Our interest in the movie Haddi was peaked when I saw the poster, which featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui costumed as a transgender person. I hoped the movie would expose the crime syndicate that some transgender people secretly control. But when you watch the movie in its whole, it ends up being much more than that. Director Akshat Ajay Sharma combines intriguing aspects and presents this gritty and alluring narrative of vengeance, brutality, power, and retribution by using the transgender community as a creative and engaging metaphor to uncover the network of criminal underbelly functioning throughout the capital city.
It’s bloody everywhere, there are trigger-happy men on murdering sprees, and every action scene is nasty. Unfortunately, the most of the plot is revealed in the trailer. Yet Haddi is able to keep you interested and engrossed. The transition made by Nawaz was particularly fascinating to me since it was so intricate and well-planned. Haddi outperforms Taali somewhat, probably because the stakes are higher with Nawaz effectively posing as a transgender in the recent OTT drama Taali, which had a similar approach with Sushmita Sen’s character.
The opening scene of Haddi narrative, which is set against the backdrop of the contemporary ruins in the NCR’s Gurgaon and Noida, features a trans woman named Harika (Nawaz) explaining to an elderly man how her community’s blessings are thought to be powerful, its curse to be dreadful, and its retaliation to be much more terrifying. In the subsequent scene, Haddi (also portrayed by Nawaz) is shown leaving his birthplace of Allahabad to join a group of transgender and cross-dressers who are led by Pramod Ahlawat, a former gangster-turned-politician (Anurag Kashyap), who owns a number of criminal enterprises. Haddi quickly rises to the top of the criminal food chain, but his desire to get revenge on the mob for wronging his family never wanes.
The 134-minute convoluted vengeance story is well-meaning, quick-moving, and carefully constructed to avoid demeaning the transgender community. Special emphasis is placed on the plot and how events develop, which is further enhanced by exquisitely detailed characters. The film’s fascinating tale, which was co-written by Sharma and Bhalla, is made all the more effective by the subtle writing details.
Haddi has no qualms about bragging about his performances. In the most lovely way, Nawaz inspires you to have faith in Harika. He does a great job at accurately mimicking the body language, speech, and general persona of a transsexual person. Even in the role of Haddi, you can see the pain in his eyes, and he gives both parts well. You’ll adore how Haddi demonstrates Nawaz’s versatility in the most potent yet kind way. Harika’s romance with Irfan (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) is one of the poignant subplots, and it is heartening to see such a delicate representation handled with such maturity. Even in the amorous parts, they make you feel very at ease rather than embarrassed.
Despite the fact that Anurag Kashyap has appeared in numerous films as an actor, his portrayal of a cunning politician in Haddi is readily regarded as his best work to date. Even in front of Nawaz, who is known for playing such characters with such ease, Kashyap clearly brings his A game and exudes complete confidence. In one scene where Kashyap and his men massacre Amma’s entire tribe, he sits peacefully with his headphones on, listening to music and even moving his body to the beat. It makes you angry and makes your spine chill. Ila Arun is incredibly strong and commanding on screen as Amma.
The music for the movie, which was composed by Rohan-Rohan with lyrics by Rohan Gokhale, just blew us away. It’s simply amazing, and every time Beparda plays in the background, you get a sense of liberation, joy, and celebration. It perfectly expresses what Harika is feeling when she finally meets the woman inside of her.
Haddi is a terrifying criminal thriller that will make you mad, terrified, and inspire fear, yet when you see Harika and her innocence, it makes you smile. Currently, Zee5 is streaming the movie.
