Faraaz (2022) User Reviews

Mr. Hansal Mehta disappoints

[Biswas_ · 4/10 · 5 February 2023]

The intention of this film was good, to show us the story of Faraaz, a boy who stood by his friends in tough times of a terrorist attack at Holey Artisan bakery (2016) and also challenges the terrorists of their interpretation of Islam.

But my first question arises is that we have many films in India based on the same topics so why do we need a story from Bangladesh made in india? I am not complaining that bravery stories should not be narrated . We must know their stories but my question is, have Indian films covered up the stories of all bravehearts in india ? Have we run out of Indian bravery stories that we now have to look for more in other countries? In that case, we might just see some bravery story being made in India based on some American guy or some Israeli guy etc etc. I really didn't get this entire thing.

Second question, the film is based in Bangladesh but everyone speaks in pure Hindi with not even one Bengali word or even a tinch of Bengali accent in their hindi language . I had to slap myself twice to remind myself that this film is not set in Delhi but in Dhaka. This is unbelievable. Hansal Mehta has absolutely not given any effort to reviewing the fact that some Bengali words or accent should be present in the dialogues. He assumed if we incorporate Bengali probably noones gonna understand the language when one section of Indian audience itself is Bengali.

Third question, why is this film at times unintentionally funny? Such a terrifying event taking place and we have terrorists and even the police outside exchanging dialogues that sound funny. The police outside itself is shown as a joke doing nothing and only getting killed by the terrorists.

Fourth question, the film is named Faraaz but our boy Faraaz is just a side character in this film. Isn't that weird? I mean Aditya Rawal, the lead terrorist gets the maximum screen space and Faraaz i believe gets a screen space of ...at the most 15 mins and the film is 1 hr 40 mins long. The director is clearly unsure who the lead of this film should be. If the film is to be based on Faraaz , then i would suggest anyone veiwing this film to just see the first 20 mins and the last 20 mins that's it. The remaining 1 hr is just terrorists roaming around doing nothing and the police running around... doing nothing .

Aditya Rawal definitely seems a good actor. The boy who plays Faraaz doesn't get to show much but still seemed good in those last 20 mins.

Overall, this is a film which should have existed in Bangladesh than in india but what can we do? Since it's made now in india, we can't reverse it. You may watch it on ott to witness Faraaz 's story but his story itself is so short that it hardly had any impact on me atleast and on top of that, the execution of this film is also extremely average topped with some jarring decisions like not to incorporate an iota of Bengali in the dialogues.... certainly not Hansal Mehta's top work.

Totally misleading from the actual event.

[mdrazibhussain · 5/10 · 21 February 2023]

This movie made upon a real story but barely followed the actual story. Totally disrespectful to the people died in this event and to their friends and family.

Even this movie is poorly made, just an shameless attempt to make money by using the name this sensitive issue.

For this reason, one of the victims (Abanti) family filed a complain in the Supreme court of Bangladesh and the court banned this movie from all Cinrma and online platforms. That's proofs that this movie is not legally nor ethically okay.

Another fact is Bangladeshi police talking hindi in this movie! What a joke! No Bangladeshi talks hinfi to themselves. The movie maker was so confused about what he is making!

Not entirely sure what the role of the film's namesake is.

[saudaminikulkarni · 5/10 · 2 April 2023]

These are real events and most people who read about what happened in the upscale cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh know what happened and how the events unfolded.

Naming the movie after Faraaz, the brave, idealistic young man who stood by his friends when terrorists threatened their lives, would perhaps have been a smarter choice if he actually had more of a role in the movie. Most of his scenes have been spent shaking in pain or holding his friends in fear, with little to no actual dialogues , which does make sense in a realistic scenario of what people would do if such a situation arose, but perhaps does not make for very entertaining viewing. The best actor by far, is Aditya Rawal playing the main terrorist Nibras . He is shrewd, darkly funny and very very believable.

Biased storytelling and altered factual events.

