Given all the talent involved and a rousing real life story at its centre, Haq is looking solid, notes Mayur Sanap.
The dramatic heft in legal dramas is inherently powerful.
This is probably why Bollywood has such a long-standing affair with this genre.
When it gets padding from a real life story, the impact hopes to engage and inform.
That's what Haq promises.
Directed by Suparn S Varma, one of the creative forces behind the Manoj Bajpayee starrer Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai and Kajol's The Trial: Pyaar Kaanoon Dhokha, Haq revisits history with the sensational 1985 Mohd Ahmed Khan vs Shah Bano Begum case.
Yami Gautam and Emraan Hashmi play the real life inspired characters in the story that focuses on the complex legal issues around their divorce, which is highlighted as 'landmark Supreme Court judgment' in the teaser.
Yami is introduced as Shazia Bano who takes her lawyer-husband Ahmed, played by Emraan, to court after he abandons her and their children.
The story is obviously (and necessarily) dramatised and fictionalised, but there seems to be a surprising degree of emotional honesty to the abuse-of-power narrative of Haq with its impactful statement about feminism and faith that feels different from the usual crusading lawyer template usually seen in Hindi courtroom dramas.
This is a strong vehicle for both Yami and Emraan (his growling presence is dialled up here), who have been given ample scope to perform in their first acting assignment together.
Yami, especially, continues to show that she relishes a meaty role.
The teaser also has a glimpse of the ever-dependable Sheeba Chadha as Yami's lawyer, alongside Aseem Hattangady (The Trial, Scoop) and Danish Husain (Bombay Begums, Bard of Blood).
Given all the talent involved and a rousing real life story at its centre, Haq is looking solid.
Hope it doesn't lose its low-key, realistic touch in exchange of too much melodrama.
Haq arrives in cinemas on November 7.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
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