Haider

Haider is one of the great Shakespeare film adaptations, and has a film score and visual style that is both appropriate and inventive. The first half of the film sets up the world of 1990s Kashmir, while the second half focuses more on the Shakespearean plot (while taking some creative liberties). A few notes:* The play-within-a-play scene features one of the most aggressive Hamlet's since Branagh, and it uses Bollywood dance and Kashmiri puppetry to great effect.* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are hilariously and appropriately cast as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum sychophants, and we first see them in a VHS rental shop trying to copy a dance routine on the television.* Ophelia's madness is shown literally unraveling until, in one of the most striking images in the movie, she is lying in bed, hollow and empty, red yarn strewn like blood over her body.* the graveyard scene is appropriately comic and poignant* the final scene is explosive, taking many liberties with the script, and goes with the interpretation that Gertrude is repentant, knowledgeable about Claudius' plan to kill Hamlet, and purposely sacrificing herself for her son (the RSC followed a similar line of thinking years ago). It also ties itself back to the "to be or not to be" speech.

This is a Hindi movie equivalent of an English/german movie which tries to portray Jewish Holocaust from a hitlers view point and justifying the same.

Vishal Bhardwaj has managed to present, for the most part, a good adaptation of this powerful story using an interesting and engaging narration. The lead actors in the film have performed their parts very well, making the experience of movie watching quite enjoyable.But what puzzles me (and perhaps many other people too, if I go by some of the comments and discussions going on in social media and also on the basis of a few reviews of the film) is the choice of political context in which the story of Haider has been situated.Allow me to present a list of seven points which made me wonder whether this time around the filmmaker's love for Shakespeare has taken a backseat to his politics in this third adaptation of the bard's plays.To read full review, go to my website: http://letbeautybeyourconstantideal.blogspot.in/2014/10/when-movie-gets-political-case-of-haider.html

A bit slow and long winded - the content could've been covered in 90 minutes. The storyline's a bit choppy in places (possibly because of censorship).

I did a little research on the Kashmir region’s history before I watched this, which helped me understand the setting and historical context, and I believe that was necessary for me to derive as much enjoyment from this version of Hamlet as I did. I absolutely LOVE this movie. The acting and the soundtrack are fabulous.

What a great re-vision of the Hamlet story!! I love the way they re-conceived Ophelia's character, so she's not just the helpless dupe of her father and brother. The scene with the Gravediggers is totally amazing!! It turns out they are insurgents, and when the Claudius character shows up, they pull out an arsenal of machine guns and a huge battle ensues. Those are the kind of grave diggers I like!!

I loved the way this movie seamlessly weaves together two stories - one is the story of Hamlet and the other is the Indian/Pakistani conflict. They compliment each other well and I learned something new about both of them. I thought the movie had solid acting, beautiful sets/landscapes and of course great musical choices.

I DON'T KNOW THE HISTORICAL FACTS THAT ARE USED AS BACKGROUND TO THE PLOT, MAYBE IS ALL A LIE, BUT ARTISTICALLY IS THE BEST VERSION OF HAMLET EVER. BY THE WAY SHAKESPEARE WASN'T HISTORICALLY ACCURATE NEITHER.