Haraamkhor
Movie Info
Synopsis
Haraamkhor is a movie based in a small Gujarati town, where a school teacher has more than an academic interest in one of his female students.Wikipedia
Starring Cast
Haraamkhor Reviews
6
It’s a compelling story and for the most part it’s well told.
4
Shweta Tripathi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui front a film about a topic we barely acknowledge, forget showing it in our films. Director Shlok Sharma shows talent.
9
Haraamkhor is one film you just shouldn’t miss, even if it’s just to see how Hindi cinema is exploring new themes with finesse.
6
'Haraamkhor' has good performances to watch but it won’t appeal to the masses. Since there are multiple big releases this Friday, pick this only if you are an ardent Nawazzudin Siddiqui fan or want to see an unconventional love story with a social message.
6
Haraamkhor may not appeal to the regular Bollywood audience but if you’re a Nawazuddin Siddiqui fan and love watching performance-oriented films, this shouldn’t be missed at all...
5
Haraamkhor isn't a ground-breaker, but it certainly is worthy of applause for its fearlessness and for the impressive quality of the acting.
6
Haraamkhor shows a lot of promise but ends up being way too vague to be hard-hitting.
-
Nawazuddin Siddiqui has made a career out of playing the evil man, so he gets into his role in “Haraamkhor” with ease, bringing the right kind of sliminess to Shyam’s character that will make you despise him. Tripathi as Sandhya is wonderful too, but it is Irfan Khan and Mohd Samad, the two boys who play Kamal and Mintu, who are the two standout performers in the film.
6
Haraamkhor starts off as a very enjoyable film that’s filled with funny situations, unique characters and an overall enjoyable aura. But in the second half the story seems to take unnecessary turns, slowing its pace down. It will still be a delight to watch for those who admire the genius that is Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
8
There is a lot to love and lot to notice in Haraamkhor. The film is like a diamond; the more you notice, the more you find imperfections which make it all the more beautiful, all the more perfect. Just one advice: Don't take your jaanu to watch it with you, it is not a date movie.
8
This film is insightful and dark, a certified entry into the indie and art cinema stable. If you like your films to be gritty and real, Haraamkhor is a real mean machine.
2
After the insipid scripting, the lack of connection of Nawaz and Shweta with the audience becomes the movie's biggest drawback. Further during the climax when we pray that this tepidly misguided attempt will reach to some conclusion, a dark, abrupt end makes the matter worse leaving the audience in confusion whether to scratch their brains or tear the screen in which they have just seen HARAMKHOR - ironically, the makers have managed to objectify the movie's title in the end. BRAVO. What an art!!
6
How far will this film travel? Not sure. No one ever is. It is, however, a very interesting take worth the big screen, if not in the theatre, then ideally in the comfort of home since Netflix or Amazon very much allow such options.
7
See Haraamkhor for its original and audacious content and for the way the debutant director extracts a gush of empathy from these bored characters even during their worst moments. Love, we always knew, as redemptive. But lust needn’t be all bad either.
-
Though the scenes are repetitive, Sharma does succeed in walking the edge between intensity and airiness and transporting the audience into this simple and confined world. As the uneasiness builds, you brace yourself for an explosive end.Unfortunately, when it does come there is a sense that everything that preceded it was designed to lead up to it and, as grisly as it is, like everything before, this scene too does not move you. I didn’t feel for any of the characters and I was let down by this emotional disinterest.
6
In a small town, when a young girl battling hormones battles loneliness and finds it easy to seduce a local teacher, who thinks nothing of but his own pleasure, there is chaos in the lives of a young lad (and his friend) who stalk her constantly. This is such fearlessly new storytelling, it takes getting used to. But it's a story that needs to be told.
Audience Reviews for Haraamkhor
-
Looking back, having failed to catch this interesting-looking film at the 2015 Mumbai Film Festival due to BookMyShow's ridiculous ticketing system is not that unfortunate. That is because this social drama only looks good, but is surprisingly hollow.
Shyam (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a teacher who lives with his wife in a small house near the school where he teaches math to secondary-class students. He also moonlights as a tutor at his home for students who appear to be both academically weak and mischievous. Perfect examples of such types are two boys named Kamal (Irfan Khan) and Mintu (Mohd Samad) who think that their class-cum- tuition mate Sandhya (Shweta Tripathi) is fond of Shyam, who seems to be the only teacher around. What follows is Kamal and Mintu's countless attempts at showcasing the former's love to Sandhya while she is absorbed by Shyam's mature persona due to the much-discussed natural effect of adolescence.
Director Shlok Sharma is surely not fooling around when it comes to hitting the point - the illicit relationship between teacher and student. How it originates is rather a touchy subject and Sharma fails there, causing the film to be a partial depiction of all that was intended. Although he makes the audience ask the question as to who the real haraamkhor (unprincipled) is - Shyam or Sandhya or someone else, there is this lack of depth which lingers throughout the film. Soon enough, it becomes certain who the unprincipled character is, but by then one more thing becomes certain - there is no explanation as to why happened what happened. Did Shyam make the effort despite being married? Or was it Sandhya who craved to know more about "adult love", fueled by issues at home?
One may try to decipher the answers to the questions, but then it would become a hike and you wouldn't gain any entertainment, unless you consider Kamal and Mintu and their hilarious activities. The screenplay is rather crisp with Siddique and Tripathi both holding waters, but someone here in the IMDb message boards gets it right when he says Siddiqui cannot alone drive a film forward. He is brilliant as his typecast character, but insufficient when it comes to being the main guy. Tripathi was lovable in Masaan (2015), but the credits tell me this is her debut film. Her innocent face and those telling eyes puts her perfectly into character as the naive 9th grader.
All in all, the film is decently made, but is without the ingredients that are essential to club social message with feasibility. Working on a story and putting it on screen without exploring its causes and factors is bad filmmaking. However, an afternoon watch on Netflix won't hurt, but make sure you watch it alone and not with your Indian parents.
BOTTOM LINE: Shlok Sharma's "Haraamkhor" is about an affair between a teacher and a student that provides limited information to talk about a widely relevant subject. Had there been a gender-swapped version, things would have been different, and that is the film's biggest flaw. Watch it on your free Netflix subscription.
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO2January 20, 17
