Badlapur

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.

I was really impressed to see something this good from bollywood. The acting was phenomenal from nawaz, varun, huma and vinay. But the best part is the direction. There was sufficient character development. U feel sympathy even for the bad guys. Sriram raghavan is a brilliant director. The climax between varun and nawaz is another highlight of this film. Revenge can send people on a journey that will take em places far darker than they would have ever dared go before. This film is also about the madness a person is capable of. This film is dark, violent, explicit n at times disturbing. The scene wher nawaz keeps on trying to escape from the prison was funny.

I've loved Sriram Raghavan's films. They're a bit different from the rest that Bolloywood turns out year on year. And he knows how to make a good thriller and keep his fans like me edge of their seats.

Badlapur is the story of Raghu (Varun Dhawan) who is simmering in revenge after his wife and son are killed in a bank robbery all gone wrong. Of the two robbers, Liak (Nawazuddin) is caught and arrested and sentenced for 20 years. He claims that he did not kill the women and child, it was his partner who did. Raghu waits for the next 20 years to get is revenge.

On the face, Badlapur is a revenge story. But see inside and its a tale of two lonely men trying to seek comfort and solace. And in the 15 years, they become desperate. One has time while the other hasn't.

As the movie progressed, it did manage to pop up a few questions - about the concept of revenge, redemption and right or wrong?

And these questions came thanks to the brilliant performance of Nawauddin. Nawaz is at the moment India's best actor and he just leaves his mark. U feel anger and pity while also laugh at his stupidity.

Varun is good and uses his eyes well but no where close to Nawaz. The rest of the cast is very good in their small roles especially Huma Qureshi, Prathima Qazmi and Radhika Apte.

The movie does have a few pits and you might question the roles played by the women.

However, this is a brilliant psychological thriller and a must watch for all thriller fans.

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 - The movie starts with a African quote , 'THE AXE FORGET , BUT THE TREE NEVER' .

This quote almost describes the main theme of the movie. Its the Tree(Raghu played by Varun) who wants to take revenge from the Axe(Laik play by Siddique). But its not a typical revenge drama in which we have a perfect hero without any sins inside him , neither the villain is a total sinful person. Rather the characters are of Grey nature and have both goods and bads inside them. It almost feels like it has been made by Anurag Kashyap , it also have the typical awkward comic situations like of which we have seen in Gangs Of Wassypur , and its good to see that their exist another director (Sriram) who can make movies like Kashyap. But one thing that lacks in this film as compared to Kashyap's film is that the shocking element. Kashyap always keep some twists in the film to shock us which was absent in the film. In an interview Varun have said that this film will raise some debates , and i agree with that. Normally Bollywood movies show that there is a villain , who kills any person from Hero's family and our Hero take his revenge , its for his inner peace as well as for justice to some extent. But the real question is that , is revenge is a right solution to compensate the murder of your loved ones. Is killing back the murderer will give you peace , i don't think so , and the same thing has been proved by the climax which is too much unconventional as it shows the revenge didn't do anything good to our hero as he too is a sinful person and has done his part of sins for the sake of revenge . Also the villain shows the white side of his character shockingly. Which may not be liked by everyone. The film also ask a question that whether its needed to give a person who has done a tragic sin a second chance .

As i said the movie lacks the shocking element , because of that some scenes felt flat as our hero doesn't seems like he has a particular plan and is only doing random things. Also the revenge drama only starts in the 2nd half so in the first half the movie actually doesn't move much in the first half. Varun Dhawan has got a lot of complaints that he cant do different roles other that comic character as he is perfect for comedy. This will prove all those persons wrong (i am also one of them). Its not like he has nail it totally but for an actor just three film old (all the three films being too light on nature) he has done a pretty good job. And he will only get better from here. Now he is a threat for his generation of actors. To write about Siddique is being difficult now a days. He shows so much perfection to his character that leave no words to describe it. For me its actually too difficult for a hero to shine in a film in which Siddique plays a villain. Siddique has stolen the lime light from Salmaan in kick and now he has stolen all the praise from Varun(Luckily in Kahani & Talaash Siddique doesn't have a too much important role otherwise he should have stolen it from Vidya and Aamir too) . And his next will be with Srk in RAEES , be aware Shahrukh. Among female leads i would appreciate Radhika Apte who has done a good job specially in the scene where he has to create voices to show fake sex. Songs doesn't interrupt the movie at all as they appeared in background. Editing could have been better as i think revenge dramas if not directed by Kashyap like Gangs of Wassypur should not be more then 2hrs , and it is 20min long. I so much wanted this movie to be directed by Anurag Kashyap , he could have made this better. Never the less movie is dark , and by dark i mean too dark , there are dark cinematography , dark humor , strong sexual scenes(for which the movie has been given A certificate so family audience should stay away from it). Not for every type of audience , couldn't recommend it to every one , so watch it at your own risk. 7/10 By ANuP APu KuMaR