Bhediya
Hindi (Theatres)
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Vaun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 2/5
‘Bhediya’, starring Varun Dhawan — the modern face of Bollywood mass entertainers — is a massive letdown. The film falters in its execution of a story that’s not so original. The writing takes a beating in the second half.
The film’s story revolves around Bhaskar, played by Dhawan, who hates dogs and has a rather unpleasant view on mother nature. He works as a contractor and lands a contract of developing roads in the Ziro town of Arunachal Pradesh to push development and put the town on the map.
He is joined by his cousin Janardhan (played by Abhishek Bannerjee). Banerjee, with his comic timing, is undoubtedly the most entertaining part of the film. Upon reaching Ziro, Bhaskar gets bit by a wolf on a full moon night and the next day he turns into our titular character ‘Bhediya’.
Directed by Amar Kaushik, who previously made the entertaining ‘Stree’, ‘Bhediya’ attempts to explore the man vs nature trope. Like ‘Stree’, this film too is a horror comedy. While it is partly entertaining, isn’t gripping thanks to the predictable story and sloppy screenplay.
The film also lacks in the sound design department as the horror elements aren’t impactful. Kriti Sanon’s character as Doctor Anika adds little to the story. Apart a watchable first-half, the film sets out to do too many things in the second half, including a twist in the climax that falls flat.
The visual effects in ‘Bhediya’ are impressive, especially when Bhaskar turns into a werewolf. The comedy works with Banerjee’s dialogue delivery being hilarious.
Varun Dhawan’s previous outing with Maddock, ‘Badlapur’, gave him his career. But here,
despite some flashes of brilliance, he comes across too over the top.
‘Bhediya’ fails to emotionally resonate with the viewers because of poor character development and weak chemistry between the leads. The man vs nature conflict too is resolved in a rather unspectacular fashion.