[ezazewu · 1/10 · 8 February 2023]

It is a good attempt to make a film about this horrible event. However, as the film producers are making this one for commercial purposes, they have altered many actual incidents and made it suitable to watch and enjoy like a thriller movie. For a Bangladeshi viewer, who knows the actual facts, it is difficult to watch this movie considering the actual event in mind. Therefore, if you told this story as fiction and altered the name and natural places, it could be acceptable for many viewers. To mention the good part, everyone, like the actor, director and sound engineer, did their best. Personally, I couldn't enjoy the movie with biased storytelling and altered factual events.

Lame

[asifeedsbl · 1/10 · 18 January 2023]

So funny. Bangladesh Police is talking in hindi wearing the official uniform of Bangladesh Police. Sarcastic for that specific police force. So lame.

In Bangladesh, another movie maker named Mostafa Sarwar Farooqui directed another movie in same topic that is named as "Shonibar Bikele" or "In the afternoon of a Saturday". But the sensor board did not permit him to publish this movie due to some reasons which is really a matter of sorrow. And they appealed to release the movie before months whereas he is still waiting to release it. But bollywood has made it done by making this unrealistic movie on the topic of anothercountry. This is very funny.

Not a bad movie

[ragha_imt · 7/10 · 15 April 2023]

Firstly a message to my Bangladeshi brethren... can you please calm down about Bangladeshi police speaking Hindi. What exactly were you guys expecting... that they would speak shudh Bangla .. and us people in South India would magically understand it? That's the best you can think of to thrash this film? Jeez! You guys need to grow up.

I can empathize with your anger about the film maker trying to whitewash Faraaz's role. I'm a neutral guy in a corner of south India and hence can buy your argument about lack of evidence about whether Faraaz was truly a hero. But this is where I again want to call our common cultural background from the Indian subcontinent...I think it is highly stupid of us to expect our film industry to be truthful to history when the real torch bearers of history themselves aren't. Many movies of Indian historical incidents that are so totally distorted. Rani Padmavat. That wasn't even a real character. And yet there was a huge controversy in India over it... all because some Bollywood director thought he was given the duty of educating us about history. Take our Bollywood movies with a bag of salt... and keep the perspective that this is only a movie. You guys have enough things to bow your head about how things transpired with the traitors in your country post independence. When you can live with that... this is small fry.

Disgraceful!

[safwaanulhaque · 1/10 · 8 February 2023]

"Faraaz" is a major disappointment and a prime example of unoriginal filmmaking. The movie blatantly copies the concept from the Bangladesh "Holy Artisan" incident, making it lack any true creativity. The characters are poorly developed and the plot is predictable and lacks any real substance.

This original language is "Bangla" but they talked in Hindi FUNNY. Their acting is subpar and underwhelming. Overall, this movie is not worth your time and money. Please don't watch it and don't provoke others. Avoid it and support films that bring original and thought-provoking content to the big screen.

One of the best of 2023

[ragingbull_2005 · 7/10 · 8 April 2023]

Remember ISIS?

They shocked the world because of the brutalities orchestrated by educated and radicalized youth, in the name of religion. These cruelties were conducted in the sands of Levant, in Iraq and Syria, and across the urban centres of Europe and Asia. This tells the story of one such attack, in Bangladesh, on a bakery that was frequented by foreign nationals, including Indians.

It is supremely well made and extremely intense. The fanatical terrorists will send chills up your spine, with their fluent English and twisted religious philosophies.

The titular Faraaz is played by Shakti Kapoor's son. He doesn't get too much to do, besides talk in barely understandable lingo, for most of his part. However, he gets two really powerful scenes towards the end, which show his acting chops, as he argues about the true meaning of religious texts with the fanatics, one of whom happens to be his known.

Hansal Mehta, the old warhorse who last created Scam 1992, gives another dark thriller on terrorism, after Omerta.

Its low rating is shocking. So are the reviews on IMDb, which are heavily one sided and focus on the film's depiction of the ham handedness of Bangladeshi security and political response.

It is the one film to watch this weekend. Very well made. Highly recommended.

