“Badlapur: Don’t Miss the Beginning” Movie Review

The best thing about “Badlapur” is that Sriram Raghavan is back! He seems to have put the very disappointing “Agent Vinod” behind him, and delivers a tense revenge thriller with many twists and turns - more in line with his impressive “Ek Hasina Thi” and “Johnny Gaddar”. Though “Badlapur” is far from perfect, it gets a lot right and is a good watch. One the whole, however, it left me with the feeling that it could have been a lot better.

Raghu’s (Varun Dhawan) life is devastated when his wife Misha (Yami Gautam) and son are killed during a bank robbery getaway. One of the robbers, Liak (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is arrested and sent to prison as he refuses to name his partner, who has gotten away with the loot. With only revenge on his mind, and 20 years to wait, Raghu leaves his life behind and moves to a (conveniently named) town “Badlapur”. 15 years later, when Liak is released on medical grounds, Raghu orchestrates his elaborate revenge. As the parallel stories of Raghu and Liak move forward, the line between good and evil blurs as they seek out what they want.

The caption “Don’t Miss the Beginning” is completely justified by the great opening sequence of the bank robbery getaway. The tension during the scene is electrifying, and Raghavan really shows his class here. In fact, the first half is very good, and despite the second half being the one where the plot actually moves forward and is filled with Raghavan’s trademark twists and turns, it slacks off. There is some very good writing from Arjit Biswas and Raghavan, which is clear from some cracking dialogues and genuinely funny moments amidst the constant suspense. But, as with his previous works, it’s’ Raghavan’s ability to keep the audience guessing and never giving them what they expect that makes this movie so deliciously exciting.

The movie is rated ‘A’ for a reason. The movie deals with a topic that is controversial in itself, and it is a very violent movie. It’s good that the violence is justified by the plot, as opposed to being there just for the sake of creating gory images. In fact, it’s the slow build-up to the explosive scenes that are fun to watch. Another aspect, which I suspect would be the cause for some debate, is the treatment of women by the characters in the movie, which borders on sadistic. But I’ll stay clear of it for now.

Raghavan keeps the characters in his story to a minimum, and each character has an important role to play in taking the story forward. The supporting cast, which includes Huma Qureshi, Radhika Apte, Vinay Pathak, Kumud Mishra and Pratima Kannan, does well to realize this and perform brilliantly without worrying about their screen time. But of course, the movie belongs to the two protagonists. Varun Dhawan gives it his all to play the tortured Raghu, but I couldn’t help thinking that in the hands of a more seasoned actor, the emotional torment and thirst for revenge of Raghu would have been conveyed better. It’s refreshing that Dhawan tries to get out of his chocolate-boy image and picks a very challenging role, and he has clearly made a very bold gamble which mostly works, but it falls a bit short in some of the more demanding scenes. Nonetheless, it is a milestone in what I hope will be a continued upward career graph. Unsurprisingly, it is Nawazuddin Siddiqui who completely steals the show as the oily Liak with his usual brilliance. He does justice to some good writing, delivering the witty lines in a way that few actors can.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the ending of the movie. I was completely blown away by the idea behind the ending, which deals with themes of revenge, redemption, forgiveness, and good versus evil in a way that I have not seen before. Here again, Raghavan tried to give the viewers what they could never expect, forcing them to dwell on the message.  However, the actual execution is so underwhelming that I could not help but be disappointed. This was the greatest missed opportunity for me. But it still remains a novel idea.

On the whole, while Badlapur may not be for all, it is a good watch for those who can stomach it. It’s definitely an important point for Varun Dhawan’s career. But the person who really shines for me is Sriram Raghavan. Though it’s not as good as your first two movies, it’s good to have you back in the game, sir!