Khuda Haafiz (2020) :
Movie Review -
From the trailer i had no expectations for the film because the story looked outdated and overall gesture was also looking like old school method. Surprisingly it begun on overwhelming note as there were so many scenes which got high class treatment despite the low level writing. Those old methods were getting new shape and new operational stuff which i enjoyed with shocking yet pleasant feel. However, the happiness didn't last for long and towards the end it went down typically with the same old school methods. Something gone terribly wrong in pre-climax to set the order for outdated climax and the entire second half pulled down the Brilliant Impact created by the First Half.
Khuda Haafiz storyline doesn't offer anything new but whatever cliche plot it had was still enough to be called a decent plot. During the recession a husband and a wife decide to fly off to foreign country to get a job, and then wife gets kidnapped. The husband goes on a risky journey to find her and then what difficulties and challenges he faces is all about Khuda Haafiz. I wasn't much happy with the story already but I was surprised the way it was being told. Unexpectedly they worked on nuances from character study to situations to expressions and to technical support to make them look great. It wasn't like typical action or masala that need a machoism from a character of an average man. He had to look helpless in that less known country and he was Helpless unlike other mainstream film where hero would fight the goons and find a way to fool entire judiciary system just so easily. He had to struggle and he struggled, that's the best part.
Finally i saw Vidyut Jammwal doing something realistic out of mega action sequences and i loved it. He couldn't resist though, they kept action but firmly on ground level. Shivaleeka used the pauses in accent very well which worked but she got nothing else to do in this small role. Annu Kapoor is great actor i say and his acting skills doesn't fail to put a show. Apparently, his accent sounded different and reliable. The accent part worked for Shiv Pandit and Aahana Kumra too.
Technically Khuda Haafiz hasn't got anything that should be mentioned on high note but just to mention formally the Cinematography, Background Score, Editing everything was on Average level. Director Faruk Kabir impressed me in the first half like i said those nuances in the character study were absolutely brilliant and which are missing in almost every mainstream romace-action film. Unfortunately, in second half it seemed like he forgot his skills, lost finesse and became just another below average minded fella in the industry. Overall, Khuda Haafiz was never supposed to be a great film at first place but i am happy it still came out as decent film. If weak writing can ever get high class treatment then it should be like this. Last 30 minutes were damn too low and snatched all the goodwill of the film but otherwise it was overwhelming. Somehow a one time flick.
RATING - 5/10*
