Kaafiron Ki Namaaz (2013) User Reviews

Impressive & disappointing at the same time!

[rpuller · 8/10 · 15 June 2016]

To be true to the zest of the film, I decided to watch Kaafiron Ki Namaaz twice. I have almost read all about the film's journey from the festival circuit to censor board trouble and finally the online release. I was very intrigued by the trailer. So hats off to the team who engaged in such a challenge and then released it online with such strong belief against all the odds. Kudos!

After the first watch, I was impressed and disappointed at the same time. All these reasons make KKN a difficult watch and a more difficult film to write about. KKN speaks what we should listen and then shouts out loud to the utmost distortion leading us towards a blank notion and empty opinion.

KKN is a story of an Army Man (Alok Chaturvedi) who is interviewed by a Writer (Chandrahas Tiwari) after his court-martial. The conversations between both the lead actors are amazing, intense and yet quirky. The dark deep secrets starts unfolding one after another some of the most impressive dialogues in recent times. Both the actors have defined their characters with all from within and it shows on screen. But I seriously hated the writer's Tagore inspired beard which looked very silly and fake. Tiklu (Joydip) as a quite assistant and Junaid (Megh Pant) as the tea seller and part-time musician are okay. I wasn't convinced with Junaid's character as it lacked the conviction to be the important part of the story all of a sudden.

Camera is handled beautifully by A. Vasanth and showed Kashmir a beautiful place with an undercurrent of uneasiness. Set of the hotel is okay. Ram Ramesh Sharma showed all his skills with his impressive debut. But there are many things which he needs to be look into. Music by Advait Nemlekar is blended rightly into the film with amazing voices of Usha Uthup, Javed Ali & Sukhwinder Singh. Jhalkiyan track is my favourite. All the other departments have done well, but nothing extra ordinary.

KKN raises some very important questions on some very hurting subjects, but leaves them in mid-way, where they needed to be addressed in totality with a rigid stand. The filmmaker wanted to tell so much in every direction but couldn't justify any one of them & this is disappointing. With such a good start, I wanted to invest all in but started losing interest as after few discussions towards third act as I realize that the subject would be changed suddenly to a newer direction. And climax was a disaster for me, an easy way out which could have been the striking highlight of KKN. After the first watch, I recalled so many things, but in fragments without the establishment with the core story. From my perspective, KKN looked like a conversational play with interventions of beautiful Kashmir. And so the second watch became more difficult.

Is KKN a good film? Yes, it is & it deserves a watch. Either you may like it in totality or not. A bold narrative which takes off with some amazing dialogues and good performances penetrating deep down inside, but crash lands halfway. Alas! KKN could have been a flight of pinnacle if aims in one single direction. As a filmmaker, I would love to see more work coming from Ram Ramesh Sharma.

"Jab ruh hi kaafir ho jaaye, tab jism kab tak khudai par jiyega" and this is what happens with KKN after a certain point.

In my list of favorite movies for sure.....

[vanditbery · 8/10 · 19 June 2015]

Kaafiron Ki Namaaz is a beautifully woven story that brings the two sides of the human consciousness. It is one of the finest movie that dealt with the human psychology so beautifully and vividly that nowhere did it sound preachy but smoothly seeps in. One of the finest movie of the year that stayed with me even as i left its screening.

One of the movie which explores the human side of an army man and writer rather than going the retrospective way. The director has indeed done a brilliant job. The screenplay and the character progression is marvelous.The songs and the background score just adds to the mood of the film.

This one is definitely on my movie list for sure. Do watch this movie which has its mind and soul at the right place....

A great watch with excellent cinematography.

[y-anurag05 · 8/10 · 15 September 2016]

This movie is sheer brilliance scripted together to make an intriguing amalgam of dark comedy keeping the viewer gripped until the very end only to be awestruck by a series of bizarre twists as the plot slips into death like seriousness.

This movie has an excellent 'read between the lines' subtlety to it, making it one of the most interesting Hindi movie made in recent times.

