Shahid

A true story of a selfless protagonist, fighting for the freedom of falsely framed victims of a minority community, this is about SHAHID AZMI, a noted lawyer who was killed in his own Kurla office in February 2010 by some unidentified men. With a mix of more facts and less fiction, director Hansal Mehta makes this best film of his career in a pure realistic style, as an absorbing documentation of the life of Shahid Azmi which is going to be a fascinating yet disturbing cinematic experience for many. Shot at actual locations with an immensely likable touch of romance in this otherwise unkind portrayal, the film reaches its peak with all the gripping courtroom scenes filmed in the most authentic manner rarely seen before in a Hindi film in particular. SHAHID grabs you from the collars within the first 10 minutes itself, especially in the scene wherein even a mother is scared to open the door of their hideouts in the riots, listening to the voice of her son knocking at it constantly. And once you get into the grim, shocking world of Shahid's valuable life, Mehta never lets you move out of it even for a minute, in the next 100 minutes of his film very convincingly.

Apart from its scary & unbelievable kind of real life account of a lawyer, what makes SHAHID hit you hard is its sharp editing, flawless casting and superb, realistic performances from the entire talented cast. Perfectly played by Raj Kumar Yadav, the actor goes deep down the skin of his character and surely becomes a strong contender of many worth deserving awards this year. Such is the authenticity in his performance that after watching him, one feels like having met the real SHAHID and for that both the actor and his director truly deserve all the praises showered upon them in the last few months. Other than Raj, there are two names in the film playing the female Muslim characters perfectly and the ease, with which they play their respective difficult characters, clearly proves the true talent of these ladies undoubtedly. The names are Prabhleen Kaur and Baljinder Kaur (Shahid's mother) and they do provide a strong visible support to Raj Kumar's towering performance along with subtle Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub,silently playing his helpful brother. As the public prosecutor, Vipin Sharma once again proves that he is a remarkable actor. Plus Kay Kay Menon & Tigmanshu Dhulia, truly impress in their small cameos, as expected. Also Shalini Vatsa, Prabal Punjabi and Mukesh Chhabra turn out to be a very valuable addition to the supporting cast with their truthful acts.

Considering the film from a general public viewpoint, one might find few glitches in it related with Shahid's Pakistani training camp days and his escape from there, shown in just a few scenes. Moreover Kay Kay simply vanishing from the story progression to never return later may also tease many (like myself). But these few points are not solid enough to bring down the excellence achieved by the team in its overall depiction and thus need to be ignored to attain a bigger and much important social objective as desired.

Personally, more than the film, it is the message, the purpose and the mission of the man named SHAHID, which forces me to include it in my must see movies list right away, particularly for the Indian viewers, who are facing this religious clash everyday like an inseparable issue of our multi-cultured society.

Specifically talking about the unsung hero of many victim families from the minority, SHAHID is an important document bringing to us an iconic name of our social system, not known to majority of people living in the other parts of the country. And the reason for this shameful mass ignorance ironically lays in the way our media works, which actually holds back the positive news for their obvious reasons and always spreads the negative word around in a much stronger and deliberate manner to gain some instant attention. Probably that is the reason why we very well know about the men who made important arrests at those crucial times of crisis but don't really know about the man who got many innocents out of the jail after few years, rightly fighting the court of law with his own sincere efforts.

For instance, be it Mumbai, Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat, Assam or any other region of our country, we always get to hear and read the news of suspected terrorists arrested from anywhere and it's at once all over the media as their main focus. But whenever the same court serves justice making those 'framed people' free after having proved innocent, very seldom we get to hear about them on the channels or respectfully mentioned in the headlines on the first page. The poor coverage of such cases, don't let us know about many courageous and human right activists like SHAHID AZMI and therefore the film presented on his life is indeed a very vital and major contribution made by Hansal Mehta and his team to Indian Cinema as well to Indian social system, embracing diverse religious beliefs since centuries. Practicing as the lawyer for such special framed cases, Shahid had an astonishing record of getting 17 acquittals from the court in his short career span of only seven years. And even thinking about those 17 families greeting their wrongly framed members back in home is enough to make you realize the relevance & importance of this historical achievement made by the makers of SHAHID.

So if you are willing to see a rare kind of alarming as well as enlightening biographical film made on a true fighter who always fought for others in his forcibly shortened life of only 32 years, then do watch SHAHID as a must and celebrate this new triumph of Indian cinema made for a cause.

Truth is pure, natural and simple. Hansal Mehta's Shahid focus on state of mind of a common man. A man sees the violence and brutality of world and then follows brutal way to end it. But After Realizing that an eye for an eye never earns anything but will leave the whole world blind. He runs away to live a life of man who could give justice to himself and others. Religion has nothing to do with the justice. The one who dies and the one who kills are human. Movie leaves a deep message for us by showing extra ordinary life of an ordinary man.

A must watch for those who is sick of bollywood bakwas masala. A very remarkable movie. All actor has played beautifully in this movie.

Saw this film today and couldn't resist coming to IMDb and look at this movie's page.I was shocked to see the 6.7 rating and read the 3 reviews which give 7 stars(hopefully that will change).Now,it could be just that not everyone likes this movie as much as I do.But,when I think about it there is not a single thing about this movie that you can criticize.This movie is as underrated as you can find.Acting by every actor in the film is top-notch.But,the acting of protagonist's mother and Kay Kay Menon are something exceptional.Cinematography is also good compared to other Indian movies.If this movie had a more famous actor like Aamir Khan or Akshay Kumar,I am sure I wouldn't have write this review.Story is both cruel and sweet. If you have not seen it till now and you are reading this then STOP AND WATCH IT NOW.You will not regret this.I know you have read previous two lines in reviews of almost every random movie but I really mean it.Even though I have viewed it only once,I can tell you that this movie will be among my favorite films. A must watch for every Muslim brother in India,Pakistan and Bangladesh. In fact,a must watch for anyone who can understand Hindi.

Very few people dare to rise and take a stand to tell a story that might have been vanished from lives & in files if not attempted. Hansal Mehta joins the same league. Respect for giving us SHAHID- a film that will find a place close to your heart very easily but not without stirring-shaking & moving your soul. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!

After PAAN SINGH TOMAR, here comes an earnest biographical drama that I hope could change the way Indian Cinema thinks about our real life heroes. This is also a film that raises many a questions about humanity and its survival in today's times. It also shows our judiciary system in true lights.

What makes it an exceptional biopic are the performances. Shahid's fearless-in your face-uncomplicated character could never come so strong if Raj Kumar has not given it his flesh & blood. This man can make you laugh with his charmingly simplistic behavior, watch it when he is trying to be comfortable with his lady-love still unaware of his feelings, and also can make your heart bleed with his heartrending silence when attacked for his forgettable past. Extended applause for his bravura performance.

Hansal Mehta's SHAHID, in Hindi, begins with the murder of a lawyer in his office. His first name, Shahid, which also means 'martyr' indicates that he was Muslim. We flashback to the riots in the early 1990s in which he is caught up, causing him to train with Muslim militants in Kashmir. This is not the Kashmir of so many Hindi film songs and dances, but of narrow roads cut into enormous cliffs, the rocks overhanging them.

Shahid runs away from the training camp when he is forced to witness the beheading of a turncoat, is arrested in Delhi, and in Tihar Jail must choose between siding with terrorists again or continuing his former law studies.

He chooses the latter, but on release finds that the law is a double- sided game. So he starts his own practice and takes on only the cases he wants. One is of a woman whose mother-in-law wants her house; we learn later that she is divorced, has a child, and that Shahid wants to marry her. He does, and his family reluctantly agrees. But the majority of his cases favor Muslims who have been falsely accused of terrorism, as we move through more terrorist attacks over time, including the 26/11 attack on the Taj Hotel. In every case shown, including the one involving the house, he receives phone threats, until ... This is a very serious film, more like a novel that what we usually think of cinema, in the style of Sinclair Lewis, or on a really good day, John Grisham.