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''Shahid'' is a 2012 Indian
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
-language
biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
film directed by
Hansal Mehta Hansal Mehta (born 29 April 1968) is an Indian filmmaker. He started his career with television show '' Khana Khazana'' (1993–2000) and later moved on to directing films like '' Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!'' (2000), '' Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai?'' (2002) ...
, written by Sameer Gautam Singh and jointly produced by
Anurag Kashyap Anurag Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian filmmaker and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to films, the Government of France made him a Knight of the Ordre ...
and Sunil Bohra in association with
Ronnie Screwvala Rohinton Soli Screwvala (born 8 September 1956), known professionally as Ronnie Screwvala, is an Indian entrepreneur, investor and film producer. He has been named on Esquire's List of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century in 2008 ...
and
Siddharth Roy Kapur Siddharth Roy Kapur (born 2 August 1974) is an Indian film producer and the founder of Roy Kapur Films. He is the former managing director of The Walt Disney Company India and the former president of the Producers Guild of India in a tenure la ...
under the UTV Spotboy banner. Based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was assassinated in 2010, the film stars Rajkummar Rao as Azmi;
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub Khan is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is frequently cast in supporting roles, and has appeared in more than 25 films in a career which has spanned eight years. He has also worked in a Hindi serial "Kyunk ...
, Prabhleen Sandhu and Baljinder Kaur appear in supporting roles. Mehta took a break after some of his films were box-office failures. When he heard about Azmi's murder, he felt the need to make a film about his life. He began his research for the film nearly three months after Azmi's murder. Eventually, he met Singh, who wrote the script after researching Azmi's life and spending months interviewing Azmi's family.
Apurva Asrani Apurva Asrani (born 21 March 1978) is an Indian filmmaker. He has written the human rights drama ''Aligarh (film), Aligarh'' (2016), the courtroom drama Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors (2020), has co-written and edited the film ''Shahid ( ...
contributed additional inputs on the script with Mehta and also served as the film's editor. Anuj Rakesh Dhawan was the
director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
. ''Shahid'' had its world premiere at the
2012 Toronto International Film Festival The 37th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 16, 2012. TIFF announced the films that were accepted on August 21, 2012. On its 37th edition the TIFF included a 2 ...
's City to City programme in 2012. It was screened at several other film festivals including the 14th
Mumbai Film Festival The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in the city of Mumbai, India. Priyanka Chopra, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the chairperson of the trust while Shivendra Singh Dungarpur serves ...
, the
New York Indian Film Festival The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was foun ...
, the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart, the
Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ) was the largest film festival in the Arab world, Arab region. With particular emphasis on showcasing Arab cinema, Arab, Asian cinema, Asian, and African cinema, it also helped to develop industry a ...
and the Chicago South Asian Film Festival. The film was awarded the Silver Gateway Trophy at the Mumbai Film Festival, while Mehta won the Best Director award. Mehta also won the best director award at the New York Indian Film Festival and at the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart. It was released theatrically in India on 18 October 2013 and met with critical acclaim. Rao received the Best Actor Award and Mehta the Best Director Award at the
61st National Film Awards The 61st National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2013 in the Cinema of India, Indian cinema. The ceremony was held ...
ceremony.


Plot

Shahid Azmi and his family were terrorised during the Bombay riots when hundreds of Hindus and Muslims died. Later, he goes to
Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
and spends a brief period at a terror training camp but soon returns after witnessing an execution. He moves back to Mumbai, where he is arrested under the
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
for an alleged conspiracy to assassinate some politicians. His brother Arif Azmi tries to
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
him out but fails. Shahid is tortured by police and forced to admit to the crime, after which he spends seven years at
Tihar Jail Tihar Prisons, popularly known as Tihar Jail, are a prison complex in India and are one of the largest complexes of prisons in India. There are 9 functional prisons spread over more than 400 acres. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, the prison ...
in New Delhi. During his imprisonment, Omar Sheikh tries to
brainwash Brainwashing is the controversial idea that the human mind can be altered or controlled against a person's will by manipulative psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently ...
him. Another inmate, Ghulam Navi Waar, inspires him to begin his college education, and once he is acquitted of the charges, he studies law in Mumbai. After receiving his law degree, Shahid works with lawyer Maqbool Memon for a few months before starting his career as an independent lawyer with the financial support of his elder brother Arif. During this process, he meets Mariam, a Muslim divorcee, and marries her. Shahid soon started picking up cases of Muslims charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). He fights many cases
pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...
in consultation with
non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
. Shahid's first major success as a defence lawyer was winning an acquittal, due to lack of evidence, for Arif Paanwala, who was arrested under POTA for the 2002 Mumbai bus bombing. Shahid represents the accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul, and the 2006 Malegaon bombings case. He is criticised for supporting terrorists and starts getting threatening calls that disturb his family life. On one occasion, Shahid's face is blackened by assailants outside the courtroom. While defending Faheem Ansari in the
2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...
case, he is shot by two gunmen in his office and dies on the spot. Later, Ansari is shown to be acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court of India due to lack of evidence.


