Haider's Strength Lies in the Technical Aspects, But Not in the Emotional

Waves
Bhardwaj's Adaptations:
In spite of the fact that I had seen the two other films of Vishal Bhardwaj, Maqbool
and Omkara which are the adaptations from William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and
"Othello", I went to see Haider with a completely different expectation that
Bhardwaj would be careful this time in exploring the psychological intricacies of
the protagonist, Haider as well as the emotional conflicts of the different characters
of the film that seemed to be absent in the previous two films. But my expectations
were hardly met in this film.
Understanding of the Play:
"Hamlet" has been one of two of my personal favorite plays of Shakespeare, the
other being "Macbeth". There are two very important aspects in the play that
appealed me the most. The first is, Hamlet's relation with the two characters of the
play, Gertrude, his mother and Ophelia, his love interest. The deep emotional
turmoils that these three characters undergo all through the play has been a favorite
subject of cultivation for me. The second is of course Hamlet's own psychological
problems and confusions ultimately leading to an all ruining result for all the
characters of the play. Though the play rightly follows the Revenge Tragedy genre,
I like T.S. Eliot's analysis of the play in his "Hamlet and His Problems", where,
the essayist very poignantly commented that the confusion of Hamlet is the
confusion of the playwright himself as what to do with the play. He commented
that the play is "most certainly an artistic failure.". At the same time he stated that
the play enjoys critical appreciation as Hamlet's presentation as a very intellectual
character appeals the creative minds.
Of course there are criticisms to this point of view and I personally believe that the
weaving of the play's plot is made in such a roundabout way that it is highly
inappropriate to decide whether this complexity was intentional or result of
Shakespeare's own confusion. However, it is true that all these controversies and
analysis make it clear that only an expert handling of this play can bring out its
best sides.
Bhardwaj's Trilogy:
I must admit that Vishal Bhardwaj's other two films, the two adaptations of
Shakespearean dramas, Macbeth and Othello failed to meet my expectations due to
the weakness of emotional reasoning as well as because of weak endings. In
Maqbool, the protagonist's intention to kill his boss is not very strong. On the other
hand, in Omkara, the climax of the film, where Othello realizes that he has made a
great mistake by killing his wife and has been subjected to treachery, is very poorly
executed, thus, making the audience heavily disappointed.

Haider and His Problems:

In Haider, Vishal manages to keep the audience glued to the screen because of the
visual beauty of Kashmir, Interesting dialogues, interesting use of the music,
choreography etc. In fact there are moments in the film, such as the dance drama
sequence where Haider performs, Heider's first appearance as an insane, the
murder of the two Salmans, which are worth viewing second time. But when it
comes to the part of acting, I must say that the actors needed to be groomed well,
so well that they can express their emotions through light expressions, not through
heavy sobbing and flat and loud dialogue throw. Most of the actors taken in this
film are well experienced and quite apt in taking up the complex roles. Had they
been groomed well, I see no reason why they would not have acted better than
what they actually did. One exception is of course, Irrfan Khan who really acts
well under the cloth of the "Ghost" as Roohdaar.
So far Shahid Kapoor in the role of Hamlet is concerned, I must agree with the fact
that Shahid is a very enthusiastic as well as dedicated actor. But all the through the
film, he lacked the intellectual appeal, that attracted millions of Shakespearean
critics throughout the ages. He shows too much of emotion, that makes his
character absolutely flat, except only a few occasions. The same can be observed in
his relation with his mother, Ghazala. Intricacy of love and hatred between these
two characters could have been established more deeply if the director had given
time in exploring how to use expressions, props and dialogues showing the
emotional attachments between the mother and the son amidst all the weaknesses
and emotional conflicts.
Internal Weaving of the Plot of Haider:

In fact, I feel the same about the whole film. To arrive to the main plot Bhardwaj
takes time up to the interval, and after the interval he increases the pace of the film
to such as extent that the most interesting parts of the play are hardly touched. It
becomes more of a flick rather than an actual presentation of a proper adaptation of
Shakespearean drama. even a very important part of the play, the gravedigger's
scene, has been very stylistically, yet quickly executed. But, it is evident and
accepted by many Shakespearean critics that this scene actually is key to the
philosophical and psychological understanding of Hamlet's intellectual world and
the overall weaving of the plot. Bhardwaj's hastiness provokes some questions,
Was he in a hurry to finish the film? Or is it that he was afraid to deal with these
parts that are no doubt complex? Another explanation of avoiding these parts is
that he wanted to provide a more simplified version of the plot which is equally
unacceptable as the former ones. Hamlet is not a pulp fiction. Commercializing the
plot of this play is not at all objectionable as long as it carries the true essence of
it's origin.
Haider fails to be a classic. It fails to tantalize the audience with emotions as the
original play could do. If one watches the film adaptations of "Hamlet" starring
Lawrence Olivier or Mel Gibson or Kenneth Brannah or even Ethan Hawk in the
titular role, he can easily understand the difference.
Along with time Hindi Commercial films have become much bolder and
technically sound. Haider is a proper example of this technical superiority. Be it
cinematography, be it out of the box usage of the musics and songs, Haider shows
high expertise. But when it comes to the emotional appeal, Haider scores poor.
there lies the failure of the film.