Amitabh Bachchan’s longevity in Bollywood as the lead actor is breathtaking. The veteran thespian, now 76, started his acting career way-way back in 1969 with ‘Saat Hindustani’. Fifty years later, he continues to mesmerize audi­ences with his unmatched screen presence and that familiar deep, resounding voice. Having always ruled the big screen, the mass success of Kaun Banega Crorepati has ensured that there will be no star like him, ever, even on the small screen. And yet his career, in both these formats, is far from over.

 

Anyone who has watched his latest movie, ‘Badla’, would know exactly why. Bachchan fans of late have gotten some amazing psycho­logical thrillers like ‘Wazir’ (2016) and ‘Pink’ (the same year). Badla is better still. This touch over two-hour dare-not-blink movie will hook you in right at the start, then take you down a roller-coaster murder-mys­tery storyline, before landing in a shocking dénouement. It’s as good a suspense movie as you will ever see, anywhere.

 

 Who should watch it?

Let us say if you don’t like a film that makes you think, and constantly rethink, your assumptions, then perhaps skip it. For everyone else, go book a ticket RIGHT NOW.

 

The film starts with the celebrated lawyer Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bach­chan) visiting the house of Naina Shethi (Taapsee Pannu), who has sought his services to get herself absolved of a murder charge. A wife and a mother, and an internation­ally celebrated businesswoman, Shethi has been caught red-hand­ed inside a hotel room with the dead body of her paramour Arjun Joesph (Tony Luke).

 

The doors and windows are locked from the inside; no one else has entered the room; Shethi’s guilt is obvious; it’s an open and shut case. Even with all the evidence stacked against her, Shethi is determined to prove her innocence and the only person capable of getting her out of the mess is Gupta, the veteran lawyer who has never lost a case he has taken up.

 

If you love murder-mystery, there are unlikely to be many better than Badla

 

The whole movie revolves around a three-hour-long lawyer-client con­versation inside Sethi’s apartment. The business tycoon recounts exact­ly what happened inside the hotel room; Gupta goads her to focus on the tiniest of details; and it’s a constant back and forth to estab­lish what happened that chilly winter night.

 

Nearly the entire movie compris­es flashbacks. If you think that is boring, think again. Written and directed by Sujoy Ghosh, you are guaranteed to be at the edge of your seat right through his tight-knit psy­chological thriller.

 

Bachchan pulls off another mas­terly performance as a ruthless interrogator; Pannu is as convinc­ing in her role as a businesswoman who does not easily trust her lawyer and yet who will literally lose every­thing if she loses this case. Amri­ta Singh convinces as a distraught mother whose son has been mur­dered, while Tanveer Ghani pulls off another commendable, if low-key, performance as her husband.

 

The film has no songs to break the tension, nor one extraneous scene. The psychological back and forth between Bachchan, the lawyer, and Pannu, his client, is intense, each constantly trying to outsmart the other, even as they pursue a common goal: her acquittal.

 

Without giving the plot away, the movie has minor flaws and the ending may not satisfy every­one. But if you love murder-mys­tery, there are unlikely to be many better than Badla, not even Hollywood vintage.

 

 

 

Movie: Badla

Genre: Crime/Mystery

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh

Direction: Sujoy Ghosh

Rating: 4.5/5