Review: Haraamkhor is high on performances

Haraamkhor may not appeal to the regular Bollywood audience but if you’re a Nawazuddin Siddiqui fan and love watching performance-oriented films, this shouldn’t be missed at all, raves Namrata Thakkar.

I remember watching Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Raman Raghav 2.0 and thinking how effortlessly he played the evil character of Ramana. He just blew my mind with his acting.

Now, he returns with yet another crazy on-screen character, which no one else could have done better.

In Shlok Sharma’s directorial venture Haraamkhor, Nawaz, as the sleazy teacher Shyam sir, is absolutely bang on. He is creepy and disgusting and yet, you will want to watch him. That only shows how good he is.

Though Shyam is happily married to Sunita (Trimala Adhikari), he starts a relationship with a student Sandhya (Shweta Tripathi). What’s disturbing is the fact that their relationship is more lust than romance.

Meanwhile, Sandhya’s tuition mate Kamal is also in love with her. But when he gets a whiff about her affair with the creepy teacher, Kamal leaves no stone unturned to harass Shyam. He even tries to win over his lady love.

Does he succeed? What happens to Sandhya and Shyam’s relationship?

Watch the film to find out.

While Shlok Sharma’s attempt to paint this bold narrative on celluloid is applause-worthy, I was quite disappointed by the film’s end.

Quite a few scenes made me uncomfortable -- whether it was Shyam beating up his students, abusing his wife or touching Sandhya inappropriately.

While the movie was engaging almost throughout, there were times when it gets boring due it’s slow pace.

The casting is perfect.

Nawaz does a fantastic job in playing a role which many A-list heroes wouldn’t dare to take up. As Shyam, he is not lovable at all but still manages to tickle your funny bone with his comic timing.

Shweta Tripathi, who made her acting debut with Masaan, is a delight to watch. She is 33 years old but at no point in the film does she look like one. Despite sharing screen space with a stalwart like Nawazuddin, Shweta stands out with her fabulous screen presence.

Irfan Khan (not the famous Bollywood actor) and Mohd Samad, who play Kamal and his friend Mintu respectively, lend good support to the story. Their naughtiness and innocence adds some layers to the dark and bold subject.

Through their characters, the makers have highlighted how children have no knowledge about sex and how they have so many myths about it.

Overall, Haraamkhor may not appeal to the regular Bollywood audience but if you’re a Nawazuddin Siddiqui fan and love watching performance-oriented films, this shouldn’t be missed at all.

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