Ram Ramesh Sharma touches sensitive topics throughout the film keeping it crisp with dramatic cinematography and the location resonates well making it a visual treat to watch for the viewers.

The real reason why one must watch this movie is to understand the sensitivity of the subjects pondered upon, to make the audience realize the underlying hypocrisy which fills most of us to the brim and to materialize the content with an open mind trying enjoy the movie without any veiled prejudices.

This movie touches topics very real, yet hidden behind the taboos of an ungrateful Indian society; one must stop on the thought that if the freedom of speech exercised democratically by Ram Ramesh Sharma what compels the government to flex it's muscles and stall the release to such an extent that the makers are forced to release the movie directly on the internet. The troubled history of Kashmir is always used as an excuse to justify the archaic Armed Forces Special Power Act which is one of the most controversial acts passed with great impunity, which further militarizes the valley subjecting it to growing insurgency and mistrust among the civilians.

The problem with this movie may lie with the fact that the movie was given too much hype around a few topics which are not really explored entirely. The movie sheds light on a very taboo issue which fails to confront the man made inequities in a society.The movie even though winning numerous awards was swiftly banned by the Indian Government allegedly stating the movie as defamatory and vulgarly exaggerating facts about influential Indian political figures of the Independence era.

One must not pay heed to the director's personal opinions being thrust upon the audience, what one must observe is that the dissent expressed in the movie is logical and rational. One cannot simply be holding onto the negatives and the positives, to understand the movie completely one must first critique the pros and then compare them with the cons to ascertain a rational personal preference.

I usually review exceptionally well made movies or the most horrible ones, this movie was simply exceptional and it deserved an unbiased review. If i were to compare this movie with other critically acclaimed flicks this movie gives a tremendous amount of intellectual competition to the ones made with the help of big budgets and movie stars. The actors performed with a great sense of ease and did justice to the scripted roles as there were hardly any weak acting moments during the movie. Overall this movie is a good watch and well made with a good deal of musical appeal as well, the movie could have been made better but no serious complaints as the movie keeps one at the edge of the seat till the very end.

A nice and intriguing movie

[syedmir777 · 9/10 · 1 February 2015]

Just finished the 1st watch. I must say I loved it. Have to watch it again. That I do only when I really loved the movie. I wish the makers of the film and all people associated with it a very good luck and all the best for its release.

My take: Review A. There are a lot of positives:-

1. Beautiful movie: One of the very beautiful movies I have seen in recent past. 2. Beautiful narrative and chilling concept. 3. While the character of convicted fouji is not as chilling as I used to feel in reality wherever I had to show my ID card at various checkpoints while visiting home (Kashmir) in 1990s. But then being a Kashmiri, I could relate more with the movie, as I have lived the time depicted in the movie (the initial 1990s). The first shots of the movie shot in Haztarbal are just two km away from my home. 4. Wonderful acting, particularly by the lead character (writer). The loved the way character of the writer has been played, really of international standard. I could relate it to that of played by Sean Cornnery in "Finding Forrester". 5. Beautiful and witty dialogues. 6. Amazing cinematography. The Kashmir shown in as in winter is chilling, like most crimes are done during the night, In Kashmir winters of 90s were dark nights.

B. On the negative side:- 1. Title: May be inhibiting a lot of current Indian public away from the movie. Then I think the target viewership is not the Dabang-o-philic public. 2. Length of Movie; the movie is somewhat long by international standards. 90 minutes or maximum 120 minutes would have been optimum. Avoiding the repetition of dialogues could have shortened many shots.\ 3. English subtitling not accurate at many places, then I think that has been deliberate.

At the end of the movie, I was starting looking at my own kufur and my own namaaz. Every one of us is filled with our devilish and angelic features. Our past is also full of our evils and good deeds. The movie definitely touches the raw nerves. The movie focuses on these characteristics such as; opportunism, moral corruption, and probably the struggle with own inner devil, But all at individualistic level. The problem in Kashmir was (and in todays greater world still is) that such crimes are not perpetuated merely at individualistic level, but at larger scale either as state policy (where state is involved), or by large groups (where non-state actors are involved).

