HAQ deals with religious and legal conflicts

Religion or at least its followers often require believers to follow their law while some nations feel religion and government are separate.  It seems that all the world's religious cultures subjugated women to the control of men.

Abbas Khan had tried to divorce his wife Shazia Bono and cut off child support using Sharia law and the courts seemed to have upheld it.  However Shazia had found a lawyer who claimed the Indian constitution required him to support her.  A lot of details were debated over several years and I confess it was very confusing.  The bottom line was a successful struggle to assert constitutional rights that not only benefited Muslim women, but also all citizens.

As in many such battles there were a lot of heated arguments and emotions ran high.  Arrogance prevailed on the male side.

One interesting scene for me was a burial that in subtitles used the term "coffin", but I believe should have been "shroud" that to me was a more natural burial.

This was an extremely well done movie and here are some of the contributors.

Suparn Varma was the director.  He started out in journalism and spent 6 years as an entertainment journalist.   He helped to set up a recording studio for chat.  Suparn has 22 credits as a writer, 14 as a director and 4 as a producer including "The Family Man" (2019).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/the-family-man.html

Reshu Nath was the writer.  She has 10 credits for writing, 1 for additional crew and 3 for directing.

Vineet Jain was one of the producers.  He had risen to Managing Director at Bennett and Coleman Company, the largest media group in India.  He has 12 producing credits including "Raazi" (2018), "Doctor G" (2022), "Badhaai Do" (2022) and "Ulajh" (2024).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/12/doctor-g.html 

Sandeep Chowta was the musical score writer.  He was born in Ghana, but raised in Nigeria.  He became the head of Columbia Records for India.  Sandeep has 66 composing credits, 18 for the music department and one for directing including "Satya"(1988), "Ashok the Great" (2001), "Om Shanti Om" (2008) and "Parmanu:  The Story of Pokhran" (2018).

Vishal Mishra wrote several songs.   He has 54 composing credits, 53 music department credits and 13 for acting including "Qarib Qarib Single" (2017), "Kabir Singh" (2019) and "Saiyaara" (2025).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/09/arjun-reddy-and-kabir-singh.html

 Pratham Mehta was the cinematographer.  He has 35 cinematographer credits, 14 for camera and electrical department, 2 for producing and 2 for the color department including "Scoop" (2023) and "Srikanth" (2024).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/07/two-films-about-overcoming-blindness.html

Ninad Khanolkar was the editor.  He has 24 editor credits and 7 for the editorial department including "Agent Vinod" (2012),  "Shubh Mangal Savdhan" (2017), "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan" (2020) and "Khel Khel Mein" (2024).

Yami Gautam played Shazia.  She studied law and later did many commercials and appeared on fashion magazine covers.  She has performed in Hindi,Kannada, Punjabi, Telegu, Malayalam and Tamil films.  Her film credits include "Vicky Donor" (2012), "Badlapur" (2015), "Kaabil" (2017), "Uri:  The Surgical Strike" (2019), "Bala" (2019). "A Thursday" (2022) and "Dasvi" (2022). http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/the-message-is-spoiler.html

Emraan Hashmi played Abbas.  At one time Emraan was credited as being a good "kisser".  He has 61 acting credits and 3 assistant director credits including  "Murder" (2004), "Gangster" (2006), "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai" (2010), "The Dirty Picture" (2011), "Shanghai" (2012), "Hamari Adhuri Kahani" (2015), "The Body" (2019) and "Ae Watan Mere Watan" (2023).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/09/danis-tanovic-with-bosnian-perspective.html 

Sheeba Chaddha played Bela Jain, the defense lawyer.  She acts in theatre plays.  Sheeba has 101 acting credits including "Talaash" (2012), "Badhai Ho" (2018), "Gully Boy" (2019) and "Baadhai Do" (2022).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/03/badhaai-do-lgbt-film-from-conservative.html

Women in most societies have been controlled by men and "HAQ" demonstrates how some women have gained more freedom.  Available subtitled on Netflix. 

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally these are among my favorites.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

Doctor G

"Doctor G" (2022) was among my most anticipated movies, but assumed it would not  be available for several months, however could not miss a chance to watch an Ayushmann Khurrana film when Netflix came through.  Shefali Shah has also proved to be an indicator of a good movie.  

Uday is coerced awkwardly to switch medical studies to specialize in gynecology.  He has social hangups which his all female classmates pick up on.  They tease him with nicknames including "Mr. Nipples".  Dr. Nandini, his immediate superior is tough on him, but feels being male should be no handicap.  Gradually he develops not only skills but pride and a sense of purpose.  

