I
feel ashamed of myself for not knowing Shahid Azmi- a slain lawyer and an
altruistic humane activist before Hansal Mehta came up with a strong evidential
piece of cinema that does not merely solve the purpose to entertain but also
dares to enlighten our unresponsive- unsympathetic minds confined into its own
safe but scared place to stay put. We
probably have become either numb to whatever happens in our neighborhoods or
blatantly reactive about just anything that comes in way without assessing what
is right and what is not.
‘SHAHID’
is the need of the hour. It demands and
shows the guts to start a never-ending movement [if not on the roads, definitely
in our heads] to bring change in the system by joining it and not wiping it out
or denying its very existence.
Shahid
[played by ‘Kai Po Che!’ fame Raj Kumar] could be anyone of thousands who gets
trapped into the torturous custody of Indian Police known for its tactical
power-driven machinery and is thrown into Jail for beholding a name that comes
from a certain section of people in minority…but where the most would disappear
in the galore to turn radical against country & its governing bodies, Shahid
decides to stand out. While his tenure in longing to get set free, Shahid keeps
his conscience alive and opts to be a helping hand for those who have nothing
but an assurance of not being guilty.
SHAHID
is an extraordinary effort in terms of writing and direction. Based on the
real-life criminal lawyer-cum-human rights activist Shahid Azmi, film
amalgamates facts and fiction beautifully. It is a biopic that is handled with
sheer honesty, clarity in thoughts, rightly positioned screenplay, brilliance
in execution and a very very significant memorandum to all human beings. Hansal
Mehta never and never loses his grip on the subject. He keeps it as real as it
is happening in a gully adjacent to my living place. Special mention to the
replication of Indian courts’ undramatic-untheatrical-dreary modus operandi
where there is no usual Bollywood ‘order-order’ but an actual exchange of
verbal spats. Camera work by Anuj Dhawan captures the environs and the emotions
equally good. Dialogues are crisp, colloquial and taut.
But
what make it an exceptional biopic are the performances. Shahid’s fearless-in
your face-uncomplicated character could never come so strong if Raj Kumar has
not given it his flesh & blood. This man can make you laugh with his
charmingly simplistic behavior [watch it when he is trying to be comfortable
with his lady-love still unaware of his feelings] and also can make your heart
bleed with his heartrending silence when attacked for his forgettable past.
Extended applause for his bravura performance! Prabhleen Sandhu as his wife too
is a gifted actor. She brings with herself an unpolished charm that hits every
chord she aims to. Md. Zeeshan Ayyub here has not much like in RAANJHANAA to
overwhelm you but still he keeps your expectations fulfilled. Kay Kay Menon and
Tigmanshu Dhulia play their parts efficiently with a sparkling presence on
screen.
After
PAAN SINGH TOMAR, here comes an earnest biographical drama that I hope could
change the way Indian Cinema thinks about our real life heroes. This is also a
film that raises many a questions about humanity and its survival in today’s
times. It also shows our judiciary system in true lights. As said in the film
by the character Kay Kay Menon plays, “waqt lagta hai par ho jaata hai. It
works.” Painfully correct!
On
the whole, very few people dare to rise and take a stand to tell a story that
might have been vanished from lives & in files if not attempted. Hansal
Mehta joins the same league. Respect for giving us SHAHID- a film that will
find a place close to your heart very easily but not without stirring-shaking
& moving your soul. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED! [4.5/5]
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