Sanket’s review: “Badlapur” is gripping and intrusive drama.

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Yami gautam, Nawazuddin Siddiquie, Huma Qureshi

Director: Sriram Raghvan

Length: 2hrs and 15 minutes

Possibly Raghvan’s best work, “Badlapur” is an accomplished venture that starts off on a terrific note and ends with one. The film in between too hook you up, though not all is correct about the film.

The film is more about the two characters – the Hero and the villain rather than the inner turmoil of the hero. The film doesn’t take time to build the plot and goes with the kill from word go. Raghvan known to infuse enough drama and suspense in the plot, although that disappeared in his previous film “Agent Vinod, does the same here but perhaps with little more finesse. The plot moves along with twists and turns and the characters are nicely etched giving the raw deal of each player. The writing is extremely staunch and the film has brisk pace.

Although the flashback portions don’t really bring enough difference to the film’s screenplay and resulting in unexploited emotions, yet the writers win brownies for giving zany dimension to Nawazuddin’s character that gets to mouth some crackling dialogues. Or even Varun’s character that shows high levels of alterations as and when the story progresses. The film even though a revenge drama gives a nice angle to it by playing with the characters and keeping the suspense and thrill intact throughout.

But as mentioned that film does have some problems- there are several attempts to cut a nice emotional piece with flashbacks which hardly works and also pace at couple of places goes for toss.

The film enjoys sharp background score and the “jee Karda” in the background gives Goosebumps. And even “jeena jeena” is quite a nice song that gets its place at the right time. The film adequately benefits from Raghvan’s excellent execution who manages to keep the momentum high even when there’s silence. His wit blossoms in scenes where he uses subtle comical undertones especially reserved for Nawaaz  in the scenes where Nawaaz displays childish flamboyance to his co-criminal in jail or be it the mouse-and-cat play in a movie theatre.

Varun Dhawan uses silence and aggression abundantly and never losing a mark. His character has too many angle – he is menacing, he is lovable, he is heroic, he is helpless and he is funny too, and Dhawan packs all into a performance that shows of what calibre he is. Nawaaz, easily in his career’s most juicy role enjoys hilarious dialogues and also has a character that has arc and is not your typical antagonist. The dependable Huma Qureshi does well whereas Vinay Pathak hardly has much to do. Rest all are fine in the bit roles.

BADLAPUR is gripping and intrusive drama that’s worth the price of a ticket. The film could’ve managed its setbacks and could’ve been outstanding, yet for whatever it is, it is still a must-watch. The climax is a major highpoint because it’s not really conventional and yet its entirely convincing which in itself leaves you on a good note.

Rating – 3.5/5