I had never heard of Shahid Azmi till this movie came along....
Even the media which is neck deep into secularism had not dared to create a hero out if him , which is why I had never heard of him....
Yet the director keeps the tall ambition of painting Shahid as a hero---as a man who stood out for the rights of those who were wrongfully accused of terrorism without caring for his own life....
Problem is , by the movie's own admission Shahid's own past was not anything to be proud about....
He is shown to have been affected by the Bombay riots of 1993 and gone to POK ( Pakistan occupied Kashmir ) to train for jihad .
Now this itself raises controversy in my mind as to how come such a person can be treated as a hero .
question is , why did he go to POK to train for jihad....??
Did he lose any family member in the riots ?? Any near and dear ones ??
At least the movie does not show any such thing....
I would like to ask the director---did those muslims who lost their family members in riots all turn to terrorism ??
The answer is , most of them didn't....
Then why did Shahid , who didn't lose any family member in riots ??
Then how can the director justify Shahid's stint in a jihadi camp in POK ??
Similarly , may hindus are illtreated and subjected physical humiliation in Pak....
How many of them have turned to terrorism against Pakistan ?? Answer is---practically nobody....
Then how can Shahid's stint as a trainee jihadi in POK be treated as ' natural reaction ' to Bombay riots ??
The director wants us to pull off the amazing feat of believing that a would be jihadi is some kind of hero here in India....
Of course , Shahid remains only a would be jihadi....
He becomes disillusioned with the brutality of the training in POK and returns home to India....
Here the police is waiting for him and not only arrests him but also gives him the treatment reserved for jihadis . He is stripped naked and beaten .
Once again , the director makes the perfidy of wanting us to believe that this is a grave injustice , that he is being singled out because he is a muslim....
Tell me , what else do you expect if you go to Pakistani controlled jihadi training camps in POK ?? To be welcomed back in India with garlands of flowers ??
Then he is misled into signing a confession that he was involved in a terror plot , for which he has to spend years in Tihar jail....
Here he is again tried to be co opted for jihad by terrorists serving time in jail , but is saved by a former jihadi who himself was disillusioned by the jihad and who prevents Shahid from turning again to terrorism....
Instead he is encouraged to take up studies and becomes a lawyer....
The very fact that such a person with such a tainted past is eventually released from jail is testament to the fact that India has an impartial justice system , otherwise how could a former wannabe jihadi be set free by the courts ?? Yet the director acknowledges this fact only grudgingly , making one of the characters say that the justice system does work in India though it works only late....
Shahid Azmi takes up the opportunity to practice as a lawyer , where he is honest enough to refuse to take up cases of people who are real criminals---which costs him his job with a prominent lawyer....
His personal life is a major component of the movie , with his courtship with his wife Mariam leading to marriage . But the marriage turns upside down because he begins to get death threats due to the dangerous work he has undertaken lately....
So what is that dangerous work ?? It's that of taking up cases of people accused of terrorism against India....
Shahid proves to be a brilliant lawyer who is hard to beat in a courtroom debate , and the courtroom debates are filmed brilliantly....
The actor playing Shahid ( Rajkumar Yadav ) has acted all too well putting his heart and soul into getting into the skin of the character he is playing .
To be honest , the real life Shahid looks better than the actor playing him , but Raj kumar has compensated for his lack of looks by his superb acting , which may fetch him awards....
It is his high acquittal rate of those accused of terrorism which turns him into a hero , at least for some....
But he angers powerful people by taking up cases of those accused of being involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and as he begins to get death threats his wife leaves him....
His face is blackened by chauvinists...
Shahid is leading a very dangerous and charmed life....
So what will happen to him...??
To me the bigger question was , is he the hero that the director of the film has tried to make him out to be ?? Considering his past and considering the fact that he fought cases for the people of his own community , that is somewhat of a tall order....
Of course , at least some for whom he fought were declared innocent by the courts . So maybe he really fought for those he believed to be innocent....
And he didnt care about his life or his marriage in his pursuit of saving those people....
You certainly have to admit he had courage of conviction....
But a hero ?? That is for you to decide...to each his own.....
And like him or dislike him , you cannot ignore Shahid Azmi---not after this film , for it's that good....
