpah that should silence all his detractors once and for all. Or for that matter the the triumvirate of Tabu (Halala/Gertrude) - ethereal, dauntless, and supreme, Kay Kay Menon (Khurram/Claudius) - terrific, resolute, and subtle or Irfan Khan (Rooh/The Ghost of Hamlet's father) - rudimentary and underplayed. Not to be forgotten is Shraddha Kapoor (Aarshi/Ophelia) who pitches in a performance that is 'picture'esque perfect and so full of finesse. And of course the two Salman Khan's who are fans of the superstar and who will surely gain some fans of their own post this film. In fact, every single member of the cast pitches in a perfect performance here, irrespective of the role and duration.

D. Daring. Haider is daring in talking about issues that many wouldn't touch with a bargepole and for the way it has juxtaposed a Shakespearean tragedy with a human tragedy - Kashmir. The valley is a character here that finally finds a voice of its own. The interpretations of that voice are truly brilliant.

E. Effective. Sometimes experimentation and reinterpretations fail. Not here. With layer upon layer waiting for the audience to be interpreted (for example the touch of Oedipal complex between a mother and son, the growing of guilt of a well meaning lover, the song of the gravediggers, the examples of 'Chutzpah' and its comparison with AFSPA etc). Haider is effective on multiple levels and truly faultless in its execution.

R. Rooh (Spirit/Soul). This is a film with an indomitable spirit that filmmakers would die to include in their body of work, and which Vishal Bharadwaj effectively manages to in this lifetime. This film has that which many a masterpiece may sometimes lack - a soul. A terrific triumph encompassing its soulful music, soul stirring performances, and soul warming message.

In short - watch Haider - in a theater. For Vishal Bharadwaj, the Director/Composer/Writer. For Shahid, the rising prince. For Tabu the eternal Queen. For Gulzar, the lyricist. For the cinematography by Pankaj Kapoor and the editing by Aarif Sheikh. And finally for Kashmir, the unforgettable voice of humanity.

Haider as a must-watch, as it has a phenomenal story, which is backed up by amazing performances by every actor but Shahid Kapoor shines in this movie, this is his best performance as of now. Despite that, I got bored a few times, but then I instantly got interested, and this happened a few times throughout the movie.

Macbeth, Othello, and now Hamlet. Vishal Bharadwaj does it once again, by re-imagining Shakespeare in a very gritty Indian milieu. This time it is the Kashmir of 1995 in throes of militancy.

The instruments Vishal Bharadwaj used for Maqbool and Omkara, are far sharper this time around. The songs are very rustic, and completely of the type to be found in street plays (not even a symbolic nod to Bollywood or a titillation to the audiences with a Bidi). The sense of suspense even sharper (even with a story with a basis as well known as Hamlet). The characters continue to be just as eccentric as in Omkara. And death once again continues to be not an infrequent visitor just like with Omkara. Yet the context is more sombre. And the whole scenario of militancy IMO dealt with quite responsibly with (what I would imagine to be) a good sense of reality.

Not everything is wonderful. On the acting front, Tabu is impressive but understated. Shahid Kapur does well by his standards, but every so often I used to wonder how much better Pankaj Kapur would've done in some of the scenes. Shraddha Kapoor manages the role of pretty innocence well enough, but will probably cringe when she watches her own histrionics. Kay Kay Menon, and Irfan Khan of course are a pleasure to watch, but this is not their best film. While the songs aim to dramatise, I found them underwhelming and unnecessarily melodramatic in this context, Also the film is just a tad too long and could've been shortened by 15-20 minutes.

Be prepared to see a Kashmir which does not look the swiss alps but still deserves to be considered amongst the most beautiful places on earth. This kashmir is a little raw. And forms the milieu for two concurrent threads, one the intra family drama which is the very essence of Hamlet, and the general environment of militancy and counter insurgency. Moreover the plot moves at a fairly measured pace and manages to retain the interest and fascination. It might surprise you (after my earlier paragraph), but these are the reasons why I would classify the movie to be a must watch.

Yeah, go watch this, this is not to be missed, any complaints you might've notwithstanding.