Khuda Haafiz review: Vidyut Jammwal is subdued in this raw, emotional drama

If you turn on Khuda Haafiz (2020) thinking this would be the desi version of Taken (2008), you might be both pleasantly surprised and a bit disappointed.

The Faruk Kabir film moves with thrilling turns as it takes Vidyut Jammwal’s character Sameer on an emotional journey to rescue his wife from an unknown country. But the film feels a bit restrained, especially on the action front, as it unearths a sex-trafficking ring, and doesn’t fully allow its star to go full Liam Neeson on his tormentors.

Sameer (Jammwal) and Nargis (Shivaleeka Oberoi) have a marriage arranged by their parents and are about to settle into the happily ever after in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. But just after their marriage, the global recession hits, disrupting their lives. The year is 2008 and both of them are hit hard.

Nargis loses her job and Sameer has to shut down his computer business. Left with no other option, they apply for jobs abroad in the fictional West Asian country of Noman. A shady agent arranges for Nargis to go ahead first, and Sameer will follow within a few days.

But once she lands, Nargis calls in distress, signalling that all is not well, and immediately Sameer goes to find and bring her back. Once he lands in the foreign land and finds little help from the local police and the Indian embassy, he takes the search into his own hands.

This means knocking on doors and gaining support from the helpful Pathan cabbie Usman Ali Murad (Annu Kapoor) as they try and figure out her whereabouts. Usman figures she might be held by a local flesh trade gang, and they try to infiltrate the property to bring her back.

Khuda Haafiz has a more subdued version of Jammwal on display. The action star doesn’t really get an opportunity to kick it into higher gear here, like in most of his previous action franchises. While he handles some of the emotional moments with proper solemnity, other sequences feel out of place.

A case in point is Nargis’s initial phone call, when she tells him something is amiss. The actor is not able to channel his shock and fury in a cohesive manner, as the scene, too, is shot off kilter. In the second half of the film, when Jammwal moves into revenge mood, it feels as if some colour returns to him.

The characterization of the Nomani officials and their security agents Faiz Abu Malik (Shiv Pandit) and Tamina Hamid (Aahana Kumra) seem too broad, and their accented Hindi and Arabic wavers from scene to scene. Kapoor, as Sameer’s lone friend, is notable. Oberoi, as the missing Nargis, doesn’t have enough to do except be the damsel in distress.

While the love ballads of Khuda Haafiz are lovely, they aren’t fully integrated in the film and just linger as the action moves from one scenic location to the other in Noman. The country of Uzbekistan, which fills in for the fictional sultanate, looks stunning through the camera of Jitan Harmeet Singh.

The action in Khuda Haafiz is not as jaw-dropping as some of Jammwal’s previous work. It is more raw and brutal as he channels the rage of a distressed husband looking for his missing wife. There are some places where it’s enough, and others where it is not.

Kabir, who has also written the script, puts his main characters through the wringer, both emotionally and physically, but could have done well to keep the drama concise. The second half also sees some revelations that extend the film a little more than it needed to be.

Disney+ Hotstar is now streaming Khuda Haafiz.