Haraamkhor (2015) User Reviews

Excellent Performances Make This Bold Film Worth Watching!

[namashi_1 · 6/10 · 27 February 2017]

Shlok Sharma's 'Haraamkhor' is a bold attempt, that works in parts. Actually it works when the supremely talented cast gets a chance to score. Otherwise, the film just goes on.

'Haraamkhor' Synopis: A sleazy teacher gets involved in a sexual relationship with his teenager girl student.

'Haraamkhor' is bold & realistic. And that's its plus, without doubt. But Shlok doesn't know where to go beyond a point. The sub-plot, involving 2 boys, one of whom is in love with the leading-lady, is funny, but gets monotonous after a point. And the final 20-minutes go haywire. Shlok begins the film very well & the laughs are pretty good in the first-hour, despite the perverse behavior of its despicable protagonist, but beyond that, it begins to falter. Shlok's Direction is good for sure, but the Writing isn't tight enough to hold your attention throughout.

Now coming to the performances! 'Haraamkhor' is a yet another triumph Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Nawaz is brilliant here, portraying a part so hard to like yet hard to snub. Right from his body-language to his expressions, Nawaz is a scene-stealer. Also in excellent form is the underrated Shweta Tripathi. Tripathi, 31, plays a 15 year old with innocence & charm. Both of the actors make 'Haraamkhor' memorable, with their effortless performances.

On the whole, 'Haraamkhor' gets lost mid-way, but the acting remains strong. Give it a chance.

Very good story but climax can be better

[jahidarabhorsep · 7/10 · 8 June 2019]

The main plot is very good. but climax should be better. Because as it a realistic movie the climax is not real. a student never killed his teacher for a simple matter.

Disappointed

[clearwinner · 7/10 · 14 January 2017]

After eagerly waiting and then watching the movie, I must say I am disappointed. Firat of all, take caution this movie is not for everyone, certain scenes may disturb you. Now coming to the movie, I went in expecting a dark film like 'Ugly' and it was based on a strong issue but the story line, screenplay and editing was too average to pull this off. The story is strong in parts but for the most part it is wayward and never completely addresses what it tries to tell. Character depth is what i missed the most and many things had to be inferred but those were never that straight nor they were addressed, it was open to interpretation and that somehow weakened the plot. I was most disappointed by the end, because after interval the end was quite clear and I so so wanted to be proved wrong but the same thong happened but with a worse context and it made me very upset.

Performances would be difficult to judge since there never was the depth but on a scene by scene basis, the performances were quite strong,. Nawqz Bhai was completely on character and never missed a beat. Shweta Tripathi too did a great job To conclude, As a debut directorial this is a commendable work

A modern tragedy that does most of the right things

[tylerkom · 6/10 · 2 July 2020]

I was pleasantly surprised to have seen this film; one in which Sharma really shows his Shakespearean writing chops. We're thrown into a small village in India, where word gets around very quickly and everyone knows everyone. I'll leave my summary so far as to say that a relationship develops between the main characters and the character development does the rest.

Coming in at a very snappy 90 minutes, the film does a lot with very little. Character development is pretty solid, although you could guess where each character is going to be at the end of the film. A few small twists don't change the fact that the story feels very very classic. Shakespearean is the right word to describe it; some quotes from Shakespeare even make the final cut of the film. The dramatic sequences are broken up by moments of comic relief - a very theatrical move that I don't see often in such dramatic film. The dialogue is solid, with no major gaffs at all. The plot makes sense and the characters, although driven by their own desires, are largely smart in their decision making. These are all positives.

But I think perhaps the dedication to a kind of tragedy limits the potential of this film. For example, there are numerous scene cuts in which the audience must make the mental leap in plot from the last scene to the current one. The sheer amount and sometimes the size of these leaps can be quite disorienting. Furthermore, it does seem a little lazy. There are some moments in this leap that I'm sure the audience would have loved to witness. Alas. Soundtrack is quite weak although it doesn't hinder the narrative too much. But if I have one major gripe with the film, it is that the final climax of the movie seems to be based on a major plot hole. This is not to say I don't believe it could happen (sure it could), but that I don't quite believe in the motivations behind it.

