Shahid. Gem of a movie. Marvelous acting by Rajkummar Rao. I feel he has great potential to become a fine, classy actor, in the mound of someone like Naseeruddin Shah. Even his choice of films has been tactical, with all of these films being critically appreciated movies. Though he does not have a charismatic appeal of a Ranbir Kapoor or a Imran Khan, he does have the ability to connect with the audience.
Director - Hansal Mehta
Run Time - 2 hours, 3 minutes
Genre - Biography/Drama
Through this simple film, we learn how appalling the Indian Police and Judiciary is, and how they continuously label innocent people as terrorists, and delay Justice, just because of a religion they follow. 'All Muslims are not terrorists' is a line that has been repeated all over the world, but we still do not take this into consideration, and this movie shows us how innocent Muslims are tortured just because they represent the minority in India. This movie is based on the real life story of Shahid Azmi, a lawyer, who fought for such innocent people, and was brutally killed for doing so.
In the movie, we see the journey of Shahid [Rajkummar Rao] from an innocent witness of the Mumbai Riots of 1992, to a militant training camp in Kashmir, and back. Back in Mumbai, he gets arrested for allegedly being a terrorist, and is tortured barbarically in jail. In Jail, he meets up with Omar Sheikh, who tries to brainwash him into joining Jihad. A fellow inmate, War Sab [K K Menon] comes to his rescue and influences him to study further. This leads to him obtaining his law degree and becoming a lawyer. While working under Majeed Menon, he does not like the way the firm handles the cases. To change the system he starts his own firm, and fights cases who he believes are innocent and have been falsely accused. He is very successful, and achieves a name for himself. Along the way, he is also labelled a terrorist, and receives death threats. His brash, and unorthodox manner in which he fights the cases, eventually leads to his demise.
The scenes of the terrorist training camp are shot with utter reality, as are the court scenes, which give us a greater look into the Judicial practices of the country. I feel the director could have concentrated more on the personal life of Shahid, his mother-brother, as well as his wife-stepson as it seemed a bit incomplete. 'Beparwaah', the single song of the movie is one of the best Hindi songs I've heard in recent times. It's so soft and beautiful, far apart from all the 'dhinchak' music of Bollywood.
Great acting by everyone. A great film. A good watch.
My Rating - 7.4/10
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