Haider is a 2014 Hindi drama film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, and co-written by Basharat Peer and Bhardwaj. Starring Shahid Kapoor in the titular role, the film features Tabu, Shraddha Kapoor, and Kay Kay Menon in lead roles, alongside Irrfan Khan in a special appearance. Haider is the third installment of Bhardwaj’s Shakespearean trilogy after Maqbool (2003) and Omkara (2006).
In this adapted play, “Haider” is a poet who returns to Kashmir at the height of the insurgency to find his disappeared father and ends up tugged into the politics of the state during this search. The Highlights: 1. Released on the 2nd October, recognized as a big day by Indian Nationalists. 2. Highlights the coup in Kashmir 3. Shows Kashmiri’s in a bad light 4. Highlights the corruption in Kashmir 5. Faced boycott on twitter
The Tweeple who made #BoycottHaider trend all Friday on Twitter say the film shows the Indian army in a bad light. On the contrary, the film is a tribute to the masterful way in which the Indian army (and other security forces) suppressed a popular rebellion against India. Haider is not the first Bollywood film to show army excesses in Kashmir. Rahul Dholakia’s film Lamhaa did so in 2010. If Vishal Bharadwaj really wanted to show the Indian army in a bad light, he could have shown corruption by the army in dealing with militants, as Lamhaa did. A number of books and documentary films have been far more critical of the army’s role. Haider even ends with a note saluting the army’s role in rescuing people in the Kashmir floods. The film has been censored and after 41 cuts, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) gave the film U/A certificate. The scenes that were censored were a truck load of corpses, wire being inserted inside a naked man, a shot of a bloody dead body, abusive words. Apart from this, a shot of a bare back during the song “Khul Kabhi To” was also considered offensive and censored. The Central Board of Film Certification demanded deletion of a scene where “Haider” (played by Shahid Kapoor) cries on seeing flames. A confusion arose when Kumar along with an examining committee saw the film and prescribed the cuts. Haider has its moments but in the end it is a sloppily made, forgettable Bollywood film with action, comedy, suspense, sex, romance and everything thrown in like a roll call. There’s even some dancing around the trees. The filmmakers seemed to have put it out much in advance that it would be controversial, and the Twitter hyper-nationalists seem to be falling in their publicity trap. To conclude, the movie is a masterpiece but is bit unlinked at some moments. But it portrays the sufferings the Kashmiri people are suffering, be it because of the disturbing elements or the police or the army, after all it’s the common man who suffers.