In any case, the film was extremely solid and did its best with the tools that were laid out in front of it. I would have liked to seem more of the development of the relationship so as to make the audience more invested, and perhaps a more sensical closing to the film. The film falters only because of some core elements of how the story was structured, although everything in between was done quite well.

Good movie which explores bold subject in an interesting way

[raoadi1014-959-254144 · 7/10 · 13 January 2017]

Haraamkhor- Movie explores a bold subject in an interesting way....but somewhere fails to hold interests levels throughout. However, its enjoyable in parts and what really makes it watchable is the terrific performance of nawaazuddin. He gives us some real Lol moments in the film which any other actor couldn't have been able to deliver with the same timing...the female lead played by shweta tripati does well...never knew she is a 31 year old lady playing a 15 year old gal in the film.. .not bad.. The screenplay is bit sloppy and few of the scenes involving the 2 little prankster boys should have been chopped off.. .its intended to bring in humour but felt over the top and unnecessary at some places... Overall this film can be given a try for the different kind of subject it offers.

Nawazuddin is over hyped

[tarunbamrara-48793 · 6/10 · 17 February 2017]

Nawazuddin is so hyped and it makes me laugh when I read interviews from him saying he wants to different roles. Just because someone's looks are not cut out for mainstream cinema doesn't mean he is a fine / versatile actor. The fact that good performances are so few in Bollywood, actors like Nawaz get undue adulation, just on the basis of them being off beat. He is a fine actor and he owns the part of Shyam , but he is the same and it feels like there is no difference in the acts of mountain-man/Raees police officer/raman raghav.

An Interesting film which deserves your attention for a Gutsy Attempt

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 6/10 · 17 January 2017]

HARAMKHOR REVIEW :- A film which released without getting much attention by viewers in India but it is actually better than those massy film which had higher buzz. A honest and brave Attempt by team to present a simple story in realistic way which hits the right chords in little bit dark way. A story which happens in small village, a School Teacher Nawazuddin having an affair with 15 years old female Student Shweta Tripathi, screenplay explores their love story in simple way. Acting Wise Nawazuddin seems a complete actor now days who can try any genre any character with the ease, Shweta looks damn realistic. Other 2 Child artists are Hilarious. There are some expected twists in script but all this happens very fast and in a realistic way that even 87 minutes run time passes like half and hour. Which should be called the main strength of the film, small run time and good Editing helps film to be engaged not a bore. Couple of vulgar scenes and abusive words will irritate you if you're watching it as a Family film. No songs in screenplay, it wasn't even needed. Good cinematography and real locations makes it look good for eyes. Direction is the key here and hats off to Mr. Shukla for handling a sensitive subject in such a simple way. Overall film is Good One Time, not a Must watch though. If you are from masses then this is not your cup of tea as it hardly got 10% entertaining factor. Classes should watch it just for the Gutsy attempt by makers. I'm going with 6/10* stars cause i think better climax would have made it a Classic but it went on to became an Above Average to Good Film, not even Very Good.

Nawaz & Shweta did a great job but Mintu,Kamal & Neelu added solid contributions

[kapilsinghjalandra · 8/10 · 2 July 2017]

Awesome Movie, it is right this movie might not understandable to everyone but it has a different zone viewer.A Full bag of acting skills whether it is Mintu (Md. Samad) or Neelu(Shreya Shah). Sunita(Trimala) also did a great job. Shaktimaan(Haneef) is mind blowing in this movie. No words!! If you love acting then you must watch this movie.

