Directed by : Vishal Bharadwaj
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3390572/
Not perfect adaptation of Hamlet, but a worthy Vishal movie nevertheless.
Read at your own risk, there may be spoilers ahead..
An adaptation of Hamlet, the plot deals with Haider/Hamlet (Shahid Kapoor) returning back to Srinagar after studying at Aligarh. His father Dr Hilal (Narender Jha) had been taken away by Army for keeping militants in his house. When Haider comes to know that his father has been killed, and the murderer is none other than his own uncle Khurram/Claudius (Kay Kay Menon) who was helped in it by his mother Ghazala/Gertrude(Tabu). He immediately seeks revenge, and goes insane in his acts as he witnesses the murderer.
If I compare Haider with Hamlet, then one major difference is, how well Vishal Bharadwaj develops Kashmir and its political angle as the backdrop of the plot. He could easily had started the movie from the point when we see Haider returning to Srinagar in that bus shot, just like in Hamlet happens. But, we get to see how and why Dr Hilal disappears (even though we know who is behind it). He lets the connect happen with the Ghazala-Haider sequences including flashbacks, my fav is when they walk together alone and talk where Haider accuses her to be always thinking from her own point of view and never caring to see other’s views. For me, the mother-son relation was the best part, even that phone call by Haider to her later in the movie..
There are 3 changes however that didn’t go well for me. One is Horatio isn’t there in Haider, instead Arshia/Ophellia (Shraddha Kapoor) is given the role to act both as love and best friend of Haider. Whether it was to do with monotonous feel people would get with the friendship angle of Shahid-Chandan in Kaminey or it was deliberate attempt to keep narrative shorter with one less character, only Vishal would know. The reason I felt he was a key character is, many times in Hamlet you see him talk to Horatio about things he won’t talk to anyone else because he was the only one loyal and friendly to him whereas Ophellia was always more loyal to her father.
Second is Arshia’s father Parvez Lone/Polonius (Lalit Parimoo) who is again completely changed by Vishal. In Hamlet, he would be extra-caring towards both Arshia and Liyaqat/Laertes (Aamir Bashir), and give various funny moments with his long speeches and non-understanding nature. But in Haider, he is a typical father, who uses his daughter to save Khurram from Haider.
Third is Liyaqat who is totally wasted in Haider. He only has one scene at start just like Hamlet, but in the climax sadly he is again limited to two small scenes, instead of giving a longer screen time where a fight between him and Haider would make him realize that Haider’s revenge is right too just like his revenge against him is.
Now talking about Haider, and keeping the comparison away.. the film still works for me a hell lot, but could had been easily a classic if and only if Vishal did one thing i.e increase the madness of Haider, show more scenes of him acting like insane, he only shows two scenes : one is that terrific monologue of Shahid ‘Hum hai ke hum nahi’, and other when he sings the same song which Khurram was seen singing earlier to Ghazala. He could had shown a sequence with Vishal Dadlani's Aao Na as background that told what Haider is aiming for now, is to act insane and meanwhile find out whether Khurram is in real the murderer or the story told by Roohdaar/Hamlet’s Father (Irrfan Khan) was fake. Even with gravedigger, he gets just two small conversations, ‘kiska janaaza hai?, kisi murde ka hai’, more dialogues like these would had been so wonderful’. There should also had been a scene where Haider before narrating Bismil song told Arshia to notice Khurram throughout and see if his eyes show guilt (yea its from hamlet where Horatio did it for Hamlet, but this would had made the proceedings doubly special). And yea, there was no need to show Liyaqat in a conference getting sad news, could easily had cut direct to Arshia home scene and Liyaqat coming there, as why would you even for a second divert from the Kashmir backdrop. And one last complaint, why did Arshia act normal when Liyaqat returned home, and in next scene she is shown gone mad. She should had been shown mad right at the moment Liyaqat enters, why the delay…
Vishal handles the Oediplus complex probably keeping Indian audience in mind, and for my liking it was perfectly done as you do get the sense in some scenes as to what relation they might be having even though you never see any of that.
