Name: Bhediya
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Varun Dhawan,Kriti Sanon,Shraddha Kapoor,Rajkummar Rao,Sharad Kelkar,Aparshakti Khurana,Saurabh Shukla,Abhishek Banerjee,Deepak Dobriyal,Amar Kaushik
Rating: 3 / 5
Plot
On his visit to Arunachal Pradesh for a forest road project, Bhaskar (Varun Dhawan) is bitten by a wolf on a special but magical night that happens once in a year. Due to the bite, he develops the characteristics of a wolf and also has the ability to transform into a werewolf in certain instances. He is joined by Anika (Kriti Sanon), Panda (Deepak Dobriyal), Janardhan (Abhishek Banerjee), and Jomin (Paalin Kabaak) on this journey of discovering the animal within him. What is the purpose of his turning into a werewolf? What happens to the forest road project? How do Anika, Panda, Janardhan, and Jomin react to his transformation? All the questions are answered in Bhediya.
What works?
Bhediya has a novel thought, something not seen before in Hindi cinema. The vision of creating a creature comedy translates well on the screen due to the polished visual effects, that result in some great cinematic shots. It's among the best visual effects for a Hindi Film, not in terms of scale but on the technical front. The 3D also enhances the experience, especially the sequences featuring the wolf. The film rides on some genuinely funny gags, in the first half and the initial few frames in the post-interval scenes. The interactions of Varun Dhawan, Abhishek Banerjee, Deepak Dobriyal, and Paalin Kabaak often bring in laughter. The same can be said for the first few encounters of the trio with the werewolf. Big credit to the dialogue writer for those one-liners.
Bhediya also works due to the swift ability of Amar and his writer, Niren Bhatt, to give out a message without taking a preachy path. The post-credit scene is a laugh riot and ensures that you leave the hall with a smile. The music sets up the mood of Bhediya and lends itself beautifully to the world of Arunachal Pradesh.
What doesn’t work?
The core thought of Bhediya had ample potential to translate into something a lot bigger, especially in the second half, but the team isn’t exactly able to take the conflict to the next level on the execution front. The director and writer take too long to give the arc of redemption to Bhaskar, which in turn doesn’t make you root for the protagonist for a major chunk of the narrative. The core conflict of man vs human is not established well, whereas the romantic track doesn’t spike that interest. The pre-climax episode is a bit of a drag and while the climax is a brave and out-of-box attempt, it doesn’t exactly follow the conventional route to appease everyone.
Performances
Bhediya tick marks all boxes on the performance front. Varun Dhawan carries the film on his shoulders and is simply fantastic in the transformation scenes. He has cracked the formula of mouthing some one-liners with conviction and does well in the dramatic moments of the film too. Kriti Sanon has limited screen time, but her character brings in a new element to this tale as the story progresses. Abhishek Banerjee is hilarious and lifts the tempo of the film with his dialogue delivery. Paalin Kabaak gets his moment to shine in the second half, whereas Deepak Dobriyal is dependable as Panda. Saurabh Shukla doesn’t get much scope in the narrative. Rajkummar Rao and Aparshakti Khurana’s cameo towards the finale is a huge surprise, making you want more.
Final Verdict:
Bhediya rides primarily on the strength of gags, visual effects, and performances, but warranted a bigger conflict with regard to a hero and villain in the second half. Despite the flaws, it makes for a fairly entertaining watch for the youth, and families, who wish to experience something unique on the big screen from the Hindi Film Industry.
