Ever since Hansal Mehta made a comeback with his 2.0 avatar, he has become a director to watch out for. He impressed audiences with Shahid, Citylights, Aligarh, Chhalaang and the much-talked-about web show, Scam 1992. And now, he’s back with a terrorist hostage flick, Faraaz. While he falters at some places with this film, it’s still quite a commendable effort.
The story of the movie: On July 1, 2016, Faraaz Hussain (Zahaan Kapoor) in Dhaka, Bangladesh has a small tiff with his mother (Juhi Babbar Soni) over not going to Stanford for further studies. Both however reconcile after which Faraaz goes to an upmarket café, Holey Artisan, for dinner with his friends, Rabia (Reshham Sahaani) and Tarika (Palak Lalwani). Meanwhile, 5 radicalized terrorists – Nibras (Aditya Rawal), Rohan (Sachin Lalwani), Mobashir (Jatin Sareen), Bikaash (Harshal Pawar) and Khairul (Ninad Bhatt) – trained by a man named Rajeev also arrive at Holey Artisan and attack the patrons. They carefully fire only at foreign citizens and take the Bangladeshi Muslims hostage. While lining up the surviving guests, Nibras, an unofficial leader of the 5 terrorists, is surprised to see Faraaz. Both know each other from college days and Faraaz is meanwhile astonished to see a highly educated Nibras getting brainwashed and joining the terrorists. Outside the café, there’s pandemonium as news of the hostage spreads. Several cops also get killed when they try going close to the café. Meanwhile, inside Holey Artisan, Faraaz is scared for Tarika as she’s an Indian citizen, and he wants to ensure the terrorists don’t learn about it.
Speaking of performances, Aditya Rawal steals the show with his intense performance and looks. He has the maximum screen time of all actors. Zahaan Kapoor has less screen time though the film is named after his character. But he makes up for it with his acting. Also, his innocent, charming looks work for his character. Juhi Babbar Soni leaves a huge mark as a helpless mother. She is lovely in the final scene. Out of the terrorists, Sachin Lalwani is memorable due to his looks, performance and characterization. Jatin Sareen, Harshal Pawar and Ninad Bhatt are okay. Reshham Sahaani and Palak Lalwani are decent. Aamir Ali (Sudhir Sen) gets limited scope. Ashish Bhatt (Musician) is memorable, especially in scenes where the terrorists mistreat him. Nitin Goel (SI Farooque), Amir Shoeb (Zaraif; Faraaz’s brother) and the actors playing Rajeev, Dr Salim Iqbal, cafe owner Anwar Mehandi, Manirul of SWAT, Benazir Ahmed of RAB are fine.
Sameer Rahat‘s music is forgettable. Pratham Mehta‘s cinematography is raw and neat. Nikhil Kovale‘s production design is authentic. Shivank Kapoor‘s costumes are straight out of life. Sunil Rodrigues‘ action is intentionally gory. Amitesh Mukherjee‘s editing could have been sharper.
Ritesh Shah, Kashyap Kapoor and Raghav Raj Kakker‘s story, inspired by a true incident, is intriguing and shocking. Moreover, many Indian audiences are not aware of this ghastly incident and hence, they’ll be curious to know what happens next in the film. Ritesh Shah, Kashyap Kapoor and Raghav Raj Kakker‘s screenplay is gripping. The film has no boring moments as a lot is happening every now and then and hence viewers will be glued to the screen. A few sequences are very well written and thought of, especially Faraaz and Nibras’ confrontation. Ritesh Shah, Kashyap Kapoor and Raghav Raj Kakker‘s dialogues pack a punch.
Hansal Mehta‘s direction is supreme. With his work, he reminds one of Shahid, as Faraaz is also in a similar space, in terms of mood and treatment. He goes all out with the violence and this was needed for the script to make an impact. He also manages to infuse humour into the narrative. This was not an easy feat. The episode of the clash of ideologies between Faraaz and Nibras also happens very organically and it is what makes the film very relevant for today’s times. Hansal also deserves praise as he also successfully shows how the cops and armed forces have the ability to tackle such challenges but are prevented from doing so due to political reasons.
On the flipside, Faraaz’s duration is too long at 113 minutes. The film starts to drag in the second half and ideally, it should have been shorter by 15 or even 30 minutes. The target audience of this film is the elite crowd, which must have seen tighter hostage films from Hollywood. Hence, a shorter run time would have surely helped. Secondly, the ending is a bit underwhelming, especially how the hostages are let off. The whole reason behind it is not convincingly explained. Lastly, this doesn’t make for a comfortable experience and hence, it won’t appeal to a wider audience.
On the whole, Faraaz deserves a watch for its unusual subject, message and powerful performances. The fact that many are not aware of this incident will also help in generating the desired impact. However, the film falters a bit due to the long length and finale.
My rating – *** out of 5!