Hard-hitting film on Dalit rights Cast: John Abraham, Sharvari Wagh, Abhishek Banerjee, Asish Vidyarthi, Rajendra Chawla, Paritosh Sand, T...
Hard-hitting film on Dalit rights
Cast: John Abraham,
Sharvari Wagh, Abhishek Banerjee, Asish Vidyarthi, Rajendra Chawla, Paritosh
Sand, Tamannah Bhatia (special appearance)
Rating: 2.5*
In a major shift from
the films director Nikkhil Advani is usually
known for from the sublime Kal Ho Na Ho and Salaame Ishq, the action-packed Chandni
Chowk to China, Batla House to the intolerable Satyamev Jayate series, heavily
inspired by true events Advani shifts his focus to Dalit rights being trampled upon and
honour killings and gets it right…most of the time. The result is a film high
on action and the relentless determination of a helpless Dalit girl having just
one wish to fulfil… getting a chance to breathe.
John Abraham (Abhimanyu
Kanwar) is a decorated Army man stationed in Jammu and Kashmir on a mission to
extract a dreaded terrorist. However, instead of bringing him in alive Abhimanyu
slits his throat to avenge the death of his beloved wife (Tamannah). A court-martialed Abhimanyu comes to his father-in-law’s (Paritosh) house in a Rajasthan village to
lick his wounds. He gets a job as a boxing coach in the boxing stadium built by
the local Pradhan Jitendra Pratap Singh (Abhishek). He also bumps into Dalit student
Vedaa (Sharvari) who aspires to become a boxer. Even as he starts training her
in secret, Vedaa’s brother is caught with a girl from a higher caste. Though the Pradhan gets the couple married, he gets them murdered in cold blood and starts baying for Vedaa and her sister’s blood.
Abhimanyu takes on
Vedaa’s mission for justice and fights the administration and the cops. Does he
and Vedaa succeed in fighting the system forms the rest of the story.
The film has its heart
in the right place and makes a sincere effort to showcase the exploitation of the
lower caste, especially women. However, the violence gets too much to stomach
after a while with scenes literally turning into a bloodbath. Abhishek Banerjee is deadly and super effective as the cold and
calculating evil Pradhan wearing a mask of goodness. Sharvari shines as the trampled
Dalit girl in the title role and how she rises from the ashes to make an attempt
to carve a place for herself in society. Be it on a terror mission, mourning
his wife’s death, or empathizing and supporting Vedaa John Abraham has just one expression
on his face. Thankfully, what he can’t do with his facial muscles he more than
makes up for it with his action-packed fight sequences which the film is
peppered with.
Item number 'Mummy Ji' a
rehashed version of Pallo latke… filmed on a sizzling Mouni Roy and 'Hooliyaan' are hummable and are the only light moments in this grim, terse, and violent
film.
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