Bhediya Movie Review: You’ll Come In For
Varun Dhawan, But Will Stay Back For
Abhishek Banerjee!
Varun is the brand on which this film is sold, but Abhishek is the one who will
actually sell this film to you!
Star Cast: Varun Dhawan, Abhishek Banerjee, Paalin Kabaak, Deepak Dobriyal, Kriti Sanon, Saurabh Shukla
Director: Amar Kaushik
What’s Good: A straight-faced Abhishek Banerjee delivering lines like “Iski praan aur g**nd aapke haath mein hai… ubad khaabad chuttad…” & many more ROFL moments
What’s Bad: A weak motive trying to connect everything good
Loo Break: Only if you want to get your a** bitten by a ‘Bhediya’ in the washroom
Watch or Not?: Liked Stree & Bala? You’ll enjoy this one as well
Language: Hindi
Available On: Theatrical Release
Runtime: 156 Minutes
User Rating:
The story starts with Sharad Kelkar’s character narrating the horrifying tale of Bhediya to his daughter, in a way teasing what’s coming next. Bhaskar is a contractor who gets a huge assignment of cutting a road through the jungle in Ziro. After a hilarious yet subtle ‘not knowing northeast enough’ joke cracked at his cousin Janardan (Abhishek Banerjee), Bhaskar shifts to Ziro where he meets his local friend Jobin (Paalin Kabaak).
With the help of Jobin & a local in Panda Ji (Deepak Dobriyal), Bhaskar tries to convince locals to let him cut the forest. But, as they say, if you’d play around with nature, it plays back with you and that’s what happens with Bhaskar when he gets his a** bitten by a wolf aka ‘Bhediya’ aka Vishanoo. Citing Rabies & Rahul Roy from Junoon, Bhaskar too turns into a wolf on a full moon day who then tries to destroy his project. How will he get treated? Will he fight the ‘Bhediya’ in him to finish the project he has taken responsibility for? That and more form the main crux of the story.
Bhediya Movie Review: Script Analysis
Before we get into the technicalities, a message for all the fans who think 3 stars is a ‘bad’ rating: open up your brains, it’s not. 3 means there are flaws but the film still could be watched despite the same. Amid the horde of baseless ‘4, 4.5 & 5’ stars, we’ve forgotten the value of 3 stars almost neglecting it for not being ‘good enough’ as per your ‘standards’. 3 is STILL a perfectly watchable film. Rant ends.
Okay, hot take: Director Amar Kaushik has done 2 amazing films before this Stree & Bala – a hilarious horredy & a gut-busting dramedy. Now, when one comes back to a genre that they’ve already nailed before, it’s expected they’d return with the same team. Not here! Amar returns with the writer of Bala (Niren Bhatt) when the makers should’ve retained Raj-DK (writers of Stree) as they have done this before & could’ve been a safer bet.
Niren Bhatt writes the story, the screenplay & the dialogues, all by himself. Not at all saying, he has done a crappy job but it’s the balance that’s missing among the various departments. He’s brilliant with his one-liners but at the same time, the story isn’t consistent from start to end with some bumpers in between. ‘What’ happens when Varun turns Bhediya is an interesting sight to see on the big screen, but the motive for ‘why’ he turns into a Bhediya is somewhere half-baked throughout. Niren balances his shortcomings with what’s been his USP since forever – howlarious dialogues (sorry, had to do it once!).
Jishnu Bhatacharjee was an apt choice for directing the photography of the film as he’s coming straight out of films like Ajji, Pari & Mardaani 2. His work experience in Pari definitely helps him to create this mystic world around the jungle of Siro with a creature let loose in it. MPC’s VFX is *chef’s kiss* & this might be the most ignored thing of this film while discussing it. From the epic transformation scene of Varun into the Bhediya to glorifying the scenic beauty of the jungle, nothing looks artificial with having close to real-looking creatures (making you remember RRR). Sanyukta Kaza’s editing is crisp in places & lacklustre in others, this is also because of the two contrasting sides the narrative is forced to portray because of the story.
Bhediya Movie Review: Star Performance
Varun Dhawan in his transformation into Bhediya scene > Varun Dhawan in the entire film. He’s one charming actor, everyone knows that, and that’s what he does as Bhaskar by charming his way in. Though his character stands for thoughts that ‘woke’ won’t agree with, Varun remains consistent throughout his act making you believe he follows whatever Bhaskar is saying.
Abhishek Banerjee is the real hero of this film for me. Yes, Varun is the brand on which this film is sold but Abhishek is the one who will actually sell this film to you. This is majorly because his character majorly enjoys everything good that the story has to offer. With the kind of consistency this man has, he would never do a bad role in his life.
Paalin Kabaak is a great addition to the leading duo of Varun & Abhishek. Presenting him as the voice of Northeast, Paalin does a tremendous job at both comedy & drama. His outburst scene about the inclusiveness of Northeast is a good mix of wokeness & humour performed equally well. Deepak Dobriyal’s character could’ve been better but as Abhishek, even this man’s consistency is a no-match. Kriti Sanon is good in her limited screen time but falls a victim to a poor character sketch. We’ve seen her ability to shock everyone in Mimi & this after that leaves a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Saurabh Shukla is as good as not being in the film.
Bhediya Movie Review: Direction, Music
If this would’ve been Amar Kaushik’s first film, I would’ve praised it a little bit more than what I did above but he has given us two of the most memorable films making this one look a little less appealing than those. But, as a standalone film, Amar has once again directed an entertainer which won’t bore you to death in the second half … ahem – Phone Bhoot – ahem… And in fact, will leave a sweet message by the end of it.
Have been a Sachin-Jigar fan since Golmaal, Shor In The City days but like other music composers even they have lacked that proper consistency in their taste that a Pritam/Rahman might have. But, with Bhediya’s even though limited songs, they are back to their original flavour. Baaki Sab Theek is the most perfect road song many won’t realise they need until they give it a listen. When you can convince Sukhwinder Singh, and Vishal Dadlani to come together for a song, you know it’s a guaranteed hit & Jungle Mein Kaand proves the same. An unreleased rap remixing of Lata Mangeshkar’s classic ‘Aayega Aayega’ hits the right bars & chords & a request to Sachin-Jigar: PLEASE, release this soon.
Bhediya Movie Review: The Last Word
All said and done, Bhediya delivers what it promises – howlarious one-liners, classy VFX, a few jumpscares & good performances but if you go looking beyond those promises, you won’t find anything substantial to add.
Three stars!
Bhediya Trailer
Bhediya releases on 25th November,2022.
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