Kaafir Review: Dia Mirza Tears Up The Screen With Her Searing Glances; Not To Forget The Amazing Writing!

Web series - Kaafir (Zee5)

Actors - Dia Mirza, Mohit Raina

Rating - 4 out of 5

My Verdict - One of the most moving shows ever seen, it is a must watch

Zee5’s web series Kaafir stars Dia Mirza, Mohit Raina in pivotal roles. It has been written by Bhavani Iyer who was also the co-writer of Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi starring Alia Bhatt as Sehmat. The 8 episode long show showcases the real-life incidents of Shainaaz, A Pakistani lady who faces an unlawful jail term of 7 long years for something she is not guilty of.

Our country has seen many films and series that dealt with the forever-controversial Indo-Pak tensions but most of them have been from the perspective of an Indian. We the viewers who are Indians, see another Indian unlawfully and forcefully held up and tortured by our neighbouring country because they are thought of as militants.And naturally, the desh-bhakti fervour is incited in us even more.

This story is hugely different from that perspective! Hugely different!’

In this one, we, the Indian people get to witness the life of a Pakistani woman who due to unavoidable and unforeseen circumstances get caught up in the meshes of the Indian army. We get to know how the Indian army treats these so-called militants and what fate do these people endure if in case they are caught by our very own Indian army. Now, showcasing that in itself is a feat, which hasn’t been achieved by many. So, the fact that this raw nerve was touched upon in itself is commendable.

Thankfully, the web platform has enabled the content creators to speak out their mind without having to worry about the censors or mindless protests so on and so forth!

Firstly, let me dwell on what the word Kaafir means – Well, firstly it is an Arabic word. Broadly, there are two kinds of species in the world. The one who believes and the other who doesn’t! The believer is called ‘Momin’ and the disbeliever (someone who denies the dominion and the authority of Allah) is the ‘Kaafir’ and the action of being a ‘Kaafir’ is called ‘Kufr’!

Coming to the performances, Dia Mirza plays the role of this beautiful Pakistani girl called Kainaaz Akhtar who is found unconscious near the banks of the Poonch river on the Indian side of the border, unfortunately for her, with two other Pakistani militants.  Now, because, she was found beside the militants, she is also considered to be a part of their extremist group and resultantly she is imprisoned for a massive 7 years. Time passes by, and she gives birth to this beautiful little girl whom she names Sehar. Sehar means (dawn), well the name too is symbolical. Her life has become dark and sinister, almost a living hell, away from her country, tainted as someone she is not. She kind of implants a hope in her daughter, that it is she who will bring first rays of dawn into Kainaaz’s life. And that's what Sehar does!

Vedant Rathor, a journalist, played by Mohit Raina is constantly on the run and the lookout for new stories. When he is egged by his boss to look out for a human-interest story, Vedant gets to know about Kainaaz who had given birth to this baby in the jail and who is now living in the jail with her mother.  He delves deep into their lives and tries to bring them out from the ordeal the mother-daughter duo face on a daily basis. But is that all? There are lot more suffering, pain and insults that Kainaaz is destined to face. After the Indian ordeal is over and done with, will the Pakistan government accept Kainaaz with open arms? Mohit’s performance as Rathor is genuine, heartfelt and evoked emotions in me, I didn’t even know existed! He was tremendous yet subtle and restrained!

Dia Mirza did not just look beautiful in every frame, there was a certain amount of calm and vulnerability (which is anyway suffused in her tender countenance all the time) In this show, it came out like never before. Her eyes spoke volumes, her unkempt hair, her very image in every frame oozed beauty and suffering (A very heavy concoction). Her searing glances and at once faint and at once powerful voice modulations just stole my attention! Her portrayal of the wronged-by-fate Kainaaz would make anyone fall in love with her and will want to just take her out of that pathetic plight.

A very pertinent point that I have to make out here is that of the beautiful cinematography by Pratik Shah - the landscapes looked vast, looked new and expansive. The colour correction with the blue tint in every frame made the mood even more frozen and it all seemed to add to the cold of the web series! The costume design, the choice of colours and the beautiful sound design all added to the flavour of the whole show.

All in all, this is one web series which I wouldn’t mind watching more than once. It is a MUST WATCH FOR EVERYONE!