# Khuda Haafiz

Khuda Haafiz (transl. May God be your protector) is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written & directed by Faruk Kabir and produced by Panorama Studios. It stars Vidyut Jammwal and Shivaleeka Oberoi, alongside Annu Kapoor, Aahana Kumra and Shiv Panditt. Set during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Sameer Chaudhary arrives at a fictional Middle east country Noman in order to rescue his kidnapped wife Nargis from flesh traders.
Khuda Haafiz premiered on Disney+ Hotstar in 14 August 2020, where it received mixed reviews from critics and became a success in Disney+ Hotstar.

## Plot

In 2007, Sameer Chowdhary, a software engineer, falls in love with Nargis through an alliance and the two get married. A financial crisis in 2008 leaves Sameer and Nargis jobless. Three months later, they get jobs in Noman, a fictional Middle East country, with the help of Nadeem, an employee at an overseas recruitment company. Nargis leaves for Noman, while Sameer stays to wait for his documents to arrive. After her arrival, Nargis calls Sameer in a panic state where she tells that someone is kidnapping her. Sameer travels to Noman, where he meets Usman Hamid Ali Murad, a taxi driver. Sameer asks Usman to take him to the address given by Nadeem, but he learns that there is no such address.
Usman takes Sameer to the police station, where he learns that Nadeem has gone missing. Fallen out of help with the police due to his restless nature, Sameer approaches the Indian embassy, where he poses as an employee of a telecom company and acquires the address of the person from whose phone Nargis contacted him, which turns out to be a person named Shirazi. Sameer and Usman learn about Shirazi's involvement in the human trafficking. Sameer visits brothels with Usman in search of Nargis and finds her, but he is attacked by the owners and Sameer turns violent, where he kills the men and a car chase ensues which results in Sameer getting arrested by the Indian Embassy cops.
Sameer narrates the incident to the cops, where he is approached by Faiz Abu Malik, a Nomani cop, who decides to help him with officer Tamena joining along. They view the CCTV footage of the Noman airport, where they see Nargis entering a van with a man revealed to be Iztek, an Algerian modelling coordinator. Iztek orders that Nargis be killed. Faiz and Tamena come across a burnt corpse and believe it to be Nargis. Sameer sees her pendant and gets shattered. Following her funeral, Sameer is given compensation and tickets to India. Tamena learns Nargis is alive and the corpse they found was of a different woman. Tamena and Faiz try to find Sameer only to find that Sameer never boarded the flight.
Baying for revenge, Sameer arrives at Iztek's house and thrashes him before Iztek reveals that Nargis is alive. Faiz and Tamena arrive, where Faiz is revealed to be Iztek's ally. Tamena subdues Faiz long enough to buy Sameer time to escape. Faiz kills Tamena and frames Sameer. An ensuing chase leaves Iztek dead. Faiz meets his crime partner and Iztek's boss, which is photographed by an undercover cop. Sameer is captured by Faiz before his betrayal gets revealed by the commissioner. Sameer and Faiz engage in a fistfight where Sameer thrashes Faiz. Nargis and the other women are freed. Three days later, Sameer attends to Tamena's state funeral, while Faiz gets killed by the firing squad. Sameer and Nargis prepare to leave for India while making the last meeting with Usman. Sameer invites Usman to arrive and meet them at India as they greet him before leaving.

## Cast

* Vidyut Jammwal as Sameer Choudhary, Nargis's husband
* Shivaleeka Oberoi as Nargis Choudhary, Sameer's wife
* Annu Kapoor as Usman Hamid Ali Murad, a taxi driver in Noman
* Shiv Panditt as Faiz Abu Malik, Itzak's ally in the ISA
* Aahana Kumra as Tamena Hamid, ISA
* Vipin Sharma as Nadeem, an agent, and employee at Ansaar Overseas Recruitment
* Nawab Shah as Iztak Regini
* Siddhant Ghegadmal as Karim
* Rio Kapadia as Commander Ali Azam Ghazi, Tamena's boss
* Ikhlaque Khan as IK Mishra, Deputy Council of Affairs at the Indian Embassy in Noman
* Arradhya Maan as Employee
* Suparna Marwah as Nagma Rajput, Nargis' mother
* Mohit Chauhan as Harsh Rajput, Nargis' father
* Mömin Rizo as I.K Mishra assistant
* Shahnawaz Pradhan as Suraj Pradhan Chaudhary, Sameer’s father
* Gargi Patel as Nandini Chaudhary, Sameer’s mother
* Nithish as Sahir
* Asrar Khan as police officer (LKO)
* Alif Chowdhury as police officer
* Sougata Ghosh

## Production

Following official announcement in April 2019, shooting commenced at Uzbekistan on 14 October 2019.

## Soundtrack

The music for the film was composed by Mithoon who also wrote lyrics for four of the tracks, with Sayeed Quadri penning two songs in the soundtrack album.

## Marketing and release

On 29 June 2020, Disney+ Hotstar conducted a virtual press conference where Uday Shankar announced the film's digital release on the platform on 14 August 2020, exclusively as part of the Disney+ Hotstar Multiplex initiative which was a result of cinemas being shut down due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, Vidyut Jammwal was not invited for the social media announcement, along with Kunal Khemu, whose film Lootcase also released on the same digital streaming platform. Disney+ Hotstar released and promoted the film's trailer first, through the streaming application on 24 July 2020, along with the much anticipated premiere of Sushant Singh Rajput's last film Dil Bechara. The trailer was launched through YouTube, the following day.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 25% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10.
Bollywood Hungama gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Khuda Haafiz is a well-paced action thriller that works chiefly due to the script, direction and performances of Vidyut Jammwal and Annu Kapoor." Vibha Maru of India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Khuda Haafiz makes for a good one-time watch. From action to drama, the film has it all. You might want to pick this over the weekend." Pallabi Dey Purkayastha of The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Khuda Haafiz’ — literal meaning ‘May God be your Guardian’ — does not have the most innovative script on the planet but it still could have worked had it not been for the randomness in the second half and the outrageously sham Arabic accents." Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Khuda Haafiz truly had the potential to be a cracker of an action-filled romance. But patchy writing has diluted its impact. The only thing that works here, as said earlier, is Vidyut’s virtuosity as an action star. Watch the film for some well-crafted set pieces and you won’t get disappointed."

## Sequel

A sequel titled Khuda Haafiz Chapter II Agni Pariksha was announced in September 2020 after the success of the first part with Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak as the producers and Faruk Kabir as the director. Vidyut Jammwal and Shivaleeka Oberoi will reprise their roles. The film released in 2022.