Some time ago,there was a post in Quora about what were the most over- rated Hindi films.How I wish I could go back in time to that post and say "Kaafiron ki Namaaz should be right at the top". The film opens to stunning visuals with a tinge of blue across every frame.These frames with a tinge of blue helped to depict the gloomy state of Kashmir Valley in the best possible way and I was pulled into the film.In the first few minutes,the narrator is shown moving about in a taxi which too has been painted in dull blue indicated that the story which the narrator is about to unfold isn't a happy one and I felt I was about to witness a master piece.But unfortunately,all the good things about this film ended right here(or that's what I believe).Not only do the good things end,but the bad things begin from here. The film moves to a depleted hotel,where a writer interviews an army man who has been court martial-ed and our narrator(the writer's assistant) films this on his camera.The army man who apparently is a nut job has made this hotel his abode.What follows from here is pure dialogue between the army man and the writer.About 1 and half hour into the film a third character,Junaid,a musician by day and tea-seller by night joins these two in their conversation.In between,either of the characters turn on the radio,and this radio keeps bombarding us with philosophical quotes every time it is switched on.The film's structure gets reversed in the 2nd half with the writer appearing to be the lunatic while the Army man more sane. Now,the hotel in which about 90% of the film is set looks as artificial as it can get.The army man's and the writer's costumes also look totally feigned.If the intention is to make a film based on dialogue then any film maker must learn a trick or two from Richard Linklater,which this film's director hasn't certainly learned.One maniac asking a question and the other maniac answering it only after the question has been repeated some 4-5 times(no apparent reason for this),gets on to your nerves at some point.The dialogues look well rehearsed and this was a major buzz kill.Every thing happening inside that hotel or for that matter say 90% of the film looked staged,like it was a theater act. But is that the whole point of the film,for the whole production design to look artificial??Was the theater-ish feel which this film had through out,a satire on something else all together??Was this a piece of meta-cinema and hence that artificiality(because it is the narrator who is narrating the whole story to us and this narrator can narrate it however he wishes).Did the narrator give us a skewed version of what happened inside that hotel,which draws parallel with how the media gives out skewed reports of what happens in Kashmir??What ever the P.O.V of the director was(if at all there was any)has lost it's purpose.Maybe a 10-15 minute short film could have been a better alternative than this 150 minutes of pretentious preaching. To sum it up I would say that not all beautifully shot independent films deserve critical acclaim,especially Kaafiron ki Namaaz which is a failed attempt by an extremely lucky director for he found a very supporting producer who went ahead with this project,despite the threat of getting banned looming large. P.S:-Every film which talks about Homo- Sexuality,Cannibalism,HIV,Necrophilia,Rape,Pornography etc doesn't become a great film.

The opening sequence is beautifully shot. Outdoor visuals are super strong. On-location Kashmir cinematography is dreamy and contemplative. That is where the good things end. That is it. The end. The rest is a trudge through a muck-filled failed attempt of filmmaking by inept hands which has given birth to this terrible hack-job of a pretentious low-intelligence wannabe piece of audio- visual waste.Even the first few minutes of the film, a seemingly poignant conversation between the son and the off- screen mother lacks authenticity. But when the story starts to unfurl inside the abandoned hotel all things go haywire. Terrible writing, terrible dialogue. Bad pronunciation: 'Ismoking' (smoking), 'Istrayt' (straight), 'Exazzaration' (exaggeration), 'LiteRAYture' (literature), Koschen (question); there are many such instances of embarrassment in here. Funny thing is that this same character i.e. the writer corrects the mispronunciation of the tea seller. The writer who is supposed to be a Bengali, can't even speak a word of Bengali correctly. Total disgrace. The acting is theatrical. Very uncinematic, to say the least. The characters keep repeating their lines again and again, sometimes 5 or 6 times. It is irritating and takes the focus away from the film. There is absolutely no tension throughout the film, no attempt to make the characters believable.The failed attempts of comic relief, which are not required at the first place, are so heavy handed that the whole effort seems naive and loses it's credibility. The films preachy tone is so out of the place that it becomes laughable. Oh and the outlandish characters! An orphan, pork-eating, homosexual, Gandhi-hating, Muslim, court-martialed, Indian soldier, who shoots a Kashmiri married Muslim woman, then rapes her dead body in the ass! Need I say more? Some realistic film they were making!This has to be the worst film I have seen in recent times. It's sad to see an independent Indian film (which is a rarity) fail so miserably in almost all aspects. Bad film. Period. After 1 hour I really wanted to leave the film half way unwatched, but I stuck to my guns to give this overlong, empty film a fair chance to resurrect itself somehow. I wish I didn't. It only got worse. Utter waste of time.There are some real good independent films from India in recent times: Masaan, Miss Lovely, Titli, Ship Of Theseus, Labour Of Love, etc and even zero budget films like Kshay, The Untitled Karthik Krishnan Project and Gandu. This film is not one of them. Please let's not make an undeserving piece the face of Indian independent film.

Kaafiron Ki Namaaz is a beautifully woven story that brings the two sides of the human consciousness. It is one of the finest movie that dealt with the human psychology so beautifully and vividly that nowhere did it sound preachy but smoothly seeps in. One of the finest movie of the year that stayed with me even as i left its screening. One of the movie which explores the human side of an army man and writer rather than going the retrospective way. The director has indeed done a brilliant job. The screenplay and the character progression is marvelous.The songs and the background score just adds to the mood of the film.This one is definitely on my movie list for sure. Do watch this movie which has its mind and soul at the right place....

It was a great experience at 20th KIFF watching Kaffiron Ki Namaaz.It was a well written script with some powerful dialogue- "Man get his religion even before he gets his name,if he is given a chance to learn all the religion of the world and an option to choose his own religion then there wont be any violence in the name of religion", left a lasting impression in my mind.Ram Ramesh Sharma gets full credit in extracting a fine performance from all the three lead characters.Though the major part of the film was inside a room in the format of an interview, it was so gripping and engrossing the audience never felt a moment of boredom, all the credit goes to the director Ram Ramesh Sharma for coming out with a such a masterpiece in his debut direction.Kudos to the entire team and specially the director Ram Ramesh Sharma and producer Bahrgav Saikia for the great debut.It can match any other international film in terms of execution, direction and production value and should be sent as official entry to Oscar from India.In fact it was my top five pick along with The Search, Omar, Force of Destiny and Chhoti Moti Batein in 20th KIFF.A must watch for all lovers of good and quality films with the best take away- Man gets his religion................Wishing the entire team for your theatrical release.It will be a surprise HIT like The Wednesday and Aamir.With Reagards, M.Venkat Raman