'Vedaa' Movie Review: John Abraham was disastrous, Sharvari & Abhishek Banerjee steal the show

Language: Hindi

Director: Nikkhil Advani

Cast: John Abraham, Sharvari and Abhishek Banerjee

Vedaa, when violence takes over social issues, all you see is a mess. Inspired by a real event, the idea of Nikkhil Advani’s film is brilliant. Somewhere I feel that it could have been executed well. No doubt, Vedaa was engaging and no doubt we needed somebody to talk loud and clear and make us aware about Dalit rights and their fight for equality. But all the social messages got overshadowed by the action scenes.

Nikkhil Advani ’s film has done a decent job in bringing out the struggles of the Dalit community. Cinema being the most popular medium to bring about awareness among the masses, Vedaa could have been more impactful. John Abraham’s performance was obviously predictable, flexing his muscles and doing action moves is what he is always been doing, absolutely making no effort to upskill himself in the craft.

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It is time for John to reinvent himself. We have many promising actors around who are grounded and know their craft well and most importantly they are open to suggestions. Remember this is the exact question one of the journalists asked you at a press conference as to why you are not trying out any other genre other than violence and you called him an ‘idiot’ and that ‘journalism is dead’. Think twice before you make such statements.  Film journalism or journalists are not dead, it is actors like you who doesn’t know his craft are dead and finished. Work on your craft and less on building your body and learn to accept criticism in a positive way. When you think you are above everybody else that is the time when the downfall starts.

Leaving John Abraham aside, the star performers of Vedaa were by Sharvari and Abhishek Banerjee. The first half of the film was intense and we thought that the movie is going to show something more in the second half, but all the good intensions were overshadowed by excessive violence. Based on true events, Vedaa tried to depict the atrocities in the cow-belt area of Rajasthan where inter-caste marriage is considered to be a crime. But this social issue got diluted by the faulty execution of the film. The powerplay, the caste system and the lawless village atmosphere which plagues our society could have been depicted in a better way.

Sharvari Wagh is the young actress to look out for. She has literally killed it with her brilliant performances. Sharvari’s heartfelt portrayal of _Vedaa_ , the gutsy young Dalit woman in a small town in Rajasthan and her life is heart wrenching and all she desires is that Dalits should have the right to breathe freely. And why not? Doesn’t the Indian Constitution made by our forefathers say the same, this young girl questions.

The flaw with Vedaa was that in showing excessive violence, the Dalit right issue was lost completely. Sharvari perfectly performs the role of Dalit girl showing how helpless she is, yet she wants to break free. The performance by Abhishek Banerjee is brilliant, he plays the role of a villain you can’t stop hating. But with the flaws, at least Nikkhil Advani made an effort to talk about Dalit rights which most filmmakers don’t like to touch upon.

Again I must say_, Vedaa_ is not just a typical action drama. Admitting that the story line is flawed, but you cannot deny that it is intense and immensely engaging. The movie will truly make you question from the bottom of your heart how independent are we? I draw the curtain of conclusion by saying again that it is flawed, but a brave film on Dalit rights.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

WATCH the trailer of Vedaa here: