Kaafiron Ki Namaaz

It was a great experience at 20th KIFF watching Kaffiron Ki Namaaz.It was a well written script with some powerful dialogue- "Man get his religion even before he gets his name,if he is given a chance to learn all the religion of the world and an option to choose his own religion then there wont be any violence in the name of religion", left a lasting impression in my mind.

Ram Ramesh Sharma gets full credit in extracting a fine performance from all the three lead characters.

Though the major part of the film was inside a room in the format of an interview, it was so gripping and engrossing the audience never felt a moment of boredom, all the credit goes to the director Ram Ramesh Sharma for coming out with a such a masterpiece in his debut direction.

Kudos to the entire team and specially the director Ram Ramesh Sharma and producer Bahrgav Saikia for the great debut.

It can match any other international film in terms of execution, direction and production value and should be sent as official entry to Oscar from India.

In fact it was my top five pick along with The Search, Omar, Force of Destiny and Chhoti Moti Batein in 20th KIFF.

A must watch for all lovers of good and quality films with the best take away- Man gets his religion................

Wishing the entire team for your theatrical release.It will be a surprise HIT like The Wednesday and Aamir.

With Reagards, M.Venkat Raman

Awesome story , awesome acting , very different concept.

Everyone did best of them Will stick to the movie till end Nice setup , more of a character show of each character Very rare story these days Recommended to views who like mystery and suspense Very good dialogue delivery.

Kaafiron Ki Namaaz is a beautifully woven story that brings the two sides of the human consciousness. It is one of the finest movie that dealt with the human psychology so beautifully and vividly that nowhere did it sound preachy but smoothly seeps in. One of the finest movie of the year that stayed with me even as i left its screening.

One of the movie which explores the human side of an army man and writer rather than going the retrospective way. The director has indeed done a brilliant job. The screenplay and the character progression is marvelous.The songs and the background score just adds to the mood of the film.

This one is definitely on my movie list for sure. Do watch this movie which has its mind and soul at the right place....

Kaafiron Ki Namaaz

For almost a century now Kashmir has been the the cynosure of conflict and beauty. So it's understandable why writers over-poeticise the region. Kaafiron Ki Namaaz, set in that region is a drama about an Ex-solder, a writer and a musician. They engage in a gabfest of disclosing their most innate feelings and secrets to one another before erupting into drunken frenzy of violence. (note: The followings contain analysis of minor spoilers.)

I've never written a film review before. But these past months I couldn't help but overthink this exceptional film. Kaafiron Ki Namaaz though controversial, conveys much truth about society and culture we often overlook. The 3 main characters (an ex-soldier, a writer and a musician) I believe are the embodiment of 3 social philosophies evident among the youths of the societies of the Indian sub-continent.

The ex-solder is a cynic. He believes everything does everything out of self-interest. He sees through the rigid system of India and instead of protesting against it, he exploits it. Because he doesn't seem to see the point of objectivity. He has little empathy and almost no moral boundaries. This makes him easy to hate at the very first glance. But when looked closely, his actions (even though he remarks them with pride) has also filled his with self-loathing and weighs heavy on him.

The Writer is also a disbeliever. But he has a more optimistic view of thing. He believes in order. When the Army-man divulges his past to the writer he cites those actions as animal like, calling his "Kutta". To him, man must act as man through collaboration and authoritarian self- concealment.

The Musician is the average simple-man. He seems to be the jolliest among the three men. He thinks little about life or the forces that moulds it. He is oblivious to the the harshness of reality. Whenever he is confronted with grotesquerie he turns a blind eye to preserve his own happiness. He enjoys the trifles life has to offer and with that he is content.