Bann Nawazuddin Siddiqui

[akshatpandey-82367 · 19 June 2021]

This film #Haraamkhor gives a very bad message to our society and the culture of our academic life. Banned these types of actor and actress and stop using such a disgusting idea for the popularity of the film😡😡😡 #bannharaamkhor The name of this movie suits to the actor and actress they deserve this title for giving such a bad and vulgar msg to our society 😡😡

Artistic movie!

[sriramthestranger · 7/10 · 10 July 2021]

The movie is about strange relationship between a teacher and a student. Nawazuddin is just brilliant in this movie changing his emotions at the wink of eye. However, the climax could have been better with some background music and emotions. Interesting movie from Bollywood!

Disturbing

[rahul-rdthecool-das · 4/10 · 4 March 2020]

It's an artistic attempt to make such a movie. But the way narration of this movie builds up the whole thing was quite disturbing (to me at least). Otherwise the performances from leads were very very good(specially Nawazuddin Siddiqui and shweta tiwari).

"In a small Gujarati town, a school teacher has more than an academic interest in one of his female students." Is it ?

[rupanshukauldhar · 9/10 · 13 January 2017]

Finally!!! This film got released; though, it has been released in a select few screens . 'Haramkhor' have an ambiguous start, an uneasy yet beautifully shot interval and an unexpected end. What is it about ? "In a small Gujarati town, a school teacher has more than an academic interest in one of his female students". Trust me, it is more complex than this and i won't spoil it. This film can be seen from the eyes and actions of characters. Characters are well written and played even better. Even small character as 'shaktiman' is well build. +1 for the character development because a few people can achieve that.

Shweta Tripahti - A big applaud for her. I never expected that she(actually anyone) could to do justice to the character. She is the big thing here, people. The issues her character is going and how she reacts to it reflects more about the real struggles(i won't spoil) of women( or young girls) in this country.

Nawaz - Honestly, most of the film collection(box office) is dependent upon him. He is superstar for independent film and his timing is perfect. Watch out for his humor to keep smile on your faces but soon you will realize why film is called 'HARAMKHOR'.

Irfan khan AND Mohd samad - They bliss this film with innocence and immaturity. A naive journey for love and brotherhood. They are undoubtedly one of the reason why this film is beautiful. I guess, they make casual audience feel more comfortable.

As a movie - The most important aspect of the film is how different things are falling in the places. The flaws that them more real.

As a motive - I cannot even begin to think how hard it was for the director put pieces in the places. Reasons being how sensitive our country is and how taboo is the topic. Kudos to Shlok Sharma for putting the thought and effort for putting forward the motive. It was definitely worth it!

Lastly, I have seen the censored version. I might have missed out some scenes.

Haraamkhor - Short Review

[Hussain-AL-Naseer · 7/10 · 5 June 2020]

Based on a small town, the story takes a dig over the moral values and dilemma's. It was indeed a braver attempt to showcase these type of social realities and I mean bitter realties no one likes to talk about and is hard to digest. Shweta Tripathi as the young ignored and confused teen was one of the highlight of the movie she totally nailed the character and makes her presence felt despite being opposite to Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Nawazuddin Siddiqui's performance was brilliant and convincing as always, he has some especial kind of formula to make these type of characters relatable. Director Shlok Sharma did a fine job and em glad he has taken this bold step as this type of stories can go either way, always risky to hurt the moral sentiments but kudos to him and other producers including Anurag Kashyap & Guneet Monga.

"They Don't Teach Like They Used To." ♦ Grade D+

[nairtejas · 4/10 · 20 January 2017]

Looking back, having failed to catch this interesting-looking film at the 2015 Mumbai Film Festival due to BookMyShow's ridiculous ticketing system is not that unfortunate. That is because this social drama only looks good, but is surprisingly hollow.

