Faraaz

In July 2016, armed militants storm a popular cafe in Dhaka, setting off a hostage crisis that lasts through a single night. The film Faraaz dramatizes that attack, focusing on the young people trapped inside as the situation escalates around them. Based on the real assault on the Holey Artisan Bakery, the story unfolds largely within the confined space of the cafe, where the captives must confront the intentions of the attackers and their own chances of survival.

The film is directed by Hansal Mehta, working from a screenplay by Ritesh Shah, Kashyap Kapoor and Raghav Raj Kakker, and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Anubhav Sinha and Krishan Kumar. It was released in February 2023 and runs 112 minutes. Aditya Rawal plays Nibras, Zahan Kapoor plays Faraaz, and Abhirami Bose appears as Tahana. The film was Mehta's release before The Buckingham Murders, which followed in 2024, placing it in the earlier part of his recent output.

Audience response to the film has been modest. On IMDb it holds a rating of 5 out of 10 from around 2,100 votes, indicating a mixed reception among viewers rather than a strong consensus. On TMDB it sits at 4.7 out of 10, though that figure comes from a much smaller sample of about 10 votes and should be read with that in mind.