Kaafir - Movie Review

Image Credit: https://zeetv.zee5.com/kaafir-character-promos-meet-kainaaz-akhtar-seher-and-vedant-rathod/

Few movies are so powerful that it makes you cry with the protagonists, feel what the actors are feeling. Few movies are so well directed that it focuses at several subtle and sensitive aspects of the society in a very powerful way. Kaafir does all that, and more.
(Kaafir is a Web Series being telecast on Zee5.com. Terming it as "movie" for sake of convenience)

There is a scene in the movie where the protagonist Kainaaz- a Pakistani woman- is sent to jail and inside the jail lockup, first, Hindu women tell her to move away sit on the Muslim women's side, and when she goes to the Muslims' side, Muslim women tell her to shift away sit in the Pakistani section of the jail lockup. The helpless, emotionless expression on Kainaaz's face, breaks your heart. 

In another scene, after a terrorist blast in J&K, some angry youngsters attacked the army officer's house where Kainaaz was staying (since she was a Pakistani). With kainaaz inside with her daughter, they set the house on fire. The two persons who came to rescue both had their relatives' killed in terrorist attacks earlier. One was Suri Uncle's wife who had lost her husband in the very terrorist blast, and another was Vedant, who had lost his army officer brother in a terrorist attacks several years earlier. The incident shows the great divide in society, the divide of blind hatred and matured conscience.

The movie is not only of a Pakistani woman stuck in Indian jails on flimsy grounds of "National security" (flimsy because there was no evidence, and no investigation) . It is also the story of the struggle in the life of a woman, who has to play the role of a daughter, a wife, and a mother in extreme circumstances of the patriarchal, misogynist world. What's more, the movie is also about a righteous man's resolve and conviction in doing the good. The movie is about the fight of good vs the bad elements of society, where ultimately the good wins, but after a lot of pain and sacrifices. 

A still from the movie, where Kainaaz, after winning her freedom from court,
falls on her feet crying, and her little daughter comes running to console her

Look at it- the woman protagonist Kainaaz played by Dia Mirza- first gets ditched by her husband in Pakistan, then she jumps into river to commit suicide, doesn't die but lands into Indian jails. There she gets served 15 months jail term, gets raped by a jailer, and has to remain under extreme circumstances in the jail, not for just 15 months, but for more than 8 yrs!

And look at the male protagonist in the movie- Vedant, played by Mohit Raina, he is from a military family- his two brothers are in army and his father is a retired Police officers. The irony in his life, is that his younger brother was killed by a terrorist, who he himself had got released from jail in capacity of lawyer, under impression that the guy was innocent and not a terrorist! And yet again, he takes up the case of a Pakistani woman Kainaaz! He also takes it up going against his father's constant opposition.

The movie touches upon several delicate issues, and focuses on many conflicting emotions in the minds of the lead protagonists. There is an angle of love and sacrifice, there is the element of guilt, and there is the depiction of great resolve and conviction in face of severe extreme circumstances. Dia Mirza does magic with her acting and expressions, she absolutely dives into the character making it to so real that you feel her pain as she faces. Mohit Raina in his role of the lead male protagonist too plays a great part. The Child actor Dikshita Jain is so cute, lovely and innocent. Several of her innocent questions bring smile on your face. The script writer of the movie has been superb. The movie is replete with several deep dialogues which touch your heart. All in all, this is one gem of a movie, one is a million kind, not to be missed at all. The director, producers and the entire team deserves a huge applaud for making a movie on such theme, with such nuance and depth.

Ending it, I would like to mention a few of the many, fabulous dialogues from the movie:-

"हम जेल वापस चलते हैं अम्मी, यहाँ बाहर मुझे अच्छा नहीं लगता है"

"कायनाज जी, हाथ खुले हो या जुड़े हो, कोई फ़र्क़ नहीं पड़ता; इबादत का तरीक़ा नहीं, नीयत मायने रखती है"

"जेल की खिड़की की सलाखों से जब मैं खुले आसमान और पहाड़ों को देखती, तो मुझे वही खुला आसमान और पहाड़ नज़र आते, जो मेरे मुल्क में भी है क़ुदरत सब के लिए एक है, इंसान ही लकीरें बनाता है"

"दुनिया को अगर नफ़रत की निगाहों से देखा जाए तो हमें नफ़रत का ही एहसास होता है। अगर हम दुनिया को प्यार की निगाहों से देखें तो, प्यार का एहसास होता है"

"मारने वालों से बचाने वाले बहुत ज़्यादा हैं, लेकिन बस बेटा वो चुप रहना सीख गए हैं"

"लोग लड़ते हैं मिलने की ख़ातिर,

पर अपनी तो बिछड़ जाने की लड़ाई थी |

जीत मिली हम दोनो को बस, बस आँसू की कमाई थी " 
(the small part of the longer "The Kaafir Poem" by Swanand Kirkire )