“Ye Ladhai Hai Haq Ki“
Overview
Haq is a recently released Bollywood film which had no hype among audiences, but the trailer of the film clicked with people and gathered a decent level of attention. Haq revolves around the real-life story of Shazia Bano.
Spoiler Warning
This review will have some spoilers. So if you are just loocking for the verdict or recommendation to decide if you wish to watch it or not, skip to the last paragraph.
Fun-Fact
Haq is based on Jigna Vora’s book Bano: Bharat Ki Beti. Jigna Vora is a journalist who was accused in J Dey’s murder case. There is also a web series on Netflix based on Jigna Vora’s life, Scoop, starring Karishma Tanna and directed by Hansal Mehta. Haq is produced by Harman Baweja under the banner of Baweja Studios, along with Junglee Pictures and Insomnia Films. Interestingly, Harman Baweja was also a part of Scoop as an actor, where he played ACP Harshavardhan Shroff
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Dekho, plot bata kar time waste nahi karunga. Makers have fictionalised the names of characters, but at the end, it’s a true story with real emotions. The story of the film revolves around the case of Shah Bano (real name), Shazia Bano (fictional name in Haq), played by Yami Gautam Dhar, versus Mohd Ahmed Khan (real name) versus Abbas Khan (fictional name), played by Emraan Hashmi. It is a courtroom fight that lasted 33 years.
Abbas Khan loved Shah Bano so much in the start, but suddenly their relationship starts seeing distance, and one day Abbas marries another girl when he goes to Pakistan for a business trip. When he comes back, he brings his second wife Saira, and their distance grows even more. Because of that, Shah Bano decides to leave Abbas and takes her kids along. And after that, the courtroom drama begins. Bass isse zyada nahi kehna chahta.
Acting
Yami Gautam – She’s truly an exceptional actress. I wish to see her more in mainstream roles. She showed her versatility and was the perfect choice for the role of Shah Bano. Whatever role she gets, she fits perfectly into it — that’s the true value of an actor. In Haq, Yami Gautam nailed it.
Emraan Hashmi – Akkha Bollywood ek taraf, Emraan Hashmi ek taraf. Suddenly there is a wave of Emraan Hashmi — back-to-back content everywhere. All thanks to B**ds of Bollywood*. We recently saw him in Tell Call Him OG and now Haq. Emraan was truly excellent in the role of Abbas Khan. He was living that character for real. Acting bilkul RAW thi bande ki, seriously natural acting ekdum.
Danish Hussain – Danish plays the role of Maulvi Basheer. He’s known for films like Tiger 3, Vedaa, Khuda Haafiz and more. In this film, he plays the role of Shah Bano’s father, and his character was truly supportive of his daughter. “Jo beti chahti hai wahi usse mile.” The father was fully involved with her in this fight for justice.
Sheeba Chaddha and Aseem Hattangady – Bela Jain (lawyer of Shah Bano) and Faraz Sayeed (co-lawyer) were both good and decent in their roles. No complaints.
Apart from this, Vartika Singh, Rahul Mittra, and Nitin Mahesh Joshi played key roles. Overall, the acting department was top notch. There weren’t any flaws in the performances
Screenplay and Direction
See, screenplay issue happened again — yehi baat nahi pasand hai. Screenplay dheela kar diya tha film ne second half mein, uss wajah se grip tootna shuru ho gayi. Baar baar black screen lana, phir achanak se doosre year mein leap lana — beech mein kuch cheezein missing thi. But okay, wo problem nahi tha, continuation achha tha, bas clear visible nahi tha.
Now talking about direction — it was good. Suparna Varma handled direction well. Before Haq, he wrote shows like Punnchbeat, The Family Man, Lootere and many more. This was his first directorial project and he handled it very well. But yes, there were some flaws — wahi continuation wali baat again. Baar baar black screen, ye cheezein laggy bana deti hai film ko. In the last 30 minutes, which were supposed to be the most powerful part of the film, I actually felt sleepy — itna boring ho gaya tha screenplay.
What’s Good and What’s Bad
The best thing in the film was the bond of daughter and father — kitna beautifully aur pyaare tareeke se portray kiya yaar, loved it. After that, the justice part — this is a real story, so imagine this ki aapko 10–15 saal intezaar karna pade justice ke liye. Getting dates and dates and nothing else — jispe beetti hai wo hi samajh sakta hai. That was shown clearly — how Shah Bano is living her life, handling daily expenses with her 3 kids, and her husband stopped giving maintenance money also.
At the courtroom climax, the arguments were very powerful. Yami Gautam got such impactful dialogues, and with BGM, you might even get goosebumps at times.
What’s Bad
Baar baar grip tootna, serious tone ko pura waqt maintain nahi karna, upar se lengthy climax ne aur mood kharab kar diya. Critics ne kaafi hype kar diya film ko — jo ki sabse buri cheez hai. But overall, it was a decent watch. Music aur gaane agar nahi bhi hote toh kaam chalta, kuch zyada feel nahi huye songs waise bhi.
Final Verdict
Haq is definitely a decent watch, but that totally depends on you — if you want to watch it in theatres or not. You can watch it on OTT also and might feel the same experience. It doesn’t promise any over-the-top cinematic experience, but it’s a solid courtroom story that deserves attention and passes a special message.
Ocd Times Rating – 2.5/5
Author: Mohit Khetwani
Cast -Yami Gautam and Emraan Hashmi in lead roles, with a supporting cast including Sheeba Chaddha, Danish Husain, and Vartika Singh
Director – Suparn S Varma
Release 7th November 2025
Produced by – Harman Baweja, Vineet Jain, Vishal Gurnani, and Juhi Parekh Mehta
Studio – Baweja Studios, Junglee Pictures and Insomnia Films
Also check out: Thamma Movie Review
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