Vadh is a story of an elderly couple from Gwalior who spends every penny of their earnings to give a better future to their one and only son. But when even that is not enough, helpless father takes an unfeasible loan from a loan shark so that he can fulfill his son’s wish to move to US for making his future. Rest of the film is centered around couple’s struggle in dealing with the despicable loan shark and later the police.
Vadh Movie Review By Panchayiti
Casting
Directed by – Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Rajeev Barnwal
Written by – Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Rajeev Barnwal
Starring – Sanjay Mishra, Neena Gupta, Manav Vij, Saurabh Sachdeva
Available on – Netflix
Narrative
Movie ‘Vadh’ is about a Gwalior based couple – retired teacher Shambhunath Mishra and housewife Manju – that took a huge debt for funding their son’s move to US. Now it has been six years since their son has been in US, but never really looked back to check his parents conditions. Now they are struggling to make the ends meet because bank’s interest left nothing and loan shark chasing them every day. Things got out of hand one night when Shambhunath murders the money collector goon out of anger. Shambhunath goes to great length to cover his crime and stay one step ahead of police investigation.
What’s Good
• Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta give a strong performance as an old couple. Realistic locations adds a flavor for viewers to actually experience the life of old couple.
• Shambhunath (played by Sanjay Mishra) who is a retired teacher is really broken emotionally due to financial conditions and emotionally detached son, but tries to hide it behind exterior toughness.
• Manju (played by Neena Gupta) convincingly plays the role of god fearing housewife. You will be able to feel that this woman is in a lot of pain because of her knees and is helplessly in love with her son. Also, Neena Gupta beautifully embodies the housewife character as seen in other shows like Panchayat.
• Prajapati Pandey (played by Gaurav Sachdeva) gives the feel of a drunk despicable goon who harasses the old couple in all possible ways.
• Plot of movie is actually gripping in the start because it is basically a weak elderly couple against the strong loan shark’s goon who has close relationships with local cops and system.
• Shambhunath killing Prajapati Pandey seems to be a convincing move as he was already frustrated from the prolonged harassment and when Pandey told Shambhunath that he will give ease off the debt amount if Shambhunath brings the 12 years old daughter of neighbor to him. This was final nail in coffin for Shambhunath.
What’s Bad
• Clichéd plots that you must have seen numerous times are overused in this movie.
o Son Diwakar is shown as real villain as he never looks back to check if his parents are fine or not. He doesn’t even speaks properly to his parents and never sends any financial help.
o Corrupt cop who has made bribery from goons as the secondary source of income. To make things worse, movie showcases that cops are not just corrupt but stupid as well because when Shambhunath goes to police station for surrendering himself, the assistant police officer makes fun of it and orders him to leave.
• Climax of movie is actually bad. Shambhunath found that Prajapati Pandey is blackmailing Inspector Singh with a video of Singh with MLA’s wife. So Shambhnath killing Pandey becomes like a blessing in disguise for Inspector Singh. When Shambhunath actually confesses everything to Inspector Singh, he decides to return the favour by framing Pandey’s boss ‘Dada’ as the murderer. The ending scene where Shambhunath and Inspector Singh exchange the triumphant look is so jarring that you will shockingly feel like ‘what’s happening here’.
Conclusion
Vadh can be a ‘could watch’ movie for you. Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta have given one of their best performances in ‘Vadh’ and there is a lot of buzz around it as well. But the direction and writing of the movie is weak. The witless display of frictional parent-child relationship may break your connection with movie. And yes, it is true that such relationships exist in our society but it has already been shown in many movies in past.
If you have seen the movie, do share your reviews in the comment section.
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