Vikram Vedha Review

The original Vikram Vedha, in Tamil, was the film on my to-watch list that has forever remained on it. Praised for its well-written plot and its larger-than-life characters, it was reportedly a slick piece of film-making that I never managed to get around to watching. When I was tasked with reviewing the Hindi remake, I almost considered asking for a reassignment - and I am glad I did not.

Written and directed by the husband and wife duo of Pushkar-Gayatri, who also helmed the original movie, the Hindi remake shifts the scene to Uttar Pradesh. Neeraj Pandey, himself no stranger to the thriller genre, joined the duo as a creative producer to ensure that the film remained true to its new setting - but that authenticity is a bit hit-and-miss.

Vikram (Saif Ali Khan) is a police encounter specialist, who is not afraid to push boundaries "for the greater good". A certain level of ruthlessness in the pursuit of justice makes him command both respect and trepidation from his fellow policemen - he believes that him being on the side of justice lets him rest peacefully at night despite having blood on his hands.

Vedha Betaal (Hrithik Roshan) is the exact opposite - a dreaded gangster who is wanted for the murder of more than a dozen people, and a guy who built his reputation by jumping from a building onto a rival with a sword and neatly slicing said rival in two. Vedha is feared by everyone, and fears noone.

Why does the dreaded Vedha, then, walk into the middle of an entire police squad out to get him? The writers, quoting Vedha, would go, "Ek kahani sunaae?"

There are two kinds of people who will go watch Vikram Vedha - people who have seen the original spurred by curiosity regarding how the remake will hold up to the original, and people who are introduced to this contemporary spin on the classic Indian folk tale of Baital Pachisi for the first time. The legend goes thus - King Vikramaditya is tasked with capturing a spirit known as Betal that forces him to listen to a story and answer the riddle at the end. Vikram Vedha brilliantly juxtaposes this parable with the modern era - the king becomes a cop, and the spirit is the gangster he is chasing.

After quite a while, we have a Bollywood film that does not depend upon its starpower, and has stars serving the script instead of the other way round. Despite having a running time of over 150 minutes, Vikram Vedha has your attention till the very end, and hardly ever slumps (and the one time it does is due to a song and dance sequence). It is not a perfect movie by any means - there are some curious decisions that require a healthy suspension of disbelief - but as a whole package it ticks all the right boxes. Carefully constructed visuals of the raw underbelly of its setting in Kanpur and Lucknow, adrenaline fueling action sequences, thumping music and its undeniable commercial appeal make Vikram Vedha a winner in all senses of the word.

Saif Ali Khan, who got praised for his portrayal of a crumbling cop in the Netflix series Sacred Games, gets to play a cop again - but with much more fire in him this time. Khan's Vikram is extremely sure of himself and carries himself with a confidence that borders on arrogance, and is perfectly complemented by Hrithik Roshan's wild, maniacal Vedha. Of the two, Roshan brings a casual, lazy style to his Vedha that makes him stand out.

Radhika Apte has precious little to do as Vikram's wife Priya - but we appreciate that the movie showed Vikram and Priya's marriage as a relationship among equals. The supporting cast puts in good performances, but make no mistake, this one is all about its two stars, and everyone else is just there to make them look good.

Sam C S, who provided the widely appreciated score for the original Tamil film, is back with a roaring track to complement the equally loud spectacle in front of the viewer. Unfortunately, the song "Alcoholia" is the lone low point of an otherwise tightly-paced movie - and is jarring to say the least. This one would probably have been better off without songs - but then again, it is a mainstream entertainer.

I would like to end this review on a disclaimer - this movie, while a fun ride, would probably not be as exciting for people who have seen the original. But if you, like yours truly, are going into this one blind - you are in for a jolly good time.