Vikram Vedha (2022/ Hindi/ Masala entertainer/ Cinema Release)
Writer/ Director – Pushkar Gayathri
Cast – Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte, Satyadeep Mishra, Sharib Hashmi, Rohit Saraf
It’s always a terrific feeling to watch a film with all the ingredients of a masala blockbuster aka adrenaline pumping BGM, claptrap dialogues, full on action and guns blazing.
Though I am not too glad about the remake spree that Bollywood seems to be on but that opinion had been conveniently set aside in the excitement to see two of my favourite actors onscreen. Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali khan can be single handedly my reason for watching a film. Imagine the excitement to see them together.
The film starts on a bombarding note with Saif in total swag.
Love the way Saif wears his characters, confident and totally at ease, whether it is a goofy one like in Go Goa Gone/ Kaala Kaandi or intense ones like Bullet Raja, Bazaar or Laal Kaptaan. As a crime branch cop here, he is totally in his elements. I also admire the way he choses to style his physique. Not in the race for 6 or 8 packs but fit and beefed up. He looks superb.
Our hearts had to wait a while to get to see Hrithik but it was worth the wait. When he enters, it’s worth whistles and claps, with full on swag.
And we realise that the moment he joins the story, it gets exhilarating. His encounters and scenes with Saif and are the highlights of the film. He provides what could be called as the food for soul to the masala genre lovers, the BGM booming and adrenaline pumping scenes.
It was a pleasure to see them clashing, dialogue for dialogue and blow for blow. The narrative style brings brings in an intrigue that grips you till the end. Radhika Apte, Sharib Hashmi, Rohit Saraf and Satyadeep Mishra add good support.
While nothing could ever dampen my love for these two stars whose standing, charm and charisma goes beyond any box office numbers or validation, I feel the film, minus these two brightening star elements did have some aspects that dampened my over all feel for the film.
The screenplay had a lot of scope for improvement.
The backstories, which were very crucial to the main story, surprisingly seemed to pull down the film every time. Vikram’s backstory seemed too hurried and stuffed up. Vedha’s backstories seemed to drag and were too cliche.
The side characters were not able to create much impact. And a special word for Vikram’s team. They seemed so clueless, he might as well have borrowed Singham’s team, at least they would have brought in some humour element.
The dialects were not too precise but was thankful that they didn’t go all over the place like in some other films by even renowned film makers from the south.
The over all length could have been shortened and that might have helped the pace too.
Having been blown away by Pushkar Gayatri’s Suzhal Vortex, I had higher expectations from the duo, to be honest. But that’s just my perspective.
Having said that, no denying the fact that the film was totally paisa vasool. Saif and Hrithik, along with the invigorating moments, intrigue, action and dialogues make it worth your while.
Score 2.5 on 5 for the film (an additional .5 for Hrithik and Saif)