A quiet Hindi courtroom drama that didn’t secure huge box office numbers in its theatrical run, doing unusually loud business on Netflix at the start of 2026.

 Directed by Suparn S. Varma, Haq has emerged as one of the platform’s most-watched non-English films, topping Netflix India’s weekly chart and opening at number two globally.

It has also featured in the Top 10 lists of 14 countries, an uncommon run for a film driven more by ideas than scale.

In an OTT space often ruled by thrillers and quick hits, this courtroom drama has stayed in circulation, helped by steady word of mouth and strong reactions from within the film industry.

Actors and filmmakers have praised its restraint, pointing to how the film leans on silence, tension and moral unease rather than courtroom theatrics.

Yami Gautam plays Shazia with control and resolve, while Emraan Hashmi delivers one of his darkest performances. Their pairing turns the legal drama into a closer look at power, faith, marriage and responsibility.

Reflecting on the response, Varma said: “I never set out to make a film that would trend. I wanted to make a film that would stay. Justice, especially for women, is rarely neat or convenient.

The Shah Bano case is remembered as a legal milestone, but behind it was a woman who had to fight simply to be heard. That human cost was always my starting point. The response tells me that audiences are willing to engage with complexity when a story treats them with empathy.”.

Inspired by the 1985 Shah Bano case, Haq avoids a straight historical retelling. Instead, it stays with the personal fallout of a legal battle that reshaped public debate, keeping discomfort firmly in view.