Haq: The Landmark Case That Redefined Justice and Still Divides a Nation

In the mid-1980s, a quiet courtroom battle in Indore snowballed into one of the most charged debates in independent India. Shah Bano, a 62-year-old woman divorced by her husband, went to court seeking a small monthly allowance. The Supreme Court ruled in her favour under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code a judgment that affirmed a Muslim woman’s right to maintenance, but also set off a political firestorm over personal law, faith and the reach of secular justice.

Almost forty years later, the questions raised by that verdict about gender equality, religious identity and the Uniform Civil Code remain unsettled. Junglee Pictures’ new drama Haq steps into that still-raw debate. Junglee has built a legacy of films that defy social constructs and push for cinema that enlightens as much as entertains. Their high-concept stories have always triggered meaningful dialogue and Haq seems to be joining a long line memorable movies!

Directed by Suparn S Varma, the film stars Yami Gautam Dhar as Shazia Bano, a mother who drags her estranged husband Abbas (played by Emraan Hashmi) to court. What begins as a private heartbreak grows into a courtroom contest watched by an entire nation. Inspired by journalist Jigna Vora’s book Bano: Bharat ki Beti, the film reframes the case as the story of one woman’s refusal to be silenced.

The first teaser, dropped this week, hints at a hard-edged legal drama tense exchanges across the bar, the press outside the courthouse, and a protagonist determined to fight on despite stigma and intimidation. Gautam, whose last big-screen outing was the political thriller Article 370, appears in a more grounded, unvarnished role; Hashmi plays a sharp lawyer whose convictions are tested by the case.

Haq is not pitched as a sentimental tragedy but as a battle of ideas over law, faith, and the meaning of equal justice. The film is backed by Junglee Pictures along with Insomnia Films and Baweja Studios, Haq Se releases in cinemas on 7 November 2025, promising to revive a debate that has never quite faded.