Analysis: As mentioned above, the three characters represent three spectrum of thoughts. The Army-man represents the minority population of cynics in society. We find cynics to be contemptible people. They see flaws in everything. To them, nothing is pure or sacred. The Army Man points out that he hates Gandhi's ideologies. A natural temptation when confronted with a cynic is to argue them out of their attitude by citing counter examples (as the writer attempts to do). But this is it's own form of cruelty because it misunderstands what cynicism is about. It's a emotional protection, a mode of coping learned under conditions of duress. He hear from the Army-man himself how miserable his start was. He never know his parents nor happiness or purpose. The only time he ever smile from heart was when he was expected by the military which is awful But we overlook such details and are quick to brand cynics as nasty people. What we don't get is- all the narcissism, nihilism and cynicism are all defence mechanism to protect themselves from criticism. What the cynic really need, and yet fears they may never get, so naturally never ask for is- Kindness. Because beneath that gruff surprise still remains an hysterical frigidity and longing for love, hope and acceptance. The writer is a representation of the majority of the atheist bunch. He has renounced god, thus has naturally faced severe backlashes in past life. Society was not been kind to him just because he found in himself courage to transcend those social norms. Atheists are seen as a monsters (in movies and book). Therefore in an desperate attempt to disprove such imperatives he has always acted more buoyantly than others. He has twisted his own mental apparatus into giving himself a sense of purpose. But he regrets that he never truly lived. Even at his latter stage of life he had not had sex. His life lacks colour and is, therefore miserable till the very end. The Musician seems to only live-at-the-moment. He is docile and minuscule. He is - what the enlightened would call - blind. But if he is the blind one why is it that the former two are stumbling? Is it better to live as a fool in paradise than rather know the ugly truths?

Such are the questions and philosophy of Kaafiron Ki Namaaz. These movies are necessary to help society evolve as a whole. And we should understand, it's not facts and hate the movie's trying to promote but rather a problem evident and corrosive. But society can easily be summed up as by the movie's ending there are no lesson learned, no change change Rather they all kill each and the cameraman and we as society only turn a blind eye and run.

This movie is sheer brilliance scripted together to make an intriguing amalgam of dark comedy keeping the viewer gripped until the very end only to be awestruck by a series of bizarre twists as the plot slips into death like seriousness.

This movie has an excellent 'read between the lines' subtlety to it, making it one of the most interesting Hindi movie made in recent times.

Ram Ramesh Sharma touches sensitive topics throughout the film keeping it crisp with dramatic cinematography and the location resonates well making it a visual treat to watch for the viewers.

The real reason why one must watch this movie is to understand the sensitivity of the subjects pondered upon, to make the audience realize the underlying hypocrisy which fills most of us to the brim and to materialize the content with an open mind trying enjoy the movie without any veiled prejudices.

This movie touches topics very real, yet hidden behind the taboos of an ungrateful Indian society; one must stop on the thought that if the freedom of speech exercised democratically by Ram Ramesh Sharma what compels the government to flex it's muscles and stall the release to such an extent that the makers are forced to release the movie directly on the internet. The troubled history of Kashmir is always used as an excuse to justify the archaic Armed Forces Special Power Act which is one of the most controversial acts passed with great impunity, which further militarizes the valley subjecting it to growing insurgency and mistrust among the civilians.

The problem with this movie may lie with the fact that the movie was given too much hype around a few topics which are not really explored entirely. The movie sheds light on a very taboo issue which fails to confront the man made inequities in a society.The movie even though winning numerous awards was swiftly banned by the Indian Government allegedly stating the movie as defamatory and vulgarly exaggerating facts about influential Indian political figures of the Independence era.

One must not pay heed to the director's personal opinions being thrust upon the audience, what one must observe is that the dissent expressed in the movie is logical and rational. One cannot simply be holding onto the negatives and the positives, to understand the movie completely one must first critique the pros and then compare them with the cons to ascertain a rational personal preference.

I usually review exceptionally well made movies or the most horrible ones, this movie was simply exceptional and it deserved an unbiased review. If i were to compare this movie with other critically acclaimed flicks this movie gives a tremendous amount of intellectual competition to the ones made with the help of big budgets and movie stars. The actors performed with a great sense of ease and did justice to the scripted roles as there were hardly any weak acting moments during the movie. Overall this movie is a good watch and well made with a good deal of musical appeal as well, the movie could have been made better but no serious complaints as the movie keeps one at the edge of the seat till the very end.