Shahid Finally Streams on Prime Video After 13 Years; Apurva Asrani Asks Why Now
Hansal Mehta's National Award-winning Shahid, starring Rajkummar Rao, is now streaming on Prime Video 13 years after release, prompting co-writer Apurva Asrani to question the timing.
Thirteen years after it opened in theatres, Hansal Mehta's National Award-winning biographical drama Shahid has found a streaming home on Prime Video. The film, which had long been difficult to access digitally, is now available to a wider audience.
Released in 2013, Shahid traces the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was assassinated in Mumbai in 2010. Rajkummar Rao plays the title role, with Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Prabhleen Sandhu and Baljinder Kaur in supporting parts.
The film was widely recognised at the 61st National Film Awards. Mehta took the Best Director honour, while Rao shared the Best Actor award with Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramoodu. The official citation described Shahid as the true story of a slain human rights activist and lawyer set against the backdrop of communal violence in Mumbai.
Following the film's arrival on the platform, co-writer and editor Apurva M Asrani reflected on its long journey in a post on X. He noted that it had taken 13 years for the film to secure a streaming home and recalled its subject: a lawyer who defended people accused under terror laws and fought for due process at a time when Muslims were, in his words, often presumed guilty before being proven innocent. Azmi, he wrote, was murdered for that courage.
Asrani said he had often wondered why Shahid remained without a streaming platform for so long, pointing to the period that followed its release and what he described as a climate in which dissenters, activists, journalists and those defending the rights of the accused increasingly came under suspicion. He cited the case of Umar Khalid, who has spent years in prison awaiting trial.
He also spoke of the difficulties faced by filmmakers, writers and actors drawn to stories that challenge established narratives, saying some struggled to get such projects made while others were co-opted into telling what he called "kosher" stories that won National Awards for their political conformity despite their mediocrity.
With the film now available in 2026, Asrani asked what had changed since its theatrical run. "So why now?" he wrote, wondering whether the mood had shifted or whether there was growing resistance to a politics of fear. Whatever the reason, he said he was proud of the film, which established him as a co-writer and editor and returned him to the kind of cinema he believes in. He urged viewers to watch it, or watch it again, calling it a reminder of the courageous cinema that was once made and celebrated.
Shahid remains a landmark in the careers of both Mehta and Rao. The National Film Awards jury noted that Rao brought the character's journey and struggle to life.