A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
Badla - Official Trailer (YouTube)
By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, Badla is an official
remake of a Spanish film titled The Invisible Guest. The film stars Amitabh
Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu in the lead roles, marking their reunion after Pink. Badla costars Amrita Singh,
Tanveer Ghani, and Tony Luke. The film is produced by Red Chillies
Entertainment and Azure Entertainment.
Badla revolves around a successful businesswoman named
Naina Sethi (played by Taapsee) who is accused of murdering her lover. The
character of her high profile lawyer Badal Gupta who has never lost a case in
his 40 year illustrious career is essayed by Amitabh Bachchan. While Naina is
out on bail, she sees Gupta, who is personally recommended by her trusted
lawyer friend, at her home as she can't afford to lose the case. Gupta is a
master at preparing witnesses but his only condition is that he must know the
whole truth as only then will he be able to put up a strong defense in the
court. Since this is going to be the last case of his career he doesn’t want to take any risks. At first Naina tries to fool him by guarding some truth
surrounding the murder and the events leading to it but when Gupta threatens to
leave her case she is not left with any other option but to reveal her darkest
secrets to her. Will Naina be able to convince Gupta to fight her case? Badla
tries to address this and more as we are transported to a duplicitous world
inhabited by opportunists and liars.
In 2019 Amitabh Bachchan completes 50 years in cinema and in Badla he reminds us again why he is rated so
highly even 5 decades after starting his acting journey back in 1969. While
Taapsee Pannu is good, it is undoubtedly Amitabh Bachchan who makes Badla so
engaging. His lawyer character hardly ever steps out of the room during the
movie and yet Bachchan essays it so brilliantly that it will stay with you long
after the end credits stop rolling. Yes, it is a well written character but a lesser actor would have had a tough time playing
it with such conviction. Credit also goes to Sujoy Ghosh for effectively
employing a Rashomon-like narrative. Do you remember Kahaani? How well Ghosh
had succeeded in sustaining the mystery till the very end. In Badla he is
almost there as far as keeping the mystery is concerned but somewhere he fails
to match the brilliance of Kahaani. Perhaps, a couple of better casting choices and
slightly tighter writing could have made the difference. Also, the role of the
city (in this case Glasgow, Scotland) pales in comparison to the manner in
which he had used Kolkata. But it is certainly a return to form after a pretty dismal Kahaani 2.
But despite
the fact that the film is flawed it can be enjoyed because of the detailing and
the logical brilliance that is rarely seen in Hindi films. Yes, this is an
official remake of a Spanish film but it is not a bad one. If you like murder
mysteries with cold, ominous setting then this one will not disappoint you.
Rating: 7/10
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
Rating: 7/10
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
Badla - Official Trailer (YouTube)
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