Vedaa movie review: The subject of the caste system is no small feat to tackle in India, and full points to the makers for attempting it. However, the slow pace and stretched screenplay test your patience.
Table of Contents
Plot and Themes
Nikil Advani’s Vedaa is a powerful and hard-hitting film that undertakes the issue of caste discrimination with gritty determination. The story revolves around Vedaa, played by Sharvari Wagh, who is supposed to be an epitome of strength and fortitude. She is ably trained by Abhimanyu, an officer from the Gorkha regiment who has been court-martialed. The film promised to unravel the gritty truths of caste-based oppression, but falters in treatment. The film is quite sincere, but burdened by a snail-slow pace and often patience-testing screenplay—to the juncture of getting good into the narration, then again it dips into stuff that makes it hard to stay invested.
Performance and Characterization
Known for his action roles, John Abraham doesn’t go wrong in Vedaa. He plays Abhimanyu, a man of few words and many punches. He is the hero who goes about saving the country from terrorism, local goons, and rowdy elements. While his physical presence and action sequences have gone to the next level, the emotional graph of the character isn’t quite explored. Unfortunately, Sharvari Wagh does absolutely nothing for the role of Vedaa, the film’s protagonist.
While it is true that the character is supposed to be a fighter, she is very rarely actually one. Most of the time, Vedaa appeared on the screen as the typical, distress-afflicted damsel, dependent on Abhimanyu for most outings in life more than the average damsel in the Blakean run of the mill. This certainly starts to be a will deficit—not even for agency—when it comes from the lead of a setup that promises a great whodunit. Through this shallow heroism, Vedaa as a character does not present herself strongly to the audience for them to connect with or be able to root for her in this movie.
Social Commentary and Screenplay Flaws
Vedaa tries to capture the brutal realities of caste discrimination in India, detailing everyday dehumanization faced by the Dalits, who are forced to drink from different vessels, beaten for marrying outside one’s caste into higher castes, and at the mercy of de-facto village leaders. These are themes that are extremely relevant and timely, but the impact with which the film delivers them is lacking.
The screenplay is indulgent with verbose sequences that bring nothing to the emotional or thematic resonance of the narrative. Sharvari’s character does get monologues trying to speak of these social issues, but they arrive too late in the film, by which time the audience’s emotional investment in the film has started waning. Therefore, these key moments also lose their chance of being thought-provoking or provoking resentment.
Music and other Departments
The BGM of Vedaa does a decent job of establishing the emotional frame of the movie, while the songs are mostly ineffective. Out of the majority of songs, the majority just makes the film less appealing to the audiences, except for the song “Zaroorat Se Zyada”. The best example is a Holi song sequence that immediately follows a scene focused on highlighting caste discrimination, quite jarringly incoherent with the latter.
In the supporting cast, Rajendra Chawla and Tamannah Bhatia standout even though the latter is sadly underused. Abhishek Banerjee as the menacing pradhan delivers an average performance at best and is far from the intensity he has done in past performances. But Kshitij Chauhan pulls on his skills to portray a villain with an innocent face, thus adding a little tension on the otherwise predictable plot.
Final Verdict
And the bottom line of Vedaa is that it has great intentions but weak execution. The slow pace, the unexplored characters, and missed opportunities at depths of emotions and social observations make the watch tedious. It may draw viewers in for an action film, but it’s not going to make any significant impact at the box office when powerful other releases are dominating the space.
