When we talk about a land, we first talk
about its culture and people, but surprisingly these two attributes drop off our
list when the land is a disturbed one. Politics takes the center stage and completely
subsumes the land’s narrative, such that even if you want to tell personal
stories, you have to place them within a political framework.
As time goes the political narrative
becomes complex with various strands braiding themselves into a thick and
intricate narrative. Vishal Bhardwaj
has had to deal with a similar situation for Haider, his latest movie, where he has had to tell a personal story,
that of Haider, placing it within the complex political narrative of Kashmir. And
he has successfully done so.
Haider is a beautiful film (or told
beautifully) which manages to tell a personal story set in a political
framework. Where the movie disappoints a bit is it at times bends over backwards to show the separatist movement in a positive
light. You will see likable terrorists singing while grave-digging and shooting.
No one should have any problem with this political lop-sidedness. It could well be the director's line of belief. But if he had explained the role of all the parties involved in Kashmir cauldron to the extent the plot warranted without taking political sides, Vishal Bhardwaj would have done a better job as a story teller. Instead, he chose the easier option. However, the redeeming point is that despite this political posturing, he has managed to tell the main story well.
No one should have any problem with this political lop-sidedness. It could well be the director's line of belief. But if he had explained the role of all the parties involved in Kashmir cauldron to the extent the plot warranted without taking political sides, Vishal Bhardwaj would have done a better job as a story teller. Instead, he chose the easier option. However, the redeeming point is that despite this political posturing, he has managed to tell the main story well.
Haider is pursuing a PhD on
revolutionary poets in India at Aligarh university, where he has been sent by his
conniving paternal uncle (Haider’s father’s own brother) and mother so that
Haider is not witness to their growing intimacy following Haider’s father’s
disappearance engineered by his uncle who is an Indian army informer. Haider
visits Kashmir in search of his father and gradually discovers how his uncle
had laid out a plan to bring the downfall of his father and eventually get him
arrested and killed. All to win over Haider’s mother.
The story unfolds in the first half
amidst political problem, so that by the second half the political context is
established with the viewer and the main story races up without the anchoring
of politics around it. You can’t praise a film without the performances that
make it possible. Haider’s transformation from an average guy to a terrorist
has been enacted well by Shahid Kapoor… cold anger and determination come
through very convincingly.
Transformation, in fact, is not unique
to Shahid Kapoor’s character. Haider’s uncle played by KK Menon also undergoes
a slow transformation, showing signs of repentance gnawing him from within even
as he maintains his conniving exterior, trying to prevent things from sliding
out of control as Haider is out to avenge his father’s death.
Although the song, dance, romance and
loud comedy routine makes you feel it’s just another commercial movie,
Haider has many redeeming qualities that make it worth a watch.
