Khuda Haafiz

Khuda Haafiz is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language direct-to-video action thriller film written-directed by Faruk Kabir and produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak under Panorama Studios. It stars Vidyut Jammwal and Shivaleeka Oberoi in the lead roles, alongside Annu Kapoor, Aahana Kumra and Shiv Panditt in supporting roles. Set during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the film follows Sameer Chaudhary, who races against time 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 is a software engineer who falls in love with Nargis and the two get married. A financial crisis in 2008 leaves them both jobless. Three months later, they get jobs in a fictional Middle east country named Noman, 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 a taxi driver named Usman Hamid Ali Murad. Sameer asks Usman to take him to the address given by Nadeem but learns 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 man 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 arrest by the Indian Embassy cops.

Sameer narrates the incident to the cops, where he is approached by a Nomani cop named Faiz Abu Malik 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 is 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 he never boarded the flight. Baying for revenge, Sameer arrives at Iztek's house and two violently fight before Iztek reveals 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 is 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 a state funeral where Tamena is given. Meanwhile, Faiz wakes up in the middle of a desert in front of firing squad for his crimes, where they shoot him to death. Sameer and Nargis prepare to depart the plane 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.

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
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.