Badlapur

3.5/5 The last twenty minutes derail Badlapur and impede it from becoming one of the better thrillers of the "revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-cold" sub-genre. The first hundred minutes have many brutal, in your face moments. The first scene is in a master class of its own. It is immediately arresting and horrifying and dares you to turn your eyes from it. Shriram Raghavan's direction and his knack of storytelling were the primary drivers which kept me glued. He made me sympathize for even the worst of his characters. That says something about his Elmore Leonard like ability to create likable "bad" guys and repellent "good" guys. Varun Dhawan is a revelation. As the grieving husband and father, he pulls off the act with unexpected panache. His eyes glitter with hatred and the body language exudes barely suppressed menace. Nawazzudin Siddiqui's role is not that of a conventional villain. He does not froth or shout. With his white hair and frail physique, he demands sympathy. However, as usual he brings understated nuance to his character of an incarcerated bank robber. His anger barely broke the surface. But when it did, it left me chilled to the core. Radhika Apte steals the limelight. I did not know of her before viewing this. Amongst a cast which has, many other known female faces (Huma Quereshi, Yami Gautam and Divya Dutta), she clearly steals the cake with her portrayal of a wife who will go to any length for her husband. The build up to the climax and the denouement itself were anti- climactic, somewhat of a damp squib and took away a little something from what is likely to be remembered as one of the top movies of the year.

Badlapur is a well-made and highly enjoyable thriller cum psychological drama. Sriram Raghavan has already proved time and again his knack for this kind of thing, and the results here are very good albeit, honestly, not his best. The director's unique style of symbolism along with a very matter-of-fact portrayal of the events and some superb camera work, works to great effect. The sex sequences, however, looked forced and not very credible and provided nothing but occasional shock value in what could have been bold but clean entertainment. Needless to say, technically the film is an absolute winner, and the dark narrative is aided by great music.

The film is gripping and tense, but it has meaning and works as an absorbing dramatic story which dives well into the psyche of the protagonist. Beneath the surface, it poses interesting philosophical questions on the nature of revenge and the point of its outcome. On the one hand, it gives the avenger a purpose and a possibility of psychological redemption as well as a feeling that justice was made. On the other, it is destructive, empty and doesn't let him go on with life. Both these facets of the concept of revenge are very well portrayed here through the journey of the protagonist, whose wife and child were killed by two criminals.

The film is led by a flawed yet competent performance from Varun Dhawan. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is excellent as the foe, and so is Vinay Pathak. Among the women, Huma Qureshi is very strong in a supporting role of an atypical prostitute, and Radhika Apte does very well later on. Even in the smallest of parts, Ashwini Kalsekar can be trusted to leave a mark (she was phenomenal in Andhadhun). This is generally true of Divya Dutta but she gets a preachy, wishy-washy role. Yami Gautam is luminous. The film ends on a slightly sugarcoated note but provides a long-needed catharsis to this intense story. Indian film noir, indeed.

I think it is Ugly, in the recent crop of Bollywood flicks, that matches the grimness of Badlapur. Whereas conventional Bollywood flicks are painted in colourful palette, Badlapur is done in shades of grey that is never afraid to go dark, but refuses to go white. Its darkness made me swoon on my seats. Its boldness enthralled me. This is the noir Bollywood has been waiting for. In Badlapur, the director has created two main characters that turn the very conventional ideas of protagonist and antagonist on its head and delivery a dark, comic, intense thriller that glued me to my seat in the first half, but falters in the second half where it tries to give intensity to the changing dynamics between the two main characters, but falters because the screenplay in the second half could not throw the same punch it did in the first half. The build up was definitely great and it showed itself in the stronger moments of second half, but as the story veered to its climax, it starts turning the whole revenge story upside down which is beautiful, but could not bring the same intensity and sharpness. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is the star of the movie. He is a phenomenon. Varun Dhawan comes second best. His acting is fine and his acting shows the intensity his character requires, but his voice does not live up to it. Overall, a must watch. Not for those who love the usual Bollywood fare.

#Badlapur : A Sriram Raghvan movie Badlapur, starring Varun Dhawan & Nawazuddin Sidiquie, has been released. A revenge saga of Raghu, who's wife and son has been killed by Layak during the bank robbery in Pune, in presence of his partner. His partner ran away, and Layak got arrested. Court gives him 20 years punishment in jail. But, because of his illness, court gives order to bail him. Meanwhile, during these years, his partner never caught by police. He is so set with his wife and owning a restaurant. When Raghu got news of him, he takes revenge from the partner and his wife. Then one interesting character of Jhimlee is also there, who is a girlfriend of Layak. Layak loves her, as much as she does. What will Raghu do to take his revenge from these people, to know that you have to watch this. The story is not new, but the presentation was good. The first robbery scene was taken in just a long shot. Then when Varun saw his dead son, the dance of Huma, the coffee shop scene of Varun & Yami, the lift scene just before the interval, the raining scenes, the climax scene where Nawaz fights with Varun in his room containing the toys, photos of his son and wife & many more are fabulous scenes of this film. Dialogues and screenplay are good enough to engage the audience. Sriram has directed this film brilliantly. He chooses the best cast ever. Varun gave a superb performance. This film can be counted in his best movies in the future. Nawaz gave as usual, Faizal type performance. Whenever he tries to do comedy, the audience gives appreciation. Huma gave such a fantastic performance in her fantastic role. Divya Dutta is as usual. Vinay Pathak is too good. His expressions are so real. Radhika also gave a nice performance. But, my favorite Yami once again fail to give more than 10 minutes performance. What the hell is going with the directors! This film is different from the other revenge saga, because there is no violence except few scenes. Women are also the part of the story, and which can give a thought to the viewers. Music is just outstanding, but, only Jee Karda fits to the taste. It is the story of badman to good man & good man to the bad one. The streets of crime can also lead sometimes to empathy. This is the story of a man becoming the beast and the beast becoming the man. Go for it.

From the first moment you set your eyes on the movie, you know that it's going to be highly stylish one. And it is! Not your Once Upon a Time in Mumbai sort of stylish. Rather stylish in truer and grittier sense.

The characters were just fabulous. You don't know whom to call the victim and whom the culprit. Just an unfortunate event that sets off a chain reaction transforming every one in the process for the good or worse.

The charms of the movie: Varun and Nawazuddin. The one I liked more was Varun for a very simple reason. Nawazuddin is an acclaimed actor though underrated. It's Varun who broke the stereotype chocolate boy image and got onto a new avatar. One that's disturbing and at the same time interesting. The only thing is, Varun's voice seemed childish in some scenes that demanded more impact. Other than that, Varun has my respect. Nawazuddin is Nawazuddin. I watch his every movie just to see him in action. Enough Said!

The twists and turns in this movie seemed natural. Never forced. Unlike other bollywood movies, where the twists are introduced out of nowhere, this one had twists that baffled me with it's sheer brilliance. The gore is limited to just few minutes but enough to make a huge impact.

The comedy is unintentional yet brilliant. The dialogues are not intended to make you laugh. But you laugh anyway. Even after the movie has ended. WOW! 2015 has been so good this far. Hope this continues for the rest of the year. Ugly, Baby, and now this.

I'll not urge you to watch this movie if you like masala movies Or, if you intend to watch a family movie. But, if you want a taste of the nastier grittier stuff bollywood has to offer, I can't think of a better movie right now than this one.

You'll either love this movie. Or, hate it. But this movie will definitely make an impact on you. That fer sure.