A wanna be-ish and a failed attempt at greatness.

[kprabhav · 6/10 · 4 May 2016]

Some time ago,there was a post in Quora about what were the most over- rated Hindi films.How I wish I could go back in time to that post and say "Kaafiron ki Namaaz should be right at the top". The film opens to stunning visuals with a tinge of blue across every frame.These frames with a tinge of blue helped to depict the gloomy state of Kashmir Valley in the best possible way and I was pulled into the film.In the first few minutes,the narrator is shown moving about in a taxi which too has been painted in dull blue indicated that the story which the narrator is about to unfold isn't a happy one and I felt I was about to witness a master piece.But unfortunately,all the good things about this film ended right here(or that's what I believe).Not only do the good things end,but the bad things begin from here. The film moves to a depleted hotel,where a writer interviews an army man who has been court martial-ed and our narrator(the writer's assistant) films this on his camera.The army man who apparently is a nut job has made this hotel his abode.What follows from here is pure dialogue between the army man and the writer.About 1 and half hour into the film a third character,Junaid,a musician by day and tea-seller by night joins these two in their conversation.In between,either of the characters turn on the radio,and this radio keeps bombarding us with philosophical quotes every time it is switched on.The film's structure gets reversed in the 2nd half with the writer appearing to be the lunatic while the Army man more sane. Now,the hotel in which about 90% of the film is set looks as artificial as it can get.The army man's and the writer's costumes also look totally feigned.If the intention is to make a film based on dialogue then any film maker must learn a trick or two from Richard Linklater,which this film's director hasn't certainly learned.One maniac asking a question and the other maniac answering it only after the question has been repeated some 4-5 times(no apparent reason for this),gets on to your nerves at some point.The dialogues look well rehearsed and this was a major buzz kill.Every thing happening inside that hotel or for that matter say 90% of the film looked staged,like it was a theater act. But is that the whole point of the film,for the whole production design to look artificial??Was the theater-ish feel which this film had through out,a satire on something else all together??Was this a piece of meta-cinema and hence that artificiality(because it is the narrator who is narrating the whole story to us and this narrator can narrate it however he wishes).Did the narrator give us a skewed version of what happened inside that hotel,which draws parallel with how the media gives out skewed reports of what happens in Kashmir??What ever the P.O.V of the director was(if at all there was any)has lost it's purpose.Maybe a 10-15 minute short film could have been a better alternative than this 150 minutes of pretentious preaching. To sum it up I would say that not all beautifully shot independent films deserve critical acclaim,especially Kaafiron ki Namaaz which is a failed attempt by an extremely lucky director for he found a very supporting producer who went ahead with this project,despite the threat of getting banned looming large. P.S:-Every film which talks about Homo- Sexuality,Cannibalism,HIV,Necrophilia,Rape,Pornography etc doesn't become a great film.

A Must Watch

[admirbeuty · 9/10 · 25 November 2014]

It was a great experience at 20th KIFF watching Kaffiron Ki Namaaz.It was a well written script with some powerful dialogue- "Man get his religion even before he gets his name,if he is given a chance to learn all the religion of the world and an option to choose his own religion then there wont be any violence in the name of religion", left a lasting impression in my mind.

Ram Ramesh Sharma gets full credit in extracting a fine performance from all the three lead characters.

Though the major part of the film was inside a room in the format of an interview, it was so gripping and engrossing the audience never felt a moment of boredom, all the credit goes to the director Ram Ramesh Sharma for coming out with a such a masterpiece in his debut direction.

Kudos to the entire team and specially the director Ram Ramesh Sharma and producer Bahrgav Saikia for the great debut.

It can match any other international film in terms of execution, direction and production value and should be sent as official entry to Oscar from India.

In fact it was my top five pick along with The Search, Omar, Force of Destiny and Chhoti Moti Batein in 20th KIFF.

A must watch for all lovers of good and quality films with the best take away- Man gets his religion................

Wishing the entire team for your theatrical release.It will be a surprise HIT like The Wednesday and Aamir.

