Hamare Baarah has been in the news due to its controversial subject. After fighting a legal battle in the court, the makers finally got a green light to release their film. The film tells the story of a Muslim man who thinks that according to Islam, a woman is a baby making machine and he can use his wife as per his wants. The subject has grabbed a lot of eyeballs, and has also been alleged of disrespecting Islam community. There have been a lot of controversies revolving around the film. The film gives a social message about population control, but is presented in a pathetic way. In addition to population control, the government should regulate such pathetic films.
Hamare Baarah tells the story of Manzoor Ali Khan Sanjari (Annu Kapoor), who, despite losing his first wife during childbirth, continues to have more children with his second wife, now pregnant with her sixth. When doctors warn that the pregnancy risks her life, Khan refuses an abortion. His daughter Alfiya, determined to save her stepmother, takes her father to court to demand the abortion. The film explores whether Alfiya can convince her father and the court, and questions the entrenched patriarchy in their society.
Annu Kapoor is a powerful actor, but this script makes him cross the lines as we see him doing too much of overacting. His voice is powerful and so is the dialogue delivery in some scenes, but his character doesn’t look convincing overall. Manoj Joshi is a wonderful actor, but all his acting efforts go in vain due to this lackluster script. Ashwini Kalsekar is very irritating in every single scene of hers. She just keeps shouting unnecessarily on-screen. Parth Samthaan is horrible and so is Paritosh Tripathi. The entire girl gang along with Annu Kapoor’s wife is unbearable. You feel like laughing and scratching your heads, whenever an actor cries on-screen.The casting of Annu Kapoor’s second wife is one of the worst things about this film. Even people who don’t have much idea about acting would have done better than this whole casting unit.
The direction deserves a heavy bashing. The direction is on par with B-Grade filmmaking. Everything is in bits and pieces, messy and nothing looks connected. If you are choosing a powerful and sensitive subject like this, you should be smart enough to present your film in that way, but here its full of dumbness. A person with the slightest knowledge about filmmaking would have done better in the direction department than what Kamal Chandra has done.
The framework is dull and will definitely hurt your eyes. The presentation is very cheap and looks very similar to a B-Grade movie. The film will test your patience on every single point and in every department. There is not a single thing in the film where you don’t feel trapped.
The writers should be blamed the most for writing such a horrible script. The film goes completely opposite and off-track while conveying the message. There are tons of unnecessary conflicts added to spoil your mood. The dialogues are so cringe-worthy that it feels like a punishment to sit through.
The first half is full of melodramatic segments which arrive one after the another just like those 11 kids. The second half has the majority of courtroom scenes. The courtroom scenes are poorly presented lacking any powerful arguments and logic. Each and every debate feels like a joke.
The film has some scenes which will hurt the community. The film favors as well as defends Islam. One should be utmost careful while making such kinds of films. The censor board has muted a couple of dialogues, but somewhere you feel like this is going over the top.
The film tries to showcase social issues like population control, education, women harassment, etc. Whatever the film tries to convey is a complete misfire. Along with population control, the government should also regulate such kinds of films to save time, energy and money for the audience. I bet you won’t come across anything worse than this in 2024.
This film is an utter disaster from start to finish, a painful exercise in mediocrity that insults the intelligence of its audience. Overall, this film is a complete waste of time and money, an embarrassment to all involved, and an affront to cinema itself. Beware of this film, as it might create a heavy damage to your eyes, ears and most importantly to your mind. Undoubtedly, the most pathetic film of 2024.
Rating – 1/5*