The cinematography is brilliant, special mention to the shots before Roohdar makes a entry, and also Irrfan Khan is given a terrific entry scene. Background score is special too, my fav was the Ghazala-Haider one, Aao na theme used at certain places and also the revenge one which is inspired from Moby’s extreme ways (also used in Bourne series).
Also, commendable to see the dialogues having the kashmiri effect including the english they speak..
Music from Vishal Bharadwaj is among the best of this year, the version of 'Aao Na' which they use in film is so haunting. ‘Jhelum' shows the situation of Kashmir in 1995, with plenty of half-widows and missing people. While 'Khul Kabhi' might be not that well placed in narrative, it does help in giving weightage to Haider-Arshia romantic track. But, the song of movie (Aao Na by vishal is my personal fav but not used in film) is easily Bismil, what special choreography. And for me the way Shahid emotes in that song was as good as I saw Richa Chadda do in ‘Taar Bijli’ of Gangs of Wasseypur2. The feeling of pain and revenge at same time were so much visible in his eyes, and since he is a good dancer he made it look one of best choreographed songs of the year.
One may argue about the ending, the message given.. I for one would had preferred to see Khurram die and Haider take revenge but the moment you saw ‘Inteqam se sirf inteqam paida hota hai’ dialogue in 1st half, you very much know its gonna be key part of Haider’s revenge part too. Good thing however was they did make Khurram lose his legs, and thereby plead to Haider to kill him and not let him live this life who already had guilt feeling inside him for killing his own brother Hilal.
Salman1 & 2/Rosencrantz & Guildenstern (Sumit Kaul & Rajat Bhagat) was a brilliant idea to add humor, both playing mad fans of Salman Khan. Love their first scene dancing to Maine Pyar Kiya song, did any of Salman fans recognize that dance when Haider trailer was out was a question that came to my mind.
In performances, Shahid Kapur doesn’t disappoint in his portrayal of Haider, the helplessness he feels while finding his missing father, to see how his mother is attracted to Khurram (love that scene where he keeps staring at her when she is singing), his two insane sequences, when he breaks down after a laugh with Arshia at end of Khul Kabhi song, his violent attack at Salman’s or the confusion in his mind when he is about to kill Khurram but voices of both his father and mother’s words keep going inside him together. Easily among his best performances of career, would be good to see Shahid-Vishal work together in near future.
Tabu actually gave the performance of the movie, and finally she got a film which used her talent to full potential. Whether its the first scene where she is worried to see a militant in her house, her unexplained love towards Khurram, or her motherly love towards Haider. Love her expression when Haider says to her in climax scene ‘kyu aap apni jaan de dengi kya’. Why don’t rest film-makers offer her good roles, that is the question…
Kay Kay Menon for a change wasn’t flawless, at some places felt he was hamming a lot. Also, I felt Vishal should had not let him over-try to show how much he cares about Hilal to Haider.
Shraddha Kapoor has the same old problem, she got great looks and looks wonderful in Kashmiri mode but her acting is again upto the point, nothing extra added by her. Arshia was meant to be innocent girl, so she was kind of apt for role (maybe Alia Bhatt was also another worthy actress for it), but she fails to attract you with her acting skills and this has to stop sooner or else I may have to think her of being Sonam Kapoor Part2.
Narender Jha and Lalit Parimoo are very good in their supporting roles, and so is Kulbhushan Kharbanda in his small cameo appearance. Aamir Bashir was totally wasted.
Irrfan Khan is terrific despite having a extended cameo role at best. His entry scene with that bg is awesome, and so is his humor with Arshia and then the person who he helps go inside his home.
Haider is an intense drama that must be seen, it had in it to be Vishal’s best till date but didnt miss by too much. Easily one of best movies this year for his direction and Shahid-Tabu performances.