With Reagards, M.Venkat Raman

Kaafiron Ki Namaaz.

[samicold · 8/10 · 16 June 2020]

Kaafiron Ki Namaaz

For almost a century now Kashmir has been the the cynosure of conflict and beauty. So it's understandable why writers over-poeticise the region. Kaafiron Ki Namaaz, set in that region is a drama about an Ex-solder, a writer and a musician. They engage in a gabfest of disclosing their most innate feelings and secrets to one another before erupting into drunken frenzy of violence. (note: The followings contain analysis of minor spoilers.)

I've never written a film review before. But these past months I couldn't help but overthink this exceptional film. Kaafiron Ki Namaaz though controversial, conveys much truth about society and culture we often overlook. The 3 main characters (an ex-soldier, a writer and a musician) I believe are the embodiment of 3 social philosophies evident among the youths of the societies of the Indian sub-continent.

The ex-solder is a cynic. He believes everything does everything out of self-interest. He sees through the rigid system of India and instead of protesting against it, he exploits it. Because he doesn't seem to see the point of objectivity. He has little empathy and almost no moral boundaries. This makes him easy to hate at the very first glance. But when looked closely, his actions (even though he remarks them with pride) has also filled his with self-loathing and weighs heavy on him.

The Writer is also a disbeliever. But he has a more optimistic view of thing. He believes in order. When the Army-man divulges his past to the writer he cites those actions as animal like, calling his "Kutta". To him, man must act as man through collaboration and authoritarian self- concealment.

The Musician is the average simple-man. He seems to be the jolliest among the three men. He thinks little about life or the forces that moulds it. He is oblivious to the the harshness of reality. Whenever he is confronted with grotesquerie he turns a blind eye to preserve his own happiness. He enjoys the trifles life has to offer and with that he is content.

Analysis: As mentioned above, the three characters represent three spectrum of thoughts. The Army-man represents the minority population of cynics in society. We find cynics to be contemptible people. They see flaws in everything. To them, nothing is pure or sacred. The Army Man points out that he hates Gandhi's ideologies. A natural temptation when confronted with a cynic is to argue them out of their attitude by citing counter examples (as the writer attempts to do). But this is it's own form of cruelty because it misunderstands what cynicism is about. It's a emotional protection, a mode of coping learned under conditions of duress. He hear from the Army-man himself how miserable his start was. He never know his parents nor happiness or purpose. The only time he ever smile from heart was when he was expected by the military which is awful But we overlook such details and are quick to brand cynics as nasty people. What we don't get is- all the narcissism, nihilism and cynicism are all defence mechanism to protect themselves from criticism. What the cynic really need, and yet fears they may never get, so naturally never ask for is- Kindness. Because beneath that gruff surprise still remains an hysterical frigidity and longing for love, hope and acceptance. The writer is a representation of the majority of the atheist bunch. He has renounced god, thus has naturally faced severe backlashes in past life. Society was not been kind to him just because he found in himself courage to transcend those social norms. Atheists are seen as a monsters (in movies and book). Therefore in an desperate attempt to disprove such imperatives he has always acted more buoyantly than others. He has twisted his own mental apparatus into giving himself a sense of purpose. But he regrets that he never truly lived. Even at his latter stage of life he had not had sex. His life lacks colour and is, therefore miserable till the very end. The Musician seems to only live-at-the-moment. He is docile and minuscule. He is - what the enlightened would call - blind. But if he is the blind one why is it that the former two are stumbling? Is it better to live as a fool in paradise than rather know the ugly truths?

Such are the questions and philosophy of Kaafiron Ki Namaaz. These movies are necessary to help society evolve as a whole. And we should understand, it's not facts and hate the movie's trying to promote but rather a problem evident and corrosive. But society can easily be summed up as by the movie's ending there are no lesson learned, no change change Rather they all kill each and the cameraman and we as society only turn a blind eye and run.

