Bawaal – My Flash Review!

Bawaal – the new Hindi film that dropped on Amazon Prime boasts of some big and interesting names attached to it, Nitish Tiwari the director being one certainly. Tiwari who has made interesting films in the past like Nil Battey Sannata, Bhootnath Returns, Dangal and Chhichhore has a way of storytelling that is rooted in the ground. In Bawaal though, he tries to do something totally krantikari (revolutionary) and risky and in my opinion and comes out fairly unscathed.

The one-line story of Bawaal is very simple. Boy meets Girl, come together, doesn’t work out and after certain circumstances get together at the end as in many Bollywood films and live happily ever after. Now what makes it different is what the Director, the story writer and the writers have come up with in terms of the circumstances that make the couple to patch up. They come up with a totally unbelievable and rather outlandish premise that takes the simple one-line story to something very big. I am certain that many would find this twist contrived and even ridiculous. But I found it interesting and certainly engaging.

The story opens in Lucknow where our hero Ajay or Ajju, a school teacher in History played by Varun Dhawan is portrayed as more of an ‘ass’ in all aspects. He gets married to a girl who is intelligent and pretty but is suffering from epilepsy since childhood. The hero who is all over himself all the time concerned about his image and the ‘mahaul’ he creates, is unable to come to terms with his wife’s condition. From such a common domestic issue in Lucknow, the film just takes a leap of faith into World history and how then the couple re-unite is the crux of the story.  I am leaving it there so as not to give any spoilers except to point to the tagline of the film!

With such an outlandish treatment, it is very important for the screenplay to keep the viewers engaged. I would say that Bawaal does that except for some stretches where the screenplay sags as it segues between the past and the present. The writing with witty lines thrown in also helps to a large extent. The same cannot be said of the comedy track which revolves around stereotyping of Gujaratis – one that has been done to death in Hindi films.

It is indeed very brave of a mainstream hero like Varun Dhawan to take up such a role of a man who is inherently flawed and whose redemption at the end comes sans any “heroics”. But in terms of performance, Dhawan is a mixed bag as he muddles up the Lucknowi andaaz with Mumbaiya tapori flavour. On the other hand, Jahnvi Kapoor who plays the female lead gives a good account of herself in a role that is conceived and written very well – a rarity in Hindi films these days. Notwithstanding her dialogue delivery which is at times problematic, she plays the role very organically. Among the supporting cast, Manoj Pahwa is as usual brilliant as Dhawan’s dad.

The songs that come as montages to push ahead the story are melodious and soothing to the ears. The camera work by Mitesh Mirchandani comes as a big help to the Director in the scenes that bring about an emotional upheaval. Even in the initial scenes, the camera captures the hustle and bustle of Lucknow quite nicely.

For such a big-ticket film, when the makers decide to skip the traditional theatrical release and opt for an OTT premiere instead, it is an indicator that the makers are not sure how the film will land. Therefore, they prefer to go for an OTT premiere to cover their backs and not run the risk of running big losses. I am sure that with such a storytelling premise, Bawaal will also get a divided response of being a likeable film or an utterly nonsensical one. I for one, liked the film despite it being slow in between. And for Bollywood, which has the habit of conjuring up the same themes, Bawaal comes as a brave attempt in doing something different. For that attempt at storytelling, I would put this as a “Good watch”. Bawaal is streaming now on Amazon Prime.