Don't waste your time on it

[j_swadhin · 1/10 · 20 February 2023]

Movie concept visualization 0 out of 10, acting hardly 2 out of 10, and I must say poster face is not like a hero face and more like a villain villain look... people should expect this- With this poor acting there must be a strong story. But the movie failed in both way. Also I heard that this is inspired by a true story from Bangladesh, And the hero name is also directly copied. The authority did not get permission to make this movie and This movie is Banned in Bangladesh because of this. This must be a poor decision of the producer.

Also overall if you do not have anything to do and wanna waste your time please go ahead and not-enjoy the movie.

Not Bollywood's story to tell...

[oeishee · 1/10 · 28 July 2023]

I am surprised to see what a lame & lousy treatment this horrific incident has been given. 22 innocent people (natives and foreigners) lost their lives and mr director left no stone unturned to capitalise on it. Hansal Mehta didn't even have the permission from the victims' families to use their real identities and portray made up stories about what happened to their kids on screen. Also, from the first scene it shows what a superficial idea the makers have about terrorists.

My question is, how is this bs getting international recognition while a film about Holey Artisan incident made in Bangladesh by Bangladeshi director, crew and cast facing difficulties to even release it?

Lame - Misrepresentation

[ifanbhuiyan · 1/10 · 1 April 2023]

Hansal Mehta thought just by showing few footage from Dhaka would make it look like Dhaka. And by showing Tupi and Hijab and beard will make them look like Bangladeshi people. Not everyone looks like that. Wrong concept. They were showing RAB 2 at Holy Artisan, where Gulshan is RAB 1 zone. Bangla fonts were copy pasted where all the letters and symbols were wrong. You can not just make a movie by listening to the story from few people. And no Bangladeshi has last name Lashkar where police officers were seen with Laskhkar last name. I watched this movie unfortunately just know what they have been doing with this movie but I suggest not to watch. The movie, cast, concept, acting everything was horrible.

Irritating

[monishsengupta10 · 2/10 · 2 April 2023]

I have rarely seen such an irritating film before this. Never expected from Hansal Mehta. An incident happening in Bangladesh with all Bengali characters, but they are all speaking Hindi. Why? Because the director can't speak Bengali. Then why do you do this film? A typical Bollywood film where even the English police speaks and understands Hindi. While I couldn't get much of the plot and the intention of the film, the shot selection and editing is good though leading to nowhere. It was also not clear why Faraaz got an award posthumously? What exactly has he done? The director had no clue what he was doing. Total waste of money or rather economic terrorism.

It does not match the reality

[arohithasan · 1/10 · 3 March 2023]

What a bad movie they made. It does not match the reality. The police are speaking Hindi in Bangladeshi police uniform!? How do they know what really happened to Faraaz that day? In Bangladesh Army Operation Thunderbolt, did the army dive into the restaurant to shoot from the beginning? Two tanks first broke the wall of the restaurant, then the army threw grenades inside and managed to kill the terrorists! To make a film, the director must be good and to make a film based on reality, one should know from the beginning to the end and then make it. No country has the right to belittle another country unnecessarily. If you want, the film could have been made beautifully, but what else would be better with a small budget?

Feels more like a stage play than a thriller.

[iknafilms · 5/10 · 1 April 2023]

The film tries to explore the Good Muslim-Bad Muslim debate, but falls short of providing substantial content for a meaningful discussion. The characters themselves are reduced to Twitter-like debating without adding any depth to the discourse. After leaving the theatre, one may not feel invested in the lives lost or the terrorists' motivations. The portrayal of a neighboring Muslim country is likely to be controversial. Nevertheless, the film is a tense hostage drama that prompts reflection. However, the ultimate purpose of the film may leave the viewer questioning its relevance. The film's cinematic execution is flawed, as it struggles to find a consistent tone and fails to balance its various elements effectively. It vacillates between being dramatic and subtle, humorous and ironic, resulting in an unconvincing and disjointed viewing experience.

Holly family

[abdullahsiddiki · 1/10 · 9 April 2023]

Basically movie is for entertainment and business. But this movie made for some purpose. To show-off about the holy family and make Faraz great hero. Question was how Faraz tell all this to anyone, they make nice plot for this. No one has mobile inside except Faraz and his friend. Very well-done. But people are not fool. Totally waste of time and mind.

