Haider - a short review

I intend to write a longer review of Haider, but I will wait to watch it once more at least, on DVD to write a full review. That will also allow me to discuss the plot without spoiling the movie for whoever reads the review. To put in short Haider is a gem, may even be VB's best, but I will reserve the judgement till a second viewing of the film. Vishal Bharadwaj in my opinion has been able to capture the true essence of the great Shakespearean tragedy of Hamlet. Now I am no expert on Shakespeare, but you don't need to be one to assess why Hamlet is considered as one of his more tragic, if not the most, of all his tragedies. And Haider validates that feeling, with an omni present aura of impending gloom and dread through out the movie. 15-20 minutes into the film you will start getting a feel that this story is not going to end well, and the more you watch the feeling gets worse. And that is VB's towering achievement. He was able to create that sense of doom & despair with not just the expressions on the characters' faces, but with superb cinematography and a brilliant background music. Kashmir's landscapes looked at once beautiful, dangerous and depressing through cinematographer Pankaj Kumar's (Ship of Theseus) lenses. I also came to know that the screenplay is jointly written by VB and Basharat Peer, a famed journalist who wrote the book Curfewed Night on Kashmir. Haider has several incidents from that book. The acting was superb by everyone, including Shradhha Kapoor, but Shahid Kapoor was the one who stood out. The story was about Haider's mental turmoil, and Shahid Kapoor managed to look every bit as troubled & tormented as he was supposed to be. His deterioration from an innocent and calm young boy to a delirious and dangerous man consumed with revenge was meticulously scripted and deftly portrayed by Shahid himself. Some scenes stand out - like the one where he is standing at Lal Chowk Srinagar, with his head shaven, and speaking to a moderate crowd through a megaphone - "Hello, hello 1 .. 2.. 3 mike testing, awaaz arahi hai ...". Or the one where he ponders on whether "to be or not to be (revengeful)" with a gun in his hand. The dialogues were very well written too, some of them I believe translated as is from the original play. Haider's complex relationship with his mom was also very well written as it was central to the plot. I will not discuss the story, I will leave it for later. To sum up Haider is a must watch, for connoisseurs of cinema. Go watch it if you haven't already.