‘Vadh’ FILM REVIEW: Sometimes a well-thought-out script is born. While writing, one may not be able to think so minutely and especially if you are also directing the film, then it is possible that the story may lean towards one side or while shooting, you may get carried away by emotions and shoot something beyond the script. The film “Vadh”, releasing in a few select theatres in December 2022 and now on Netflix in February 2023, will definitely be placed among those films where not a single scene is unnecessary, rather it feels that it would have been so much fun if there were a few more scenes. Vadh is a wonderful cinema. Straightforward, true, simple, touching and blunt. This kind of cinema must be watched because this kind of cinema is rarely seen in Hindi films.
While watching Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, I felt that this film should be made into a web series, or more parts of this series should be made so that this film keeps going, the story keeps moving forward, but we keep watching the film. ‘Vadh’ has been written and made so carefully that the film ends but the mind does not accept it. It seems that this character should do something more in the future. He should take revenge from the world, but the writers Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajiv Barnwal, both must have written their first feature film at least a dozen times, edited, then re-wrote it and kept improving and writing this story again and again until all evidence of “filminess” was erased. What a wonderful writing, what a wonderful direction and what a wonderful acting. A separate salute to the cinematography and editing because not a single scene of this film hurts the eyes and not a single scene is out of the norm or forcibly inserted.
Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta are husband and wife. They live in Gwalior. They are poor. They took a loan of barely 10 lakhs from the bank and a loan of 15 lakhs from a local money lender to send their son abroad for studies. The son settled there, got married and is busy trying to get rid of his old life. He is disturbed by his parents’ Skype calls. A local goon keeps coming to Mishra ji’s house on the pretext of collecting money and uses his house as a hotel. A man who is in debt is always under pressure from a goon. This continues until this goon casts an evil eye on Mishra ji’s 12-13 year old student and daughter-like beloved girl. Sanjay Mishra murders him, cuts his body into pieces, throws it in a bore and the next day takes petrol and burns it. Mishra ji, a good man, also collects his ashes because the goon is also a Pandey. The police gets suspicious but Mishra ji, using his intelligence, not only escapes the charge of murder but also gives away his house to the girl’s father and moves on.
Sanjay Mishra is Angaar. We have become accustomed to seeing him in vulgar and comedy roles but after doing 3-4 comedy films, he suddenly does a great serious film. It seems as if he is washing away his sins of vulgar roles. The anger of a very scared, downtrodden person does not come out properly in his eyes. When Sanjay finally gets rid of his debt cleverly and traps the boss of the goon who gave him the loan and sends him to jail, even then there is no trace of cunning on his face. This also indicates that we are not able to use Sanjay Mishra properly but what to do, he speaks Dhondu Chill with the same conviction with which he kills the goon with a screwdriver in Vadh. If you want to see more of Sanjay Mishra’s acting ability, then watch his work in Bunty Aur Babli and Company. Along with him is Neena Gupta. In the last 2-3 years, Neena has left no stone unturned to prove that if most Hindi film viewers start thinking beyond stereotypes, there is an actress like her. In the drawing room of a house where there is never even a mention of meat or fish, a goon brings a bottle of alcohol, a prostitute and roasted chicken. Neena’s face is worth reading. Neena Gupta is a wonderful actress and even though her role is small, she still rocks the screen. Manav Vij’s character has not been developed properly. The inner conflict within him is not understood. Saurabh Sachdev is already stormy. The roles of the rest of the actors are small.
The writer and director deserve praise for this film. It is a tough task to convert a short story into a screenplay of about two hours and to keep the audience engaged with that screenplay but they have done it. There are many scenes in the film where the sharp eye of the writers and directors, their habit of paying attention to small things can be envied, except for the song Karpoor Gauram by Neena Gupta. She keeps on singing the first line during the puja, the rest of the lines do not come. There are also abuses in the film. Therefore, it may be difficult to watch it with family but such a bitter medicine can be given just like this. Watch it, immediately.
Detailed Rating
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Mofusion, Lavi Sarkar, Gurcharan Singh/5 |
Tags: Gupta said, Sanjay Mishra
FIRST PUBLISHED : February 8, 2023, 19:18 IST