Cast

* Rajkummar Rao as Shahid Azmi *
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub Khan is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is frequently cast in supporting roles, and has appeared in more than 25 films in a career which has spanned eight years. He has also worked in a Hindi serial "Kyunk ...
as Arif Azmi *
Tigmanshu Dhulia Tigmanshu Dhulia (born 3 July 1967) is an Indian film dialogue writer, director, actor, screenwriter, producer and casting director known for his works in Hindi cinema and Television. He wrote the dialogue for the 1998 film ''Dil Se..'', the fir ...
as Maqbool Memon *
Kay Kay Menon Krishna Kumar Menon (born 2 October 1966), known professionally as Kay Kay Menon, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and occasionally in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu films. He is best known for his roles in fil ...
as Ghulam Navi Waar *
Prabal Panjabi Prabal Panjabi is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. In 2011, Panjabi made his debut in Y Films' '' Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge'', and '' Mere Dad Ki Maruti'' (2013). Career Prior to his film debut, Panjabi acted in Disney's televis ...
as Omar Sheikh * Prabhleen Sandhu as Mariam * Vivek Ghamande as Faheem Ansari * Baljinder Kaur as Ammi * Shalini Vatsa as Prosecutor Tambe


Production


Development

Mehta stated in an interview with Priyanka Pereira of ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' that he needed a break after some of his films proved to be a box-office failures, like '' Woodstock Villa'' (2007) and ''Raakh'' (2010). On 11 February 2010, lawyer Shahid Azmi was shot dead in his office in Mumbai at the age of 32. He had represented those accused of the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, the 2006 Malegaon bombings and while he was defending Faheem Ansari in the
2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...
case, he was killed. Azmi was arrested during the communal riots of 1992–1993 in Mumbai and later studied law and began defending people arrested on false charges. The lawyer secured 17 acquittals in his seven-year career. Mehta said that when he heard about Azmi's murder, he had a sense that the tale of his life could pull his "creativity out of the rut". He felt that Azmi lived an "ordinary life, with extraordinary conviction to do what he believed was right" and that his story "had to be told". Mehta began his research nearly three months after Azmi's murder. He later met writer Sameer Gautam Singh, who approached Mehta with a script. Mehta said he could not make a film with the script and asked him if he was would co-write another script with him. Singh agreed, and Mehta sent him along with his son Jai Mehta to Azmi's hometown to meet his family. They interviewed his family members and friends for two months. Mehta chose not to go with them as he feared that on seeing a filmmaker, Azmi's family and friends would "alter the version" of his life. Both Mehta and Singh read several of Azmi's cases for the story. Mehta noticed that they were written in simple English that could be understood by anyone: "It told me he was a no-nonsense guy. He wanted to fight the battle and not beat around the bush." Mehta and Singh also met his colleagues, attended court sessions, petitions, litigations and learned how to get a client acquitted. Mehta later went to seek permission to make the film to the family members who expressed their skepticism about the project. Later, they agreed and talked to him about Azmi. The film focused on Azmi's beginnings and two cases he handled: the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Mehta combined several of Azmi's petitions into a single case for "clarity and dramatic impact".