Verdict : 4/5
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3390572/
Not perfect adaptation of Hamlet, but a worthy Vishal movie nevertheless.
Read at your own risk, there may be spoilers ahead..
An adaptation of Hamlet, the plot deals with Haider/Hamlet (Shahid Kapoor) returning back to Srinagar after studying at Aligarh. His father Dr Hilal (Narender Jha) had been taken away by Army for keeping militants in his house. When Haider comes to know that his father has been killed, and the murderer is none other than his own uncle Khurram/Claudius (Kay Kay Menon) who was helped in it by his mother Ghazala/Gertrude(Tabu). He immediately seeks revenge, and goes insane in his acts as he witnesses the murderer.
If I compare Haider with Hamlet, then one major difference is, how well Vishal Bharadwaj develops Kashmir and its political angle as the backdrop of the plot. He could easily had started the movie from the point when we see Haider returning to Srinagar in that bus shot, just like in Hamlet happens. But, we get to see how and why Dr Hilal disappears (even though we know who is behind it). He lets the connect happen with the Ghazala-Haider sequences including flashbacks, my fav is when they walk together alone and talk where Haider accuses her to be always thinking from her own point of view and never caring to see other’s views. For me, the mother-son relation was the best part, even that phone call by Haider to her later in the movie..
There are 3 changes however that didn’t go well for me. One is Horatio isn’t there in Haider, instead Arshia/Ophellia (Shraddha Kapoor) is given the role to act both as love and best friend of Haider. Whether it was to do with monotonous feel people would get with the friendship angle of Shahid-Chandan in Kaminey or it was deliberate attempt to keep narrative shorter with one less character, only Vishal would know. The reason I felt he was a key character is, many times in Hamlet you see him talk to Horatio about things he won’t talk to anyone else because he was the only one loyal and friendly to him whereas Ophellia was always more loyal to her father.
Second is Arshia’s father Parvez Lone/Polonius (Lalit Parimoo) who is again completely changed by Vishal. In Hamlet, he would be extra-caring towards both Arshia and Liyaqat/Laertes (Aamir Bashir), and give various funny moments with his long speeches and non-understanding nature. But in Haider, he is a typical father, who uses his daughter to save Khurram from Haider.
Third is Liyaqat who is totally wasted in Haider. He only has one scene at start just like Hamlet, but in the climax sadly he is again limited to two small scenes, instead of giving a longer screen time where a fight between him and Haider would make him realize that Haider’s revenge is right too just like his revenge against him is.
Now talking about Haider, and keeping the comparison away.. the film still works for me a hell lot, but could had been easily a classic if and only if Vishal did one thing i.e increase the madness of Haider, show more scenes of him acting like insane, he only shows two scenes : one is that terrific monologue of Shahid ‘Hum hai ke hum nahi’, and other when he sings the same song which Khurram was seen singing earlier to Ghazala. He could had shown a sequence with Vishal Dadlani's Aao Na as background that told what Haider is aiming for now, is to act insane and meanwhile find out whether Khurram is in real the murderer or the story told by Roohdaar/Hamlet’s Father (Irrfan Khan) was fake. Even with gravedigger, he gets just two small conversations, ‘kiska janaaza hai?, kisi murde ka hai’, more dialogues like these would had been so wonderful’. There should also had been a scene where Haider before narrating Bismil song told Arshia to notice Khurram throughout and see if his eyes show guilt (yea its from hamlet where Horatio did it for Hamlet, but this would had made the proceedings doubly special). And yea, there was no need to show Liyaqat in a conference getting sad news, could easily had cut direct to Arshia home scene and Liyaqat coming there, as why would you even for a second divert from the Kashmir backdrop. And one last complaint, why did Arshia act normal when Liyaqat returned home, and in next scene she is shown gone mad. She should had been shown mad right at the moment Liyaqat enters, why the delay…
Vishal handles the Oediplus complex probably keeping Indian audience in mind, and for my liking it was perfectly done as you do get the sense in some scenes as to what relation they might be having even though you never see any of that.
