[2] Haider, a young student and a poet, returns to Kashmir at the peak of the conflict to seek answers about his father's disappearance and ends up being tugged into the politics of the state.

[3] The subject matter, direction, story, screenplay, film score, cinematography, editing, and performances of the ensemble cast received high critical praise and garnered several accolades.

Roohdaar, who is part of a pro-separatist group, explains that he and Hilaal were both imprisoned in a detention camp by a counterinsurgency militia formed by Khurram.

Devastated and enraged, Haider begins behaving erratically, shaving his head and staging public demonstrations against the government and AFSPA.

Initially, Vishal Bhardwaj and Shahid Kapoor were in talks of making a sequel to their previous collaboration, the action drama Kaminey (2009).

[10] On his return to India, Bharadwaj's wife Rekha Bhardwaj was reading Basharat Peer's memoir, Curfewed Night, a book based on life in violence-wrecked Kashmir.

[12] Sumit Kaul, who played the character of one of the Salmans, was involved in training the Kashmiri accent of actress Tabu apart from lead actors Shahid and Shraddha.

[17] Ahluwalia was quoted saying, "Somewhere along the way her husband disappears and she marries his brother who is wealthier than him, and this change in marital status is explained through richer colors and fabrics.

The signs of madness in his character are depicted through the pom-poms in his cap during the track "Bismil" that is a manifestation of the traditional folk dance Dumhal of the Kashmiri valley performed by Wattal tribes.

[35] The scenes that were censored were a truck load of corpses, wire being inserted inside a naked man, a shot of a bloody dead body and abusive words.

[36] Dr. Zakir Hussain, a senior analyst at the Indian Council of World Affairs was quoted saying, "As democratic traditions strengthen in the country, more and more such movies will be made and people will be educated.

[3] To this portrayal, Indian Twitter users, filled with sentiments brought up hashtagging of words "#BoycottHaider" that generated estimate 75,000 tweets since the film release.

[37] It was also denied certification and banned by the Pakistan Central Board of Film Censors for depicting the sensitive issue of the Kashmir insurgency.

[40] Haider received widespread critical acclaim upon release for its subject matter, direction, story, screenplay, film score, cinematography, editing, and performances of the ensemble cast.

[41] Writing for The Hindu, Sudhish Kamath felt, "Lyricist Gulzar, writer-director Vishal Bhardwaj, and writer Basharat Peer have given us an instant classic, a literary epic (the screenplay is out in the stores too) with a lesson to learn from recent history.

"[42] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN called that film an elegant, thrilling one that casts a brave, unflinching eye on the Kashmir struggle.

"[44] Subhash K. Jha with immense praise felt, "Haider is a beast that just won't be tamed by regular cinematic definitions.

Above all, there are the performances – towering, luminous actors craning their collective creative necks into the director's vision, to give it mesmerizing magical spin.

[46] Writing for Mid-Day, Shubha Shetty-Saha said "Vishal Bharadwaj brings alive the ecstasy, pain and passion of Hamlet on screen, he also reminds us of the harsh truth in our own backyard, the man-made mayhem in the God-made jannat [heaven] that is Kashmir".

[47] Faheem Ruhani for India Today praised the Even the oedipal theme between characters played by Shahid Kapoor and Tabu, summarizing his review as, "Haider may seem a bit sluggish in the first-half and slightly long.

"[48] Zee News's critic Ritika Handoo reviewed positively, "William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a masterpiece in literature, and Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider will be talked about in the same vein as one such artistic product in cinematic history.

"[51] Writing for Filmfare, Rachit Gupta felt, "Haider doesn't have an ounce of the commercial thrills and spills that entertain the 100-crore masses.

"[52] On the contrary, Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express felt the storytelling falters, quoting that, "It is a gorgeous but choppy film that you cannot take your eyes off for fear of losing another exquisite piece of detailing; it is also one that fails to fully keep you with it.

"[53] Mike McHill of The Guardian wrote, "Radical Indian version of Hamlet gives the story compelling political angles and musical surprises.

"[54] Rachel Saltz of The New York Times titled her critical review as, "Shakespearean Revenge in a Violent Kashmir" emphasizing more on script and directorial aspects, noting, "Haider may not be the equal of Mr. Bhardwaj's other Shakespeare films, and it may be deficient in the "Hamlet" department, but it certainly gives good Gertrude.

"[56] Writing for Digital Spy, Priya Joshi praised the film, calling it a "masterclass in film-making and performance" and "an exemplary cinema and a work of great artistic merit", She added, "Shahid Kapoor is a standard-bearer for a generation.

[58] Praising the key aspects of the movie, critic Manjusha Radhakrishnan for Gulf News writes, "Everything about Haider is subtle: including the undertones of the infamous sexual tension between mother and son.

"[59] On writing for Emirates 24/7, Sneha May Francis opined, "Haider does appear a little over indulgent, but considering Vishal had such a Herculean task at hand, it's just a small price to pay for good cinema.

But Haider transpires to be a far less irreverent interpretation than, say, the 2000 US version in which Ethan Hawke delivered the "To be or not to be" soliloquy from the "Action" section of Blockbuster Video.

If the graft doesn't quite take, it's because the film is so persuasive in portraying the oppression of the Kashmiri people that the woes of Hamlet seem small beer.