Khuda Haafiz

''Khuda Haafiz'' () is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written & directed by Faruk Kabir and produced by Panorama Studios. It stars Vidyut Jammwal and Shivaleeka Oberoi, alongside Annu Kapoor, Aahana Kumra and Shiv Panditt. Set during the 2008 financial crisis, Sameer Chaudhary arrives at a fictional Middle east country Noman in order to rescue his kidnapped wife Nargis from flesh traders.

''Khuda Haafiz'' premiered on Disney+ Hotstar in 14 August 2020, where it received mixed reviews from critics and became a success in Disney+ Hotstar.

Plot

In 2007, Sameer Chowdhary, a software engineer, falls in love with Nargis through an alliance and the two get married. The 2008 financial crisis leaves Sameer and Nargis jobless. Three months later, they get jobs in Noman, a fictional Middle East country, with the help of Nadeem, an employee at an overseas recruitment company. Nargis leaves for Noman, while Sameer stays to wait for his documents to arrive. After her arrival, Nargis calls Sameer in a panic state where she tells that someone is kidnapping her. Sameer travels to Noman, where he meets Usman Hamid Ali Murad, a taxi driver. Sameer asks Usman to take him to the address given by Nadeem, but he learns that there is no such address.

Usman takes Sameer to the police station, where he learns that Nadeem has gone missing. Fallen out of help with the police due to his restless nature, Sameer approaches the Indian embassy, where he poses as an employee of a telecom company and acquires the address of the person from whose phone Nargis contacted him, which turns out to be a person named Shirazi. Sameer and Usman learn about Shirazi's involvement in the human trafficking. Sameer visits brothels with Usman in search of Nargis and finds her, but he is attacked by the owners and Sameer turns violent, where he kills the men and a car chase ensues which results in Sameer getting arrested by the Indian Embassy cops.

Sameer narrates the incident to the cops, where he is approached by Faiz Abu Malik, a Nomani cop, who decides to help him with officer Tamena joining along. They view the CCTV footage of the Noman airport, where they see Nargis entering a van with a man revealed to be Itzak, an Algerian modelling coordinator. Itzak orders that Nargis be killed. Faiz and Tamena come across a burnt corpse and believe it to be Nargis. Sameer sees her pendant and gets shattered. Following her funeral, Sameer is given compensation and tickets to India. Tamena learns Nargis is alive and the corpse they found was of a different woman. Tamena and Faiz try to find Sameer only to find that Sameer never boarded the flight.

Baying for revenge, Sameer arrives at Itzak's house and thrashes him before Itzak reveals that Nargis is alive. Faiz and Tamena arrive, where Faiz is revealed to be Itzak's ally. Tamena subdues Faiz long enough to buy Sameer and Usman time to escape, using the black truck trailer where Nargis is inside. Faiz kills Tamena and frames Sameer. An ensuing truck chase leaves Itzak dead. Faiz meets his crime partner and Itzak's boss, which is photographed by an undercover cop. Sameer arrives at the Indian Embassy, but is captured by Faiz, and planned to kill him saying, "You're Dead!", until the guard stopped him by using his gun, including the betrayal made by commander Ali Azam Ghazi. This resulted in Sameer and Faiz engaging in a bloodied fistfight where Sameer thrashes him. After this, Sameer exited the embassy, with one guard opening the back of the truck, freeing Nargis and other women.

Three days later, Sameer attends to Tamena's state funeral, while Faiz gets killed by the firing squad for his crimes and kidnapping the women. In the airport, Sameer and Nargis prepare to leave for India while making the last meeting with Usman. Sameer invites Usman to arrive and meet them at India as they greet him one day before leaving back to India.

Cast

Production

Following official announcement in April 2019, shooting commenced at Uzbekistan on 14 October 2019.

Soundtrack

The music for the film was composed by Mithoon who also wrote lyrics for four of the tracks, with Sayeed Quadri penning two songs in the soundtrack album.

Marketing and release

On 29 June 2020, Disney+ Hotstar conducted a virtual press conference where Uday Shankar announced the film's digital release on the platform on 14 August 2020, exclusively as part of the ''Disney+ Hotstar Multiplex'' initiative which was a result of cinemas being shut down due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, Vidyut Jammwal was not invited for the social media announcement, along with Kunal Khemu, whose film ''Lootcase'' also released on the same digital streaming platform. Disney+ Hotstar released and promoted the film's trailer first, through the streaming application on 24 July 2020, along with the much anticipated premiere of Sushant Singh Rajput's last film ''Dil Bechara''. The trailer was launched through YouTube, the following day.

Reception

''Bollywood Hungama'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "''Khuda Haafiz'' is a well-paced action thriller that works chiefly due to the script, direction and performances of Vidyut Jammwal and Annu Kapoor." Vibha Maru of ''India Today'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Khuda Haafiz makes for a good one-time watch. From action to drama, the film has it all. You might want to pick this over the weekend." Pallabi Dey Purkayastha of ''The Times of India'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Khuda Haafiz’ — literal meaning ‘May God be your Guardian’ — does not have the most innovative script on the planet but it still could have worked had it not been for the randomness in the second half and the outrageously sham Arabic accents." Devesh Sharma of ''Filmfare'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Khuda Haafiz truly had the potential to be a cracker of an action-filled romance. But patchy writing has diluted its impact. The only thing that works here, as said earlier, is Vidyut’s virtuosity as an action star. Watch the film for some well-crafted set pieces and you won’t get disappointed."

Sequel

A sequel titled '' Khuda Haafiz Chapter II Agni Pariksha'' was announced in September 2020 after the success of the first part with Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak as the producers and Faruk Kabir as the director. Vidyut Jammwal and Shivaleeka Oberoi will reprise their roles. The film released in 2022.

Notes

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt7363104, Khuda Haafiz
Khuda Haafiz
on Bollywood Hungama

2020s Hindi-language films
2020 action thriller films
Indian action thriller films
2020 films
Indian films based on actual events
Action thriller films based on actual events
Films about kidnapping
Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020 direct-to-video films
Disney+ Hotstar original films
Films shot in Uzbekistan
Films set in fictional countries
Films set in the Middle East