Kaafir is decent watch about a woman’s plight

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The edit could have been brisker. But one must also remember that Kaafir is a rare case where a planned web series has been now retold as a feature. Which is good because as a story, this web series could have really tried our patience in terms of the pace of the storytelling, as the material would have been probably too less to entice a general viewer vis-à-vis the number of episodes.

Bhavani Iyer (whose best work includes Black and Raazi and whose only web series that was brilliant was 24) has written this film, said to be based on a true story, and the director is Sonam Nair (the outstanding Dupahiya and Masaba Masaba on the web and some indifferent movies).

Kainaaz Akhtar (Dia Mirza), a woman from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, is deserted by her typically chauvinistic husband as she “cannot conceive” and wishes to end her life. She jumps into a river, and while that attempt is unsuccessful, flows in unconscious into India, where she is picked up by a platoon of Indian soldiers, including a lawyer who is also a reporter, Vedant Rathod (Mohit Raina), who is there to cover the news of killed terrorists.

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The army has just eliminated other terrorists an Vedant, who has just lost his soldier brother to a terrorist attack masterminded by an ultra he himself has got acquitted, does not heed her plight and Kainaaz too is branded a militant. Kainaaz’s sentence is extended on flimsy grounds and she is still in prison for more than seven years. Ravished by a constable who allows her some “personal favors” like mailing her letters to her mother, she becomes pregnant.

The child grows up in jail and soon, she comes in contact with Vedant, who then meets his mother to do an interview. Recognizing her, he decides to resume his career as a counsel and fight in the court to make her go home. It’s a tough battle and it does not even end after she is released.

Meanwhile, Kainaaz is torn between gratitude for him and anger, because she has realized his role in her initial incarceration. A determined Vedant, however, makes sure that she returns to her mother and brother in Pakistan, though he has also begun to love her and she too has developed feelings for him. Of course, there are stumbling blocks here as well, for the daughter’s father is Indian.

While I have no idea if the last part is dramatized or real, the film is a decent watch. The emotional current is mostly effective, and Vedant’s relentless efforts and the daughter’s presence, give a whiff of the 2015 masterpiece, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, where the mother was on the other side of the border. Iyer’s dialogues are on point, and some situations, like Kainaaz accepting with resignation Siddiqui’s advances in desperation or the sequence where Vedant confesses his role in her being labeled a militant and finely brought out. Another outstanding series of sequences are of Vedant’s clashes with his father and his own inner demons that he battles.

Mohit Raina as Vedant gives a restrained, credibly intense performance as Vedant. Dia Mirza gets the role of her career so far and excels, especially in her nuanced facial expressions. Dishita Jain as her daughter is adorable, while Dara Sandhu as Rafique makes a routine but effective mark in his brief role as Kainaaz’s husband. Faezeh Jalali as Mastani, however, makes a solid impression as the jailer.

Ravi Singhal’s background score is in sync with the film’s needs. Sonam Nair does a competent job and the court scenes too are well-done.

But one last point showing a miasma that is sadly quite prevalent nowadays—pathetic subtitling! In the first 10 to 15 minutes of the show, we have these gems:

“This is Cornel Beig speaking” (Colonel Baig)

“Veer Rathodre” (Veer Rathore as per their spelling)

“I will assure it’s him sir” (I am sure it’s him sir)

“Yes get your right away” (Yes, get here right away)

The film has been released a while ago on ZEE5, but we must wait and see if the current national mood endorses it.

Rating: ***

ZEE5 presents Alchemy Films’ & Miracle Pictures’ Kaafir  Produced by: Siddharth P. Malhotra  Directed by: Sonam Nair  Written by: Bhavani Iyer  Music: Ravi Singhal Starring: Dia Mirza, Mohit Raina, Dishita Jain, Dara Sandhu, Abhiroy Singh, Umar Sharif, Faezeh Jalali, Vikram Sahu, Natasha Rostov, Divya Gandhi, Renuka Sharma, Meenal Kapoor, Sukhpal Singh & others

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