Haq - Qubool hai, Qubool hai, Qubool hai

Where does religion end and unquestioned doctrine begin? What is faith if you don't live it and breathe it? Why are we certain of something without really knowing anything about it? These questions are at the heart of Haq, the superb movie released today in theaters. Based on the more than 4 decades old Shah Bano Supreme Court case that rocked India in the 80s, and that set the stage for the identity and religion based politics that is now the coin of the realm, it is a sharp yet nuanced look at patriarchy, sexism and the almost casual bigotry that permeates thru society. Although it's based on a case that centered around Muslim personal law versus secular law, the broader societal issues it so beautifully brings up can be copy-pasted into any religion without losing their import and weight.

It begins with an interview with Shazia Bano (Yami Gautam) in 1985 after the SC verdict but then quickly flashes back to 1967 where the young Shazia falls in love with dashing lawyer Abbas Khan (Emraan Hashmi) and gets married soon after. It's all wonderful at the start with Shazia showing spunk against an encroaching neighbor and Abbas standing up for her in the most lawyerly of fashions. (Little does he know how that will affect him much later), The first hint of his impatient and philandering nature comes when she discovers that he just keeps buying new pressure cookers instead of repairing the old dysfunctional ones. That initial joke becomes a metaphor when after a few years of marriage and two kids with a third on the way, the strain of the old begins to show in him. One day he suddenly declares he is going to Pakistan to solve a property dispute and instead of the promised 3 weeks doesn't show up for 3 months, and when he finally does it is with a nubile young bride, Saira (newcomer Vartika Singh) in tow. This shocks Shazia to the core, and sets in motion the chain of events that takes a so-called minor domestic dispute over a mere 400 rupees per month maintenance fee, all the way to the highest court in the land with national repercussions that have ripple effects till today.

All of this is done with a deft touch by writer Reshu Nath and director Suparn Varma without resorting to any Sunny Deol type flamethrower rhetoric or Akshay Kumar type preachiness. There are redeeming traits in everyone including Abbas and Saira. The ensemble cast includes the ever reliable Sheeba Chaddha (for once not playing a supportive and quirky mother) as Shazia's lawyer Bela Jain, and Danish Husain as Shazia's father Maulvi Basheer, the complete antithesis of every Muslim cleric you have ever seen in recent Hindi cinema. Emraan Hashmi, who recently stole the show with a cameo as an intimacy coordinator in the hilariously over the top series "The Ba***ds of Bollywood" on Netflix, once again grabs a meaty role with gusto even though he doesn't lock lips even once. (The poor man seems to be losing his touch in a field where he was the undisputed badshah of Bollywood). He plays Abbas with tenderness coupled with flashes of fire and a mix of smarts and over-confidence.

But the show ultimately belongs to Yami Gautam playing the role of a lifetime that actors would sell their souls for. She is in virtually every frame of the movie and gives it all she's got which is quite considerable as seen in movies as diverse as Vicky Donor (2012), Kaabil (2017), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and Article 370 (2024). The sheer range of emotions from fiery to vulnerable is a joy to behold, and in her final gut wrenching monologue which is a virtually unbroken single shot nearly 10 minutes long, she brings the theater to a standstill with a tour de force performance of such raw emotion that not winning a Best Acting award would be a travesty worthy of a talaaq, talaaq, talaaq.

November 7, 2025