Police action also shown very dull.

Movie is for entertainment and business. But this movie made for some purpose. To show-off about the holy family and make Faraz great hero. Question was how Faraz tell all this to anyone, they make nice plot for this. No one has mobile inside except Faraz and his friend. Very well-done. But people are not fool. Totally waste of time and mind.

Excellent performances, One Time Watch If Like Hostile Films

[izinepro · 9/10 · 31 March 2023]

First thing; most of the Bangladeshi people reviewed here and rated, they all dont like the fact that Bangladesh's film makers couldn't release the film but Indian Board approved it. So here we go for the review as an Individual not as an Indian.

Film is not certainly 100% as the articles published in public media, there could be internal research involved for specifics. Over all everybody has done their parts really well, specially Juhi Babbar. I checked the BBC's Official covered story on this attack. It certainly meets the over 80% of the film. Everybody talking about hiw they could speak in hindi? Its Because its f*king hindi movie lol.

Could have been so much better for Farzaan's sake.

[JPEI64 · 4/10 · 4 April 2023]

Could have been much more impactful but still not a bad watch. I don't think anyone will watch it more than once.

The whole movie could have been much tighter, with a lot more finesse, and better dialogues. The cops were totally unconvincing (almost comical) and just by adding an expletive here and there doesn't make one sound tough.

There was some subtle humour, which would have been better placed in a movie that was not based on such a horrific incident. There was a song (seriously), which could have been totally deleted.

Acting wise, Aditya Rawal as the lead terrorist, Zahan Kapoor and Juhi Babbar performed exceptionally well but Zahan had very limited screen presence, which is weird since the movie is supposed to be about him. I think he had great potential.

This shocking and tragic story could have been dealt with in a much more sensitive and mature way. A lost opportunity!

Disappointment!!

[rhumayed · 1/10 · 10 April 2023]

Faraaz was the grandson of one of the richest person in Bangladesh, who also controlled the media (He owns the newspaper). It felt like the sole purpose of this movie is to depict falsely the bravery of his Faraaz when nobody knows what happened inside as there was no survivors watched what Faraaz did. That being mentioned, they were bad at showing the fiction!!

Acting was bad except the role Nibras (terrorist leader), you can give him some points. Script was written poorly.

Even the last scene where they showed the involvement of army, the scene was completely false. Bangladesh army first used tanks to destroy the wall of the cafe then officers got involved.

In short the director tried to use the money of Faraaz's grandfather, who tried his best to establish his grandson as martyr, both in national newspaper and now in movie.

Sensationalist and disappointing

[tiffanyfanysung · 1/10 · 2 April 2023]

One ignorant person has claimed that Bangladeshi people are upset because the movie was not done by their own film industry. That isn't the case at all, it's a matter of RESPECT. Respect includes not profiting off of other's misery and misfortunes. Not a single Bangladeshi person was involved in this project nor was anyone asked if this movie could be made. This is quite clear as the dialogues are in a complete different language! To me the message that is being said is "I'm going to make a movie off of the victims but they don't get to choose whether they want it or not." Not all tragedies need a reenactment and that's just simply a notion that all film makers need to accept.

Such a Dumb Not expected from Hansal Mehta.

[harmainrana · 1/10 · 6 June 2023]

Wrong Islamic View by character Faraaz. Their is no good OR Bad Muslim. Muslim are the ones who defend Islam and fight for Islam.

Jihad refers to the obligation incumbent on all Muslims, individuals and the community, to follow and realize Allah will: to lead a virtuous life and to extend the Islamic community through preaching, education, example, writing, fight for religious rights etc.

But unfortunately, this movie is such a dumb and flop. The rating of this movie shows the hate of Muslim for FilmMakers.

Actually Jihad of Muslims are for :

• A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible.

• The struggle to build a good Muslim society.

• Holy war: the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary.

Family propaganda

[tariq_huss · 1/10 · 29 April 2023]

The family of Faraaz paid Indians to make this movie to glorify him and make him look some kind of hero. All the innocent people killed in the incident are heroes as well. Nobody speaks Hindi in Bangladesh. It's hilarious to watch everybody speaking Hindi.