Casting

Mehta said he was looking for "big stars" for the film, but most were not interested because of his earlier failures. At the time, the film's co-producer
Anurag Kashyap Anurag Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian filmmaker and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to films, the Government of France made him a Knight of the Ordre ...
suggested he cast Rajkummar Rao thinking he was perfect for the role of Azmi. Later, casting director
Mukesh Chhabra Mukesh Chhabra (born 27 May 1984) is an Indian casting director, filmmaker and actor. Some of his notable works include ''Bajrangi Bhaijan'' (2015), ''Bombay Velvet'' (2015), '' Dangal'' (2016), '' Dil Bechara'' (2020), '' Scam 1992'' (2020), ...
sent Rao to Mehta's office. Mehta cast him after a screen test. Mehta felt Rao "surrendered himself completely" to the film. In preparing for the role, Rao met Azmi's family and spent time with them to understand the man and his personality. He also studied the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
and attended courtrooms to understand how lawyers behave. Rao said he was "emotionally drained" as the character was challenging and complex. In the scenes where he had to cry, Rao said he could not stop himself, thinking about what Azmi had to go through.
Tigmanshu Dhulia Tigmanshu Dhulia (born 3 July 1967) is an Indian film dialogue writer, director, actor, screenwriter, producer and casting director known for his works in Hindi cinema and Television. He wrote the dialogue for the 1998 film ''Dil Se..'', the fir ...
, Prabhleen Sandhu,
Kay Kay Menon Krishna Kumar Menon (born 2 October 1966), known professionally as Kay Kay Menon, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and occasionally in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu films. He is best known for his roles in fil ...
and
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub Khan is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is frequently cast in supporting roles, and has appeared in more than 25 films in a career which has spanned eight years. He has also worked in a Hindi serial "Kyunk ...
played supporting roles in the film. Vivek Ghamande played the role of Faheem Ansari while Baljinder Kaur of Ammi.


Filming

''Shahid'' was made on a production budget of and filmed in complete secrecy. It was shot in several Mumbai neighbourhoods Azmi had frequented including
Kurla Kurla (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uɾlaː is a suburb of East Mumbai, India. It is the headquarters of the Kurla taluka of Mumbai Suburban district. The neighbourhood is named after the eponymous Bombay East Indians, East Indian vill ...
, Govandi and
Pydhonie Pydhonie is a neighbourhood in South Mumbai. Etymologically the name is derived from the Marathi word ''Py'' which means feet, and ''dhoné'' which means "to wash". Thus the name means "A place where feet are washed." The name Pydhonie or "fo ...
. Mehta chose to shoot in the apartment above Azmi's ground floor residence in the Taximen's Colony as he wanted to "capture the sense of claustrophobia and unkemptness of his home". Some portions of the film were shot in Azmi's office and his colony. ''Shahid'' was also shot in
Nagpada Nagpada is a neighbourhood in South Mumbai. The place derives its name from a local Shiva temple, and abode of Naag or the snake wound around Shiva's neck. It has a community basketball court. In 2005, Nagpada was the location of the Sada ...
, where Faheem Ansari's wife Yasmin lives. The scenes in the terrorist training camp were shot in
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...
. Mehta decided to depict realistic court scenes based on his team's observation of real courts. They visited the Andheri Court and the Esplanade Court among others, taking photographs to recreate the ambience for the courtroom scenes. Courtroom sets were built because filming in an actual court is not permitted. The scene where Azmi's face is blackened by assailants outside a courtroom was a re-enactment of an incident from Mehta's own life. In 2000, members of
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...
who were protesting against Mehta's
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
''
Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! ''Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!'' () is a 2000 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Hansal Mehta, written by Saurabh Shukla and produced by Ajay Tuli, Anish and Hansal Mehta. It stars Manoj Bajpayee, Tabu, Saurabh Shukla and Aditya Srivastava in pivo ...
'' attacked him and vandalised his office. The film's unit consisted of about 17 people because of budget and time constraints; it was made on a budget of . The film was shot linearly on a non-linear draft. Mehta said it was filmed guerilla style using all "available digital formats without really worrying about which lens was available". The filmmaker used only natural or minimal lighting. For an interrogation scene, Rao suggested Mehta show him naked as he wanted to "feel the embarrassment, the mental pain of the character." The film's editor,
Apurva Asrani Apurva Asrani (born 21 March 1978) is an Indian filmmaker. He has written the human rights drama ''Aligarh (film), Aligarh'' (2016), the courtroom drama Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors (2020), has co-written and edited the film ''Shahid ( ...
, edited the film in a linear order as he felt an earlier version was "not working". Mehta ultimately decided to give him a screenplay credit as he felt Asrani "shaped the narrative" of the film. ''Shahid'' was jointly produced by Kashyap, UTV Spotboy and Sunil Bohra. Azmi had defended Kashyap's film '' Black Friday'' (2007) in the courts while it was debarred from release by the
Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...
. Anuj Dhawan served as the film's
director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
. Mehta said that they had a lot of material they did not use as "not all of it could translate into a scene"; he wanted the film to be more accessible. Azmi's brother Khalid Azmi said of the film's authenticity that "it is 95 percent accurate."