Verdict---Good .
Even the media which is neck deep into secularism had not dared to create a hero out if him , which is why I had never heard of him....
Yet the director keeps the tall ambition of painting Shahid as a hero---as a man who stood out for the rights of those who were wrongfully accused of terrorism without caring for his own life....
Problem is , by the movie's own admission Shahid's own past was not anything to be proud about....
He is shown to have been affected by the Bombay riots of 1993 and gone to POK ( Pakistan occupied Kashmir ) to train for jihad .
Now this itself raises controversy in my mind as to how come such a person can be treated as a hero .
question is , why did he go to POK to train for jihad....??
Did he lose any family member in the riots ?? Any near and dear ones ??
At least the movie does not show any such thing....
I would like to ask the director---did those muslims who lost their family members in riots all turn to terrorism ??
The answer is , most of them didn't....
Then why did Shahid , who didn't lose any family member in riots ??
Then how can the director justify Shahid's stint in a jihadi camp in POK ??
Similarly , may hindus are illtreated and subjected physical humiliation in Pak....
How many of them have turned to terrorism against Pakistan ?? Answer is---practically nobody....
Then how can Shahid's stint as a trainee jihadi in POK be treated as ' natural reaction ' to Bombay riots ??
The director wants us to pull off the amazing feat of believing that a would be jihadi is some kind of hero here in India....
Of course , Shahid remains only a would be jihadi....
He becomes disillusioned with the brutality of the training in POK and returns home to India....
Here the police is waiting for him and not only arrests him but also gives him the treatment reserved for jihadis . He is stripped naked and beaten .
Once again , the director makes the perfidy of wanting us to believe that this is a grave injustice , that he is being singled out because he is a muslim....
Tell me , what else do you expect if you go to Pakistani controlled jihadi training camps in POK ?? To be welcomed back in India with garlands of flowers ??
Then he is misled into signing a confession that he was involved in a terror plot , for which he has to spend years in Tihar jail....
Here he is again tried to be co opted for jihad by terrorists serving time in jail , but is saved by a former jihadi who himself was disillusioned by the jihad and who prevents Shahid from turning again to terrorism....
Instead he is encouraged to take up studies and becomes a lawyer....
The very fact that such a person with such a tainted past is eventually released from jail is testament to the fact that India has an impartial justice system , otherwise how could a former wannabe jihadi be set free by the courts ?? Yet the director acknowledges this fact only grudgingly , making one of the characters say that the justice system does work in India though it works only late....
Shahid Azmi takes up the opportunity to practice as a lawyer , where he is honest enough to refuse to take up cases of people who are real criminals---which costs him his job with a prominent lawyer....
His personal life is a major component of the movie , with his courtship with his wife Mariam leading to marriage . But the marriage turns upside down because he begins to get death threats due to the dangerous work he has undertaken lately....
So what is that dangerous work ?? It's that of taking up cases of people accused of terrorism against India....
Shahid proves to be a brilliant lawyer who is hard to beat in a courtroom debate , and the courtroom debates are filmed brilliantly....
The actor playing Shahid ( Rajkumar Yadav ) has acted all too well putting his heart and soul into getting into the skin of the character he is playing .
To be honest , the real life Shahid looks better than the actor playing him , but Raj kumar has compensated for his lack of looks by his superb acting , which may fetch him awards....
It is his high acquittal rate of those accused of terrorism which turns him into a hero , at least for some....
But he angers powerful people by taking up cases of those accused of being involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and as he begins to get death threats his wife leaves him....
His face is blackened by chauvinists...
Shahid is leading a very dangerous and charmed life....
So what will happen to him...??
To me the bigger question was , is he the hero that the director of the film has tried to make him out to be ?? Considering his past and considering the fact that he fought cases for the people of his own community , that is somewhat of a tall order....
Of course , at least some for whom he fought were declared innocent by the courts . So maybe he really fought for those he believed to be innocent....
And he didnt care about his life or his marriage in his pursuit of saving those people....
You certainly have to admit he had courage of conviction....
But a hero ?? That is for you to decide...to each his own.....
And like him or dislike him , you cannot ignore Shahid Azmi---not after this film , for it's that good....
Verdict---Good .