Shyam (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a teacher who lives with his wife in a small house near the school where he teaches math to secondary-class students. He also moonlights as a tutor at his home for students who appear to be both academically weak and mischievous. Perfect examples of such types are two boys named Kamal (Irfan Khan) and Mintu (Mohd Samad) who think that their class-cum- tuition mate Sandhya (Shweta Tripathi) is fond of Shyam, who seems to be the only teacher around. What follows is Kamal and Mintu's countless attempts at showcasing the former's love to Sandhya while she is absorbed by Shyam's mature persona due to the much-discussed natural effect of adolescence.

Director Shlok Sharma is surely not fooling around when it comes to hitting the point - the illicit relationship between teacher and student. How it originates is rather a touchy subject and Sharma fails there, causing the film to be a partial depiction of all that was intended. Although he makes the audience ask the question as to who the real haraamkhor (unprincipled) is - Shyam or Sandhya or someone else, there is this lack of depth which lingers throughout the film. Soon enough, it becomes certain who the unprincipled character is, but by then one more thing becomes certain - there is no explanation as to why happened what happened. Did Shyam make the effort despite being married? Or was it Sandhya who craved to know more about "adult love", fueled by issues at home?

One may try to decipher the answers to the questions, but then it would become a hike and you wouldn't gain any entertainment, unless you consider Kamal and Mintu and their hilarious activities. The screenplay is rather crisp with Siddique and Tripathi both holding waters, but someone here in the IMDb message boards gets it right when he says Siddiqui cannot alone drive a film forward. He is brilliant as his typecast character, but insufficient when it comes to being the main guy. Tripathi was lovable in Masaan (2015), but the credits tell me this is her debut film. Her innocent face and those telling eyes puts her perfectly into character as the naive 9th grader.

All in all, the film is decently made, but is without the ingredients that are essential to club social message with feasibility. Working on a story and putting it on screen without exploring its causes and factors is bad filmmaking. However, an afternoon watch on Netflix won't hurt, but make sure you watch it alone and not with your Indian parents.

BOTTOM LINE: Shlok Sharma's "Haraamkhor" is about an affair between a teacher and a student that provides limited information to talk about a widely relevant subject. Had there been a gender-swapped version, things would have been different, and that is the film's biggest flaw. Watch it on your free Netflix subscription.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO

One of a kind

[Sudarshan_Pawar · 7/10 · 25 July 2021]

I liked Shweta Tripathi's role in the movie Masaan, that is what brought me to this movie.

Haraamkhor is not a mass media masaala film. It lacks the screenplay but do good job in locations and filming. Nawaz is made for such roles. Shweta does a good job. But the film lacks its heart somewhere.

An art film about school and love set in rural India

[eeegle · 9/10 · 2 March 2017]

I love art movies and Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of my most favorite actors. Whenever I hear that his movie is out - I want to see it.

We saw "Haraamkhor" at the theater but didn't bring our daughter with us. I was told that it will have some sexual content and lots of bad language.

The movie is set somewhere in rural India, the landscape is bleak and dusty. The heroes are a 15 year old student Sandhya (Shweta Tripathi) and a school teacher Shyam (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Sandhya lives with her father - a policeman and Shyam - with his wife.

Although we were warned by the note on the screen about a serious problem that Indian government schools are having, especially regarding girls, I had no idea about how will this "female problem" will be depicted. I was actually expecting some horrible female abuse (current Indian trend). But there was none of that.

The lead female personage Sandhya came up as rebellious, expressive, strong and "modern" girl. We do not see the "tradition" here, the caste etc...After watching it I felt that "Indian village may not be that bad after all". I found more positives than negatives in it.

There wasn't a lot of bad language either. I didn't even notice it and while there were some naked backs, it wasn't too sexual.

Of course, the acting and the dialogues were amazing, my husband thought though that the scene with the windmills was overdone, but I liked it. I take it as if local people probably would watch the same scenery again and again (as there is not much to look at in a small village).

There seemed to be two parallel stories happening in the movie at the same time. One was the Sandhya's and Shyam's "chakkar" (affair) and the other one was the little boy's Kamal's (Irfan Khan) one- sided crush on Sandhya. Those two stories seemed to intertwine very little with each other somehow, meeting only occasionally.

