Badlapur is filmmaker Sriram Raghavan's best film till date, says Aniruddha Guha in his Dedh Minute Review.
Badlapur is about an Average Joe, Raghu (Varun Dhawan), who goes after the two men who killed his wife and child. Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vinay Pathak play the two killers, and Raghu gets his revenge over a long 15-year period.
Badlapur is an extremely special film. Raghavan is in complete control of the material here, and makes sure every aspect – script, production design, sound design and acting – comes together nicely.
In his trademark style, he hat-tips classic Hindi films and novels. A little Sholay tribute is just brilliant.
The editing is exceptional. There is absolutely no excess in Badlapur. No dialogue or thought overstays its welcome, and the sparseness is what makes the film so compelling.
Raghavan uses humour as his most powerful weapon in a dark film, lightening the mood just enough to startle you with something sinister the next moment.
How good is Varun Dhawan! Which other young actor can play the role of a 40-year-old man and pull it off so convincingly. The actor, with this one role, goes to the top of the heap of upcoming stars in the industry.
Nawazuddin is brilliant as always, and just when you think you've seen the actor's best, he gets even better.
The entire cast, comprising of Vinay Pathak, Divya Dutta, Yami Gautam, Huma Qureshi, Pratima Kazmi, does splendidly, and Kumud Mishra and Radhika Apte deserve special mention.
Badlapur explores the concept of good versus evil in a unique way, and subverts the staple hero-villain template to an extent where the lines begin to blur. By the end you aren’t quite sure who your sympathy lies with, and that is what makes it such a cracking film.
Badlapur left me breathless at various places, and is the film to beat in 2015.