Stop
right
here.
Shahid
is
the
sort
of
rare
raw
unnerving
journey
into
a
socio-political
reality
that
our
cinema
needs
to
undertake
regularly
but
seldom
does.
Our
filmmakers
largely
veer
away
from
doing
films
whose
redolent
realism
could
ruffle
political
feathers.
First
and
foremost,
Hansal
Mehta's
film
on
the
real-life
slain
lawyer
Shahid
Azmi
is
a
fearless
work.
Fearless
and
unfettered,
Mehta
wastes
no
time
in
establishing
the
monstrous
marginalization
of
the
Muslim
community
in
a
society
where
terrorism
has
blurred
the
majority
community's
sense
of
propriety
to
the
extent
of
unmitigated
bigotry.
Shahid
is
an
exposition
on
abject
isolation.
There
is
a
harrowing
sequence
of
police
brutality
in
the
film
where
the
film's
Muslim
lawyer-hero
sits
on
the
hard
floor
of
a
police
station
stark
naked
shivering
as
the
cop
repeatedly
accuses
Shahid
of
terror
activities.
The
protagonist's
absolute
humiliation
at
that
point
in
the
narration
hits
us
where
it
hurts
the
most.
Predominantly
Shahid
is
about
an
impatient
society
anxieties
to
find
scapegoats
for
the
growing
violence
all
around
us.
In
Shahid,
Mehta
chronicles
the
life
of
lawyer
Shahid
Azmi
with
the
kind
of
deft
clenched
directness
that
one
encounters
in
the
docu-dramas
of
Costa-Gavras
or
nearer
home,
the
searching
searing
cinema
of
the
uprooted
and
isolated
individual
that
Adoor
Gopalkrishnan
specialises
in.
The
silence
of
the
night
is
punctured
by
the
shrill
sound
of
the
phone.
Slurred
threats
are
hurled.
Taking
the
abuse
on
his
chin,
the
crusading
lawyer,
played
with
scintillating
austerity
by
Rajkumar
Yadav,
sits
stoically
at
the
centre
of
the
debris
of
destruction
of
distrust
as
he
undertakes
a
jehad
to
prove
the
innocence
of
the
arbitrarily
accused.
What
would
those
wretched
TADA
under
trials,
locked
up
and
left
to
languish
for
life,
have
done
without
Shahid
Azmi
to
fight
for
their
lives?
Of
course,
he
pays
with
his
life.
Whether
it's
Romeo
or
Shahid,
all
heroes
must
come
to
a
suitably
sticky
end.
That's
what
you
get
for
trying
to
be
a
hero.
Sometimes
while
you
try
to
be
larger
than
life,
life
creeps
up
on
you
to
make
its
own
outrageous
claims.
Mehta
has
set
out
to
convert
the
slain
lawyer's
valorous
tale
into
an
authentic
exposition
on
the
residue
of
retribution.
Shahid
is
a
must-see
film
with
an
absolutely
impeccable
subtext
that
can
be
read
as
an
urgent
warning
against
the
politics
of
isolation
practiced
by
many
political
parties.
Be
warned.
You
might
be
voting
for
violence.
Have
a
look
at
the
slide
show
for
images
and
further
review
of
Shahid.
Must
Watch
What
comes
across
with
forceful
impact
is
the
protagonist's
yen
for
justice.
This
man
who
has
suffered
the
worst
humiliation
and
suffering
in
custody
won't
allow
the
same
shame
and
pain
for
those
who
are
wrongfully
confined.
This
man
means
business.
We
must
hear
his
story.
Gripping
Story
Shahid
is
a
crucial
document
of
our
troubled
times.
It
builds
an
incredibly
gripping
case-study
of
persecution
and
vindication.
The
treatment
of
the
topical
subject
is
never
ponderous
or
polemical.
Brilliant
Performance
This
brilliant
actor,
whose
forte
is
underplaying,
imbues
Shahid's
role
with
the
kind
of
tightly-reined
tumult
and
an
unspoken
anguish
that
actors
in
our
cinema
seldom
get
a
chance
to
put
forward
in
the
characters
they
play.
Electrifying
Courtroom
Sequences
There
are
some
highly
poignant
electrifying
courtroom
sequences
shot
with
the
languorous
devastating
dinginess
of
courtrooms
that
have
killed
off
all
chances
of
justice
for
the
damned.
Standing
Ovation
Here
is
a
performance
that
deserves
a
standing
ovation,
primarily
because
it
doesn't
scream
for
attention.
Drama
Of
Persecution.
In
a
language
that
embraces
the
complexities
pertaining
to
the
issue
of
Islamic
isolation,
Mehta's
film
cracks
open
the
code
of
that
unexplored
genre
of
cinema
known
as
the
drama
of
persecution.
Watch
This
biographical
movie
will
hit
the
theatres
on
this
Friday,
October
18.
Do
have
a
look
at
the
trailer
of
the
film
below.