After a wait of 13 years, the National Award-winning film, Shahid , has finally found its home on Prime Video. The writer-editor of the Rajkummar Rao -starrer, Apurva M Asrani, shared a long post reflecting on the film’s journey since its release and asking why it took so long for the film to find a platform.
It was screened at several other film festivals including the 14th Mumbai Film Festival, the New York Indian Film Festival, the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart, the Dubai International Film Festival and the Chicago South Asian Film Festival. The film was awarded the Silver Gateway Trophy at the Mumbai Film Festival. Rajkummar received the Best Actor Award and Hansal Mehta, the Best Director Award at the 61st National Film Awards ceremony.
Released in 2013, Shahid is a biographical drama film directed by Hansal Mehta. Based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was assassinated in 2010, the film stars Rajkummar Rao as Azmi; Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Prabhleen Sandhu and Baljinder Kaur appear in supporting roles. Shahid had its world premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival’s City to City programme in 2012. It was released theatrically in India on 18 October 2013 and met with critical acclaim.
It took 13 years for our film to find a streaming home. Why does a film like Shahid finally find a streaming platform in 2026? Shahid tells the story of Shahid Azmi, a lawyer who defended people accused under terror laws and fought for due process in a climate where Muslims were often presumed guilty before being proven innocent. He was murdered for that courage. He added, “So why now? Has the mood changed? Is there growing resistance to the politics of fear? Whatever the reason, I’m proud of this film. It established me as a co-writer/editor and brought me back to the kind of cinema I believe in. Watch it if you haven’t. Watch it again if you have. This film, made by a wonderful team, is a reminder of the kind of courageous cinema we used to make and celebrate. Thankyou @PrimeVideoIN.”
On Monday, Apurva took to X and wrote, “The National Award-winning #Shahid is finally streaming on Prime Video.