It was fun to watch the act of Mintu (Mohd Samad) and Kamal (Irfan Khan), because they were kids and acted effortlessly and naturally. I was wondering if they were the real village kids picked up from there and asked to act or were they some young geniuses...I thought one needs a lot of guts to run around in underwear and pull off whatever they were pulling off.

The magnetism between Shyam and Sandhya was weird and amazing. She was just a 15 year old and Shyam was probably 25 - 30 or so...The young actress face created some sort of magic on the screen when together with Shyam.

Sandhya's father, the police inspector (Harish Khanna) was a very interesting character too. He was distant, skinny, a little philosophical. He too was not a stereotypical police officer and it was nice to see it.

I rated this film 9 stars because despite all of the things that I loved: the cast, the location, the photography, the dialogues, the humor (yes, there was some good humor), the "mood", the music, there was something about the story where I hoped for some more completion, more power (?!). Although perhaps it's the type of story where completion is not possible: the whole film seemed like a fragment captured by a camera of someone who passes by...There seems to be no defined beginning and no defined end and it doesn't seem to matter...Maybe that was the director Shlok Sharma's idea?

Other than that I enjoyed the experience, the calmness, the humor and the realism of "Haraamkhor". It felt like peeping through a keyhole into someone's village, someone's life.

Lousy, Boring, Unrealistic second half

[docnavneetgoyal · 1/10 · 27 March 2019]

Lousy script, good acting. Kids were out of the world like no one in the film knows they even existed in the movie! Unrealistic storyline, Shyam and Sandhya roaming around in the village and no one has ever noticed! Failed to capture my attention..

excellent movie to start with 2017

[seth_kamalnayan · 9/10 · 18 January 2017]

plot is good . acting is superb by all character. must watch for all. not at all boring . ending is thrilled. movie starts with good speed and its doesn't feel bore at all. nawaz deserves this role,no one can do better than him. sandhya and kamal is must watch role, they justified their role. editing is good. it raises the recent topic of society. no bullshit in the movie. its worth than more in Bollywood. movie is short duration so no lot of dance , bullshit drama. simple story but clinch dialogues. if this movie would have released ,this would have got lot of appreciation but i don't know about Bollywood. this movie is better than other crap in the market. no songs,means no time wasted on all fancy dresses. plot looks funny till end ,but it thrilled at the end because of the twist in the story

Pedophilia Justification in guise of realism

[dev_alok · 4/10 · 9 July 2018]

I watched this movie because I saw another movie of Shweta Tripathi (Masaan). To me she is the bright spot in this movie. She plays the role of 15 year old girl (her real age is 31) who is growing up in a household without any other woman. Her father is a drunk policeman and she feels he is cheating on her mother even though her mother has left them quite some time ago. She does capture the vulnerability and insecurity of this character well. Her vulnerability is exploited by her school teacher Shyam (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). He is supposed to the Haraamkhor as he sexually exploits this 15 year old even though he is happily married by all accounts. I was supposed to find some redeeming quality in his character and that is what I failed to do. That in my opinion is shortcoming of this movie. This movie just became about child sexual exploitation and violence against them. The two child artists Irfan and ?? acted well and showed there innocence and curiosity. I found the editing of the movie to be tedious. Movie ends abruptly with lives coming to abrupt end. Overall it didn't seem like a movie which was particularly entertaining or with a particular message. It just seemed voyeuristic and opportunistic. Whole movie was rather pointless.

Could have easily ruined it. Great work.

[priteshkumar-51516 · 8/10 · 18 January 2017]

The way of showing the story was very engaging. The characters of shyam's friend and Shyam was well scripted. Actions of every character in the film were thoroughly justified. Nawaz was phenomenal as always. Shweta tripathi who played the role of sandhya in the film also did a great job. The way, the relationship was shown between sandhya and her teacher was flawless in my view. At the end, i also had started to think that how they are going to end the story, the way they did it was really good. Angles of shots and scenes shot completely fit in the story. Keep making this kind of movies. Thanks for making it. Will cherish it for many more days.