Release and reception

''Shahid'' premiered at the
2012 Toronto International Film Festival The 37th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 16, 2012. TIFF announced the films that were accepted on August 21, 2012. On its 37th edition the TIFF included a 2 ...
in its "City to City" programme in September 2012. The film was screened at several film festivals including the 14th
Mumbai Film Festival The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in the city of Mumbai, India. Priyanka Chopra, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the chairperson of the trust while Shivendra Singh Dungarpur serves ...
, the
New York Indian Film Festival The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was foun ...
, the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart, the
Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ) was the largest film festival in the Arab world, Arab region. With particular emphasis on showcasing Arab cinema, Arab, Asian cinema, Asian, and African cinema, it also helped to develop industry a ...
and the Chicago South Asian Film Festival. The film's album soundtrack consisted of one song titled "Beparwah", sung by
Arijit Singh Arijit Singh (; born 25 April 1987) is an Indian playback singer. A leading figure in contemporary Hindi film music, he is the recipient of several accolades including two National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards. He was conferred the P ...
. The music was composed by Karan Kulkarni. The film's poster, which showed Rao's blackened face, was also released. The official trailer was unveiled on 20 September 2013. The film opened in India on 18 October 2013 around 400 screens. A private screening of the film was held for the cast and crew before its release. ''Shahid'' is also available on SonyLiv and
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
.


Box office and awards

''Shahid'' opened to small audiences in theatres and earned a total of . It went on to take in at the end of its first weekend. The film performed well with multiplex audiences compared to single screens. It collected on the fifth day, on the sixth, and seventh day. The film's total box office collection at the end of its theatrical run was . Rao received the Best Actor Award and Mehta the Best Director Award at the
61st National Film Awards The 61st National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2013 in the Cinema of India, Indian cinema. The ceremony was held ...
ceremony. Rao also won the
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor The Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Superlatives * The record of the maximum number of wins in this category is with Amitabh Bachchan having won the award ...
at the
59th Filmfare Awards The 59th Filmfare Awards were held to honor the best films of 2013 from the Hindi-language film industry (commonly known as Bollywood). The nominations were announced on 13 January 2014. The ceremony that was held on 24 January 2014 (telecasted ...
. At the 14th
Mumbai International Film Festival The Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) is a festival organized in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Infor ...
, the film won the Silver Gateway trophy and cash prize of while Mehta won the Best Director award. Mehta won the Best Director award at the
New York Indian Film Festival The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was foun ...
and at the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart.


