Review of Haddi: Nawazuddin Siddiqui and the film’s adversary Anurag Kashyap make strong impressions.
Review of Haddi
The Haddi poster, which featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui dressing as a transgender person, greatly caught my interest. I hoped the movie would expose the crime syndicate that certain transgender people covertly control. But as you see the movie, you realize that it is much more than that. Director Akshat Ajay Sharma combines intriguing aspects and presents this gritty and alluring narrative of revenge, violence, power, and retribution using the transgender community as a creative and engaging metaphor to reveal the network of criminal underbelly functioning across the capital city.
It’s gory everywhere, there are trigger-happy individuals on murdering sprees, and every action scene is nasty. Unfortunately, the most of the plot is revealed in the trailer. Yet Haddi is able to keep you interested and engrossed. The shift made by Nawaz was particularly fascinating to me since it was so intricate and well-planned. Haddi outperforms Taali somewhat, probably because the stakes are higher with Nawaz effectively posing as a transgender in the recent OTT drama Taali, which had a similar approach to Sushmita Sen’s character.
The plot
Haddi’s narrative opens with a trans woman named Harika (Nawaz) explaining to an elderly man how her community’s blessings are seen to be strong, its curse to be frightful, and its retaliation to be much more terrifying. The narrative is set against the backdrop of the contemporary ruins in NCR’s Gurgaon and Noida. In the subsequent scene, we see Haddi (also portrayed by Nawaz) joining a group of transgender and cross-dressers under the leadership of a gangster-turned-politician named Pramod Ahlawat (Anurag Kashyap), who manages several criminal enterprises. Haddi had previously lived in his hometown of Allahabad. Though Haddi quickly ascends the criminal food chain, his desire to get revenge on the mafia for wronging his family never goes away.
Nawaz aptly conveys the pain
Haddi is confident in his performances and may brag about them. In the most lovely way, Nawaz makes you believe in Harika. His accurate adaptation of a transgender person’s body language, speech, and general character is impressive. He portrays both roles equally well, and even as Haddi, you can see the agony in his eyes. You’ll adore the way Haddi demonstrates Nawaz’s adaptability since it is both strong and tender. It is heartening to see such a delicate representation handled with such maturity. One of the poignant subplots is Harika’s love story with Irfan (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub). They make you feel quite comfortable, even in the amorous times.
Despite the fact that Anurag Kashyap has appeared in several films as an actor, his portrayal of a cunning politician in Haddi is readily regarded as his greatest work to date. Even in front of Nawaz, who is known for playing such roles with such ease, Kashyap clearly brings his A game and exudes complete confidence.
In one scene where Kashyap and his men massacre Amma’s whole tribe, he sits peacefully with his headphones on, listening to music and even moving his body to the beat. It makes you angry and makes your spine cold. Ila Arun is as strong and commanding on film as Amma. Although Saurabh Sachdeva gives a sincere performance, the seriousness that Anurag Kashyap and Nawaz exude frequently pushes him to the background.
The soundtrack for the movie, which Rohan-Rohan composed with lyrics by Rohan Gokhale, really blew me away. Simply amazing, and every time the background tune Beparda plays, you get a sense of liberation, pleasure, and celebration. It perfectly expresses Harika’s inner experience when she encounters the lady she is inside.
A grin spreads over your face when you witness Harika and her innocence in the terrifying crime thriller Haddi. It will make you angry, afraid, and fearful. Zee5 is currently showing the movie online.
The well-intentioned, quick-paced, and well-crafted 134-minute twisted vengeance story takes great care not to denigrate the transgender community. The script and the way that events develop are given considerable consideration, and the characters are masterfully carved. The film’s fascinating tale, which was co-written by Sharma and Adamya Bhalla, is made possible by the subtle writing details.