The cinematography is brilliant, special mention to the shots before Roohdar makes a entry, and also Irrfan Khan is given a terrific entry scene. Background score is special too, my fav was the Ghazala-Haider one, Aao na theme used at certain places and also the revenge one which is inspired from Moby’s extreme ways (also used in Bourne series).
Also, commendable to see the dialogues having the kashmiri effect including the english they speak..
Music from Vishal Bharadwaj is among the best of this year, the version of 'Aao Na' which they use in film is so haunting. ‘Jhelum' shows the situation of Kashmir in 1995, with plenty of half-widows and missing people. While 'Khul Kabhi' might be not that well placed in narrative, it does help in giving weightage to Haider-Arshia romantic track. But, the song of movie (Aao Na by vishal is my personal fav but not used in film) is easily Bismil, what special choreography. And for me the way Shahid emotes in that song was as good as I saw Richa Chadda do in ‘Taar Bijli’ of Gangs of Wasseypur2. The feeling of pain and revenge at same time were so much visible in his eyes, and since he is a good dancer he made it look one of best choreographed songs of the year.
One may argue about the ending, the message given.. I for one would had preferred to see Khurram die and Haider take revenge but the moment you saw ‘Inteqam se sirf inteqam paida hota hai’ dialogue in 1st half, you very much know its gonna be key part of Haider’s revenge part too. Good thing however was they did make Khurram lose his legs, and thereby plead to Haider to kill him and not let him live this life who already had guilt feeling inside him for killing his own brother Hilal.
Salman1 & 2/Rosencrantz & Guildenstern (Sumit Kaul & Rajat Bhagat) was a brilliant idea to add humor, both playing mad fans of Salman Khan. Love their first scene dancing to Maine Pyar Kiya song, did any of Salman fans recognize that dance when Haider trailer was out was a question that came to my mind.
In performances, Shahid Kapur doesn’t disappoint in his portrayal of Haider, the helplessness he feels while finding his missing father, to see how his mother is attracted to Khurram (love that scene where he keeps staring at her when she is singing), his two insane sequences, when he breaks down after a laugh with Arshia at end of Khul Kabhi song, his violent attack at Salman’s or the confusion in his mind when he is about to kill Khurram but voices of both his father and mother’s words keep going inside him together. Easily among his best performances of career, would be good to see Shahid-Vishal work together in near future.
Tabu actually gave the performance of the movie, and finally she got a film which used her talent to full potential. Whether its the first scene where she is worried to see a militant in her house, her unexplained love towards Khurram, or her motherly love towards Haider. Love her expression when Haider says to her in climax scene ‘kyu aap apni jaan de dengi kya’. Why don’t rest film-makers offer her good roles, that is the question…
Kay Kay Menon for a change wasn’t flawless, at some places felt he was hamming a lot. Also, I felt Vishal should had not let him over-try to show how much he cares about Hilal to Haider.
Shraddha Kapoor has the same old problem, she got great looks and looks wonderful in Kashmiri mode but her acting is again upto the point, nothing extra added by her. Arshia was meant to be innocent girl, so she was kind of apt for role (maybe Alia Bhatt was also another worthy actress for it), but she fails to attract you with her acting skills and this has to stop sooner or else I may have to think her of being Sonam Kapoor Part2.
Narender Jha and Lalit Parimoo are very good in their supporting roles, and so is Kulbhushan Kharbanda in his small cameo appearance. Aamir Bashir was totally wasted.
Irrfan Khan is terrific despite having a extended cameo role at best. His entry scene with that bg is awesome, and so is his humor with Arshia and then the person who he helps go inside his home.
Haider is an intense drama that must be seen, it had in it to be Vishal’s best till date but didnt miss by too much. Easily one of best movies this year for his direction and Shahid-Tabu performances.
Verdict : 4/5
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