Critical response

''Shahid'' received mostly positive reviews from the critics with particular praise for Rao's performance. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 100% approval rating based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7 out of 10. Saibal Chatterjee of
NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...
called it a "gritty, gutsy, bold and brave" film that articulates "uncomfortable truths about contemporary India, its media, its judiciary and, of course, its people."
Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
's Sonia Chopra gave a positive review, writing that the film "salutes the man who walked a unique path" and does "full justice to the man and his extraordinary life."
Rajeev Masand Rajeev Masand (born 13 March 1976) is an Indian film critic and journalist. He has worked for Noida based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews Bollywood films and major Hollywood films rel ...
wrote in his review: "The film itself is brave and unflinching, and oozes the kind of sincerity that you long for in most Hindi films." Madhureeta Mukherjee of ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' said the film is "brutally honest, brave and above all a fascinating humane story". Trisha of ''
Firstpost Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions. The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...
'' believed Mehta's directorial style echoed "Azmi's own commitment to a truth in which thoughtless actions produce victims, rather than villainy producing heroes." Shubhra Gupta of ''
The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' mentioned in her review that the film "needed to have been made" and Mehta "tells it straight, without any false flourishes". She also praised Rao's performance, saying he "wears the character like skin, and becomes Shahid." ''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...
''s Suhani Singh gave a positive review, writing the film "stops short of hero worship and is a fitting tribute to an inspiring figure."
Anupama Chopra Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-de ...
praised Rao's performance in the film and called it his "triumph, .his ''Shahid'' has strength, anguish and a controlled anger, but also real charm." Vinayak Chakravorty of ''India Today'' noted it as a "career-defining role" for Rao and the "biggest reason you will love this unusual film."
Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan () is an Indian film critic and writer. A chemical engineering graduate with no formal training in filmmaking or cinema writing, he has a diverse career in advertising, IT consulting, and cinema writing. He has authored two boo ...
felt the film was a "deeply humanistic drama" which "makes us think, but more often, it makes us feel." ''
Mid-Day ''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper. Editions in various languages including Gujarati and English have been published out of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune so far. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore ...
''s Shubha Shetty Saha wrote: "Not often do we get the opportunity to watch a relevant movie that depicts the times we live in, with unblinking directness." Prasanna D Zore of
Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...
called it a "gutsy and thought-provoking film", she added that it is not an "in your face film": "It is a subtle, thought-provoking and gutsy story of a person who believed in the power of truth and justice yet knew that the path he had taken was strewn with risks, indifference and ignominy." Saurav Datta of ''
Daily News and Analysis The ''Daily News and Analysis'', abbreviated as ''DNA'', is a Hindi-language news program on Zee news that was earlier an English-language newspaper with multiple local city editions across India. ''DNA'' was first launched as a broadsheet newsp ...
'' opined the film was "incomplete" without showing Azmi's younger brother's role as he took over his job; he felt the film also concluded with an "abrupt, grinding halt". ''
Mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...
''s Sanjukta Sharma called it an "admirable project" and praised Rao's performance but stated the film fell "short of a masterpiece" as a biopic. Namrata Joshi felt that the film "portrays the psyche of the Indian Muslim in the changing, increasingly polarised India with warmth and simplicity."
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
Shilpa Jamkhandikar responded positively to the film and praised Rao's performance: "As Shahid, Raj Kumar injects the right amount of earnestness, anger and vulnerability into his role, to make this one of the best performances we have seen this year." Journalist and writer Rana Ayyub said that the film was a "brave and worthy tribute to zmi'swork and courage." Among overseas reviewers, Omer M. Mozaffar of RogerEbert.com praised Mehta's direction and called his work a "pleasant surprise": "the lack of polish at first seems like a film school weakness, but grows into a well-crafted asset, especially in his deliberate fades to black." Rachel Saltz of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' gave a positive review writing: " ehtahas made a film of conviction that's neither plodding nor preachy." However, Saltz felt the second half of the film was "truncated and overstuffed". Mohammad Kamran Jawaid of ''
Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...
'', gave the film a positive review writing that the two-hour time constraint "means there's little room for the traditional expansion we get from biopics, and if at times ''Shahid'' feels like an expanded best-of Mr. Azmi's life, it's because it is". ''Shahid'' was mentioned in critic and author Shubhra Gupta's book, ''50 Films That Changed Bollywood, 1995–2015''.


References


External links

* * {{2008 Mumbai attacks 2010s Hindi-language films 2012 films Films featuring a Best Actor National Award–winning performance Films set in Mumbai Films shot in Mumbai Films whose director won the Best Director National Film Award Indian avant-garde and experimental films Indian biographical films Indian courtroom films UTV Motion Pictures films 2010s avant-garde and experimental films 2010s biographical films Films based on the 2008 Mumbai attacks Indian films based on actual events Hindi-language films based on actual events Films about lawyers Films directed by Hansal Mehta