His single mother had decided she wants to date and Uday resents her for it and at a later point tries to break up a developing relationship.  His girl friend breaks up with him saying he doesn't understand women and doesn't really listen.  Finally he seems to have found a mutual attraction with another student, Fatima, however she stops after a kiss declaring she will remain loyal to her fiance while also declaring she wants to be friends with him.  Understanding women is a challenge during most of the movie.

It would be natural for a film about an gynecologist to touch on abortion.  It is not common in his clinic but apparently legal with some restrictions.  A mentor (and hero) of Uday's gets an underage woman, Kavya, pregnant and seeks an abortion to avoid trouble with his wife and job.  Uday avoids actually doing it, but lies to Dr. Nandini and Fatima.  Uday learns that Kavya  has a complication that would make an abortion risky.   His mentor is desperate and forces a situation.  Temporarily Uday agrees to let Kavya stay with him and his mother.  Things go wrong and Uday is threatened with dismissal, but his experiences have opened his mind in many directions including his mother, Dr. Nandini, Fatima and his mentor.

Although male gynecologists are well established in India, there is still a bit of a stigma with males seeking more acceptable specialties.  Males are also reluctant to develop friendships with females.  Abortion is of course a controversial topic.  Ayushmann tackles all these issues in this film.

The film does not just make a social statement, it is very entertaining.  For this combination it requires some professional attention.  Here are some of the contributors.

Director/writer Anubhuti Kashyap started her career as a subordinate director on 3 films and moved onto director for three other films before tackling "Doctor G" and adding on writing.  She is sister to Anurag Kashyap, a well regarded film maker. 

Saurabh Bharat also worked on the screenplay after contributing to the story.  He graduated from the    New York Film Academy.  He had been a dentist who went onto be a radio disc jockey before becoming a script writer.  He had awards for his first short film that he also provided cinematography as well as directing in 2011.  He was an assistant director for "Satyagrah" (2013).

Music was provided by Amit Trivedi.  He has also been a backup singer in many films.  His credits include  "Aamir" (2008), "Udann" (2010), "Chillar Party" (2011), "Kai Po Che" (2013), "Queen" (2013), "Dear Zindagi" (2016) "Secret Superstar" (2017), "Padman" (2018),  "Andhadhun" (2018) and "Goodbye" (2022). 

Cinematography was handled by Eeshit Narain.  His film credits include "Qarib Qarib Singlle" (2017) and "Once Again" (2018)

Editing was done by Prerna Saigel.  His screen credits include "The Lunchbox" (2013) , "Tigers" (2014) and "Pagglait" (2021).

Ayushmann Khurrana has played numerous socially challenging roles that can make you laugh.  For example his first feature he was a sperm donor with "Vicky Donor" (2012).  In "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" (2015) he tries to get out of an arranged marriage with an overweight girl better educated than him.  In "Shrubh Mangal Savdhan: (2017) he had erectile dysfunction.  In "Article 15" (2015) he played a non humourus military officer fighting caste discrimination.  In "Chandigarh Kare Aashiquui" (2022) he played a macho man who found himself making love to a transgendered woman.  "Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/12/ayushmann-khuranna-actor-to-watch.html

Rukul Preet Singh played the want to be "friend" for Uday.  She graduated with an Honorus Degree in Mathematics.  She also had golfed at a national level.  In addition to Bollywood films she is able to speak Tamil, Telegu and Kannanda.

Shefali Shah played the supervisor to Uday.  She has numerous film credits including "Satya" (1998), "Mohabbatein" (2000),  "Gandhi, My Father" (2007)"Karthik Calling Karthik" (2010), "Dil Dhadakne Do" (2015), "Delhi Crime" (2019) and "Human" (2022).

Sheeba Chaddha plays Uday's mother who he loves, but is a bit embarrassed.  Her screen credits include "Dil Se" (1998), "Talaash" (2012), "Gully Boy" (2019), "Pagglait" (2021) and "Baidhaai Do" (2022).

Indraneil Sengupta played the mentor/hero (at least in the early part of film).    He had played in a number of Bengali films and one of my favorite twist movies "Kahanni" (2012) and "Human" (2022).

Ayesha Kasuskar played the underage girl friend.  She had been in "Agneepath" (2012).

Raj Sharma played the prospective boyfriend for Uday's mother.  His credits include "PK" (2014), "Talvar" (2014), "Kaabil" (2017), "Badhaii Ho" (2018), "Delhi Crime" (2019) and one of my top 2022 films "A Thursday" (2022).  Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/the-message-is-spoiler.html

As with all of Ayushmann Khuranna films you likely will enjoy this one, laughing and pondering.  As usual I have bolded the first mention of movies I have seen.  As an aside those bolded films are mostly highly recommended as I omit those I would not recommend.