Kaafiron Ki Namaz: Utter Waste Of Time

[Renegade_Blaze · 1/10 · 7 April 2016]

The opening sequence is beautifully shot. Outdoor visuals are super strong. On-location Kashmir cinematography is dreamy and contemplative. That is where the good things end. That is it. The end. The rest is a trudge through a muck-filled failed attempt of filmmaking by inept hands which has given birth to this terrible hack-job of a pretentious low-intelligence wannabe piece of audio- visual waste.

Even the first few minutes of the film, a seemingly poignant conversation between the son and the off- screen mother lacks authenticity. But when the story starts to unfurl inside the abandoned hotel all things go haywire. Terrible writing, terrible dialogue. Bad pronunciation: 'Ismoking' (smoking), 'Istrayt' (straight), 'Exazzaration' (exaggeration), 'LiteRAYture' (literature), Koschen (question); there are many such instances of embarrassment in here. Funny thing is that this same character i.e. the writer corrects the mispronunciation of the tea seller. The writer who is supposed to be a Bengali, can't even speak a word of Bengali correctly. Total disgrace.

The acting is theatrical. Very uncinematic, to say the least. The characters keep repeating their lines again and again, sometimes 5 or 6 times. It is irritating and takes the focus away from the film. There is absolutely no tension throughout the film, no attempt to make the characters believable.

The failed attempts of comic relief, which are not required at the first place, are so heavy handed that the whole effort seems naive and loses it's credibility. The films preachy tone is so out of the place that it becomes laughable.

Oh and the outlandish characters! An orphan, pork-eating, homosexual, Gandhi-hating, Muslim, court-martialed, Indian soldier, who shoots a Kashmiri married Muslim woman, then rapes her dead body in the ass! Need I say more? Some realistic film they were making!

This has to be the worst film I have seen in recent times. It's sad to see an independent Indian film (which is a rarity) fail so miserably in almost all aspects. Bad film. Period. After 1 hour I really wanted to leave the film half way unwatched, but I stuck to my guns to give this overlong, empty film a fair chance to resurrect itself somehow. I wish I didn't. It only got worse. Utter waste of time.

There are some real good independent films from India in recent times: Masaan, Miss Lovely, Titli, Ship Of Theseus, Labour Of Love, etc and even zero budget films like Kshay, The Untitled Karthik Krishnan Project and Gandu. This film is not one of them. Please let's not make an undeserving piece the face of Indian independent film.

Must Watch Black Comedy

[mayankmalviya · 10/10 · 16 March 2020]

I am personally a big fan of Black comedies , and when I saw this one I couldn't be more sad about the fact why have I not watched it before. This films have some funny takes on the most serious issues of this nation, which is gonna make you laugh and sad . Different ideologies of different people in our nation meets and you'll see what will happen. Better to just trust me see this without knowing much about .

A narrative that keeps you engaged

[marshal-maskarenj · 9/10 · 3 February 2015]

Watching the screening at IIT Bombay Filmfest 2015 was an experience worth sharing, the interaction with the film makers taking it up by several notches. A beautiful narrative throughout, this movie has a soundtrack that is too good not to be mentioned. Mostly set inside a single hall, the concept of space is very beautifully expressed. The lighting as well as the cinematography was amazing. The movie shows a retired army man and a journalist in the lead roles; and the audience is kept engrossed in their discussions that subtly grow intense as the night progresses. They discuss beyond the regular topics; spanning religious standpoints, their past careers and arguing most of the time. As the movie progresses, the discussions turn into confessions so deep that it seemed they had never thought about those issues, let alone talk about them for a long time. Also with them is a local shopkeeper who mostly serves tea to the two lead characters while witnessing their arguments. The characters are beautifully thought of; the army man being a person from the exteriors of a society, the journalist being from innermost circles of a society and the shopkeeper as an ordinary person witnessing the arguments. A must watch!

What a movie!!!!Must watch

[mandhirsingh · 10/10 · 2 November 2021]

Awesome story , awesome acting , very different concept.

Everyone did best of them Will stick to the movie till end Nice setup , more of a character show of each character Very rare story these days Recommended to views who like mystery and suspense Very good dialogue delivery.