1 Line Review: Dark. Bloody. Intense.
Make no mistake, after 41 cuts by the censor board as well, many scenes will make you cringe. Haider is an adaptation of Hamlet and this Indian version is dark, if not darker (as much as Indian audience can digest).
The real hero in the movie are actors, each one of them. Be it Tabu, Kay Kay Menon, Shahid Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, the two Salman’s, even Shraddha Kapoor was not bad.
Haider is the 3rd in the line of William Shakespeare adaptation for Vishal Bhardwaj after Maqbool and Omkara. And like all the times, he delivers, like a Pro.
Go watch Haider, but remember the visuals might keep you awake at night (if not nights) and you might have nightmares as well. Part of the game.
The movie needs special mention of the two Salman’s – they are big Salman Khan fans and they will crack you up everytime they speak (in Sallu bhai ishtyle).
Also, after a long time you will see Tabu and what a come back I must say. Loved her acting, Just loved it.
Haider has been shot entirely in Kashmir and I have not seen this state in such beauty in any other movie. Guess its time to go there again. Snow mesmerised me. The bismil song was shot at Martand Sun Temple and it has been shot beautifully. The story depiction in this song reminded me of Rishi Kapoor’s song ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ from the 1980 moive ‘Karz’.
Another marvellous scene is where Shahid delivers a monolouge to a crowd of many thousands in front of him ( shown as speaking at Lal Chowk, Srinagar). He went bald for this scene and mugged up multiple pages of script and finally delivered it, flawlessly.
As mentioned earlier also, many scenes get ugly, gruesome and creepy. You have been warned.
Songs were good but could not make me download and hear it all. ‘Aao Na’ is a good one from the lot. You will love the version they played in the movie, its not the one popularised, its ‘So jao’.
The movie runs for 2 hours and 40 minutes, be prepared for it to unfold slowly. it will grip you into the story, slowly.