Bhediya Movie Review: Varun Dhawanstarrer Is High On Comedy And Novelty
If you consider Amar Kaushik's The Street one of the smarter horror comedies to avoid, his latest venture, Vediya, takes things to the next level. From good comedy and innovative concepts to visuals and powerful script, Vediya starring Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon offers a lot of laughs and tears. Also Read: Janhvi Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Shahid Kapoor with Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon at Vediya Performance
The story begins with Bhaskar (Varun Dhawan), a road contractor who wants to build a highway through the dense forest of Zero in Arunachal Pradesh. He is joined by his cousin Janardhan aka JD (Abhishek Banerjee) and northeastern friend Jomin (Palin Kabak). As the trio embark on their mission to enable the tribesmen to give up their land and build roads, they encounter strange occurrences, most notably the bite of Baskar's wolf. It soon took on the appearance and characteristics of the animal and then adopted the folklore of a werewolf called "Bishanu" and the story became more engaging and interesting.
Varun Dhawan is in good shape and at his best. He literally pushed the boundaries, tried a new genre and found it very interesting. His man-to-wolf transformation scenes are both amazing and terrifying, and his ripped muscles and chiseled body send shivers down your spine. He excels in both comedy and serious scenes. Kriti Sanon is decent and gives a good performance but in my opinion her character could have had more depth and place in the story. But regardless of your screen time, enjoy your screen. Abhishek Banerjee is magical and entertaining with his quirky timing and never misses a bus. His Hindi dialect and the way he delivers his lines (well he has the best lines) will blow your mind. Palin Kabak's debut as Varun's friend Jomin from northeast is refreshing and her friendship with Varun and Abhishek is perfect. Deepak Dobriyal is good as a Panda, especially considering how he captures the northeastern accent and his body language.
The first half is run-of-the-mill but aside from the comedy, the second half is action packed. The pace slows down a bit there too, as some cutscenes seem unnecessarily long and drawn out, but then Varun's wolf scenes and Abhishek's comedy keep you hooked most of the time.
Kaushik once again creates an immersive directing experience and brings out the best in his actors. He knows how to mix two genres - horror and comedy - which is a big deal, but he pulls it off. The dialogue is tense, meaningful, but very funny. Neeren Bhatt's story and clever writing is a great build up, a great reveal and an amazingly entertaining climax that leaves you begging for more. Inclusion in movies like Jaani Dushman, Amrish Puri transforms into a deadly monster or Junoon where Rahul Roy transforms into a tiger has brought great fame. There is also Shehnaz Gill's famous dialogue: “Kya karu mein, mor, sir? Want the sense of a Mary Koi shark? Which was greeted with joy and uproarious laughter. There are some terrible lines that I think could have gone, especially the toilet humor and the whole episode.
Jishnu Bhattacharya's cinematography deserves a special mention here as he captured the deep and dense forests of Zero in Arunachal Pradesh. Vedia has a lovely look which perfectly matches the beauty of North East India and its landscape. The episode where Kriti takes Varun deep into the forest to explore its natural beauty is amazing and well shot. The visual effects and special effects are amazing and rival the best in Indian cinema.
What moved me the most was how Vedya conveyed an important message about the conflict between humans and animals without being a preacher. Not only that, there is also a very clever reference and discussion of northeastern people as "Chinese" and "foreigners" which fits the story so perfectly and makes you think. There's a scene where Jomin encourages all Northeasterners to generalize like "Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee ka bacha" because he expects them to know kung fu. He puts a heavy accent when he says, "Just because I don't speak Hindi well, it doesn't make me any less Indian." And even in these seemingly tense scenes, the right amount of humor only lifts spirits.
Sachin-Jhigar's music is decent, but not all songs leave their mark. Jungle Me Kand captivates with its live music, everything else is interesting with its unusual rap. The background music is spot on and makes an impression during the jump scare moments.
Vedia has many impressive elements and deserves to be seen on the big screen for the experience it creates and the messages it conveys. Of course, some great performances and witty dialogues will make for an unforgettable hour.
See
Director: Amar Kaushik
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Abhishek Banerjee, Deepak Dobriyal, Palin Kabak
