Haider: Finally Vishal get's back his groove

After a series of capers, Vishal Bhardwaj seems to have got back into his familiar zone and with this film, his trilogy on Shakespeare now seems complete. Maqbool(Macbeth), Omkara(Othello) and now Haider(Hamlet). It brings in a set of films, uniquely set in different time zones, backdrop and perspective. Yet, they all connect and brings in the dark, edgy and the uncertain side of this species called Humans.

Maqbool was very Mumbai and the seedy underbelly of the crime capital, with a brilliant star cast to boot. The who's who of Indian cinema. A very young Irrfan, the magnificent Tabu and the fabulous duo, Om Puri and Naseer. Omkara was experimentative with a complete new set of star cast, which I think (purely personal) was unable to do justice in the same league as would have been expected. Yet, Saif stood out in the film and so did the sublime Deepak Dobriyal. The rustic UP backdrop was a stark contrast to the seedy underbelly of Mumbai in Maqbool, and did so well to the largeness of the character in Othello (Omkara).

Haider takes you on a different time zone and a different realm, yet with this classic Shakespearean tragedy (Hamlet) remaining in place. The setting is Kashmir, 1995 (could not understand the opening lines read as Srinagar, India???) and the uncertainty and the volatility of the place looks omnious. The greys and the more greys adds to the mood and the snow only adds to the melancholy further. Infact, with so much grey all around the scenes seem to be hounding you. And this is where Vishal Bhardwaj gets back to his comfort zone. After the forgettable Kaminey or the Matru Ki Bijlee...he has been able to get his groove back.

Shakeapear's Hamlet has had the maximum number of adaptation into theatre or cinema or play and to me, Vishal's perspective is worth it's own share of applaud. He gets into the teeth of the characters and builds them up nicely. Whether it is Haider(Prince Hamlet) or Ghazala(Gertude) or Roohdar(Ghost), or Khurram(Cladius) or Arshia(Ophelia). Even the two courtier (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) stand out (how I wished they got more screen space). However, with cinema there is always the limitation that you have, which is why Shakespeare is best watched when in theatre. Yet, you can never go back and underestimate the power of cinema too, and Haider does justice to it.

Haider as a film never takes sides, the rise of the militancy power, the exploits of the Indian Army, the harassment of the commoners and everyday people, only adds to the storyline and never does the plot take sides. It remains focused on the central characters of Haider, Ghazala, Khurram and Arshia. The pivots are Ghazala's father, Roohidar and the two Salman Khans. They all form an ensemble, where the characters seem to all flow into a confluence that ultimately has a trajectory of sorts to it. Infact, the shots of the Jhelum (rendered beautifully through a song Jhelum by Arijit Singh) seems to add-in the moments, that one is trying to explain.

Tabu's character (Ghazala) dominates frame by frame and every time she comes on screen, the others belittle. Yet, you have to give it to Shahid(as Haider) and Kay Kay Menon (as Khurram) who stand out as well. Shahid is best watched in the classic monologue scene at the crossing of about 5000 people. KK and Irrfan (though Irrfan has limited screen time, considering in the original Hamlet, the ghost plays a vital role) are in their comfort zone. Shraddha is good in parts and it was heartening to see Lalit Parimoo after a long time with a large amount of screen time. However, one can never take away the fact that Tabu dominates. Her hhelplessness and her dilemma and her pangs and her love, they all seem to be playing heavily on her. Her screen time with Shahid is her best and especially the moments where she is one to one with him. Vishal has been cautious to not trend on the original plot in Hamlet about the mother-son relationship, yet he brings in a subtlety to it.

However, the one scene which makes this movie a must see will be the climax scene, for which one has to wait and it is really worth the wait. The white backdrop of the snow and the colors Black and Red play mayhem with this backdrop. This is classic and my personal take I have not seen anything like this before (at least in Hindi cinema). The foresight and the vision of the Director, DOP and the cinematographer works so well and brings out the mood and melancholy of the moment. There are several such moments in the film which are must see, but the climax takes the cake. There are other times too, like Shahid's intimate moments with Shraddha and his monologues, Shraddha and Tabu's sequence together and her attempt to dethread the woollen muffler she made for her father (upon seeing her father's death). They all build up so well. Infact, the red woollen muffler is so metaphorical of the moment and wish it could have played up a little more. The first half builds up slowly and is languid in pace, and only at the closing of the first half do we see with Irrfan's character entry and this is where the pace in the second half picks up.

There are quite a few pieces, moments and scenes which were un-necessary and without proper build up. Yet, that will never take away the earnestness with which the film has been made. Every character, the backdrop, the setting, the locale and everything in between shows the effort and the honesty in the attempt and no effort has been made to take audience for granted.

Vishal's forte with music is already established and this one does not disappoint. Yet a question hinges, why do we need songs to justify a sequence? There are many a moments where they only upset the narration and here I found so.

I will be curious to see, where do we go from here, will there be a King Lear or a Merchant of Venice or maybe... but for now Haider will rest with me for some time...