Monotonous...

[ravisinger86 · 2/10 · 14 January 2017]

Haraamkhor Directed By Shlok Sharma is A Romantic Drama. Script Tends To Be Very Weak & Lackluster. Screenplay is Very Dull & Tedious. Direction is Strictly Average To Poor. Dialogues Are Fine. Editing is Not Good.

Plot is Like Shyaam (Nawazuddin Siddhique) A Married Professor Has An Illicit Affair With Student Sandhya(Shweta Tripathi).Kamal(Irfan Khan), An Adolescent Classmate Has A Crush On Sandhya. Kamal Along With Mintu (Mohd. Samad) Follow Shyam & Sandhya Just To Watch The Affair From A Distance. Climax is Pathetic & Absurd.

Acting Wise, Nawazuddin Siddique is Good But Only in Parts. Shweta Tripathi, Movie Revolves Around Her But She Looks Weak With Her Average Acting Skills. Child Actors Irfan Khan & Mohd. Samad Are Better in Few Scenes.

Music Composed By Jasleen Royal is Melodious. "Kidre Jaawan" By Jasleen Royal is A Fine Composition.

Overall Movie Has Nothing New To Offer. Avoidable Flick For Its Monotonous Story Line.

Nawazuddin does it with his brilliant performance ...one realistic movie...!!!

[happycolours · 10/10 · 20 January 2017]

Nawazuddin does it again...!!! His acting was nonetheless to perfection in Haraamkhor...sandhya a 31 year old in real and plays a school girl, how she pulled it I don't know but she certainly did... I watched the movie but better than what i expected, it had a really good story line and performances by everyone in the movie was really good...i understand the movie might not be everyone's cup of tea, if the same movie had a bigger star cast in it, it would had done a good job in the box office collection, cause we people are such hypocrites we down look at movies which don't have a bigger star cast, but if you judge haraamkhor as a movie in itself and storyline it's definitely worth 10/10... so for a educated person like me i can give the movie 10/10 and since the movie is not all glittery glittery like a typical Indian Dance movie people are seeming to lack taste and knowledge and start judging movies negatively...

What are We giving to the community..!!

[piyushmanpower · 1/10 · 9 February 2023]

It's a shameful movie which should not promote in India. Makers have guts to make a good movie but for this they should not be forgiven...In India, the relationship between student and teacher has always been seen with respect, but the viewer of this film will take its negativity with him, which is wrong. After all, what are we giving to the society? We have to understand our responsibility towards the society. We should choose the subject keeping in mind our culture and traditions and not try to uproot the deep roots of our culture since centuries. My advice is to use your discretion at the time and after watch this movie.

Shweta Tripathi is perfect for her character..

[rudra-092 · 10/10 · 23 November 2017]

Pros: Excellent acting by all. Nawazuddin Siddiqui again proved his acing skills. The kid's acting is also good. Screen play is good. Overall a good entertaining movie.

Cons: The story line is not that great. It can be improved by the writer. The ending is not also up to expectation.

Cringe and potentially illegal plot

[TheNonSmoker · 1/10 · 19 August 2023]

Bollywood have now started making next generation "romantic" movies depicting physical relationship between a minor and a grown married adult, it's no better than the internal culture of Urduwood, it's very obvious to see the outer world with what you experience in your personal life. The movie is very lazy, there are depictions of village communities as chapri, like how the star kids of Bollywood mafia behave. They depicted a village atmosphere as such slums, it shows the director have grown up watching the stereotypical movies like "slumdog...", and his personal home culture, like his mother having random physical relationships with teacher and stuff.

Overall, if you like "movies" like these even a bit, there is sure something is wrong with you.