The award in the end given to Faraaz is also hilarious, paid by the family. Don't waste your time watching this movie.

This incident is a dark chapter in Bangladesh. This movie doesn't acknowledge the others who died, except for Faraaz and his Indian girlfriend.

It's a disrespect to the victims families who lost their loved ones in the hand of terrorists.

Misrepresentation .. Wrong information

[tcnabi · 3/10 · 1 April 2023]

First I would appreciate the approach of making the move based on the actual horrifying event in Dhaka Bangladesh.

I like the way Director represented the environmental beauty of Bangladesh at the beginning of the movie.

However it felt absolutely ridiculous when characters started to speak in 'HINDI' Language while they resided in Bangladesh where all of us heavily speak Bangla ir English. I felt this very reason made me being a Bangladeshi not connected to the story and truly misrepresentation of the whole story.

Now speaking of the horrific event which was portrait some facts are true indeed but I believe the conversation between faraaz and the Militant was completely spiced up and glorified which should not be the case. But again I believe the the full flim was made based on this topic that A brave boy did not left their friends out in time of difficulties/danger.

Anyways this flim earns a solid 3 from me. As i felt it mixed-up many things to start with Language first.

If You dislike it, you're one of the bad guys

[mubarkiprofessional · 10/10 · 1 April 2023]

"Faraaz" is an incredibly moving film that tells the harrowing story of Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain and his bravery in the face of hate and terrorism. The movie takes the viewer through a series of events that lead to the tragic loss of Faraaz and his two female friends in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Bangladesh's history.

The recreated scenes of the attack are chillingly realistic and will leave the audience feeling an intense range of emotions, including fear and horror. The conversations between Faraaz and Nibris provide insight into the extent of brainwashing that some individuals are subjected to in the name of religion, and the resulting violence and loss of innocent lives.

Director Pratham Mehta handles the film's subject matter with an incredible amount of sensitivity, carefully balancing the gravity of the situation with the need to pay respect to the victims and their families. The co-written story by Ritesh Shah, Kashyap Kapoor, and Raghav Kakkar does an excellent job of keeping the viewer engaged throughout the film, making it a powerful watch.

The cinematography by Pratham Mehta is nothing short of stunning, capturing the chaos and devastation of the high-end cafe as it was ravaged in just a matter of minutes. The movie does include some bloodshed, but it is done tastefully and effectively, leaving a lasting impact on the viewer.

Overall, "Faraaz" is a poignant and emotional film that will tug at your heartstrings and make you think about the true cost of violence and terrorism. It is a movie that deserves to be watched and remembered for its powerful message about the importance of standing up against hate and extremism.

LoL

[r_islam-786-878879 · 1/10 · 2 April 2023]

Did not match the reality. I have no idea why Netflix allow this film in their platform. Even is in Dhaka; so every character should speak Bangla in the film. It's also motivated some. Also, most of the story does not match to reality.

What a horrible film they produced. It doesn't line up with the facts. When wearing Bangladeshi police uniforms, the police are speaking Hindi. How do they know the truth about Faraaz's fate on that day? Did the troops rush the restaurant to open fire during Operation Thunderbolt by the Bangladeshi Army? Two tanks first tore through the restaurant's wall before the army fired grenades inside, killing the terrorists. A good director is necessary for the creation of a film, and someone who wants to create a movie based on truth needs to be knowledgeable from start to finish. No nation has the right to disparage another nation needlessly.

Made me wonder about safety

[dctestuser · 5/10 · 8 April 2023]

This movie has made me wonder about the safety of the breweries and eateries in Bengaluru, and other places, which can accommodate hundreds of people, whther they are prepared to handle terrorist attacks such as the one shown in the movie. The movie was average. I liked the meaning of the name Faraaz and the message given in the end. However, I couldn't connect to the movie. The events in the movie were not organized properly and it was like grabbing pieces from here and there and clubbed together. The movie could have been better directed. It is a one time watch movie and should be watched without much expectations.