‘Vedaa’ (2024) Movie Review - John Abraham and Sharvari Fight Against the Caste System

If nothing else, Nikhil Advani at least displays his skills as a builder of solemn mood. His Vedaa is packed with bloodthirsty, corrupt supporters of the caste system, and whenever you see them, you feel a bit uncomfortable. Suyog Pratap Singh (Kshitij Chauhan), however, looks scarier than all the other criminals. His physical appearance and mannerisms are similar to those of young unemployed goons who often appear in viral clips or on the news. Among all the bad guys on the screen, it's Suyog who makes you believe that, after exiting the movie theater, you might come across someone like him on the streets. He and his gang, which also has a man for video recording, are chilling. You feel uneasy when they discover a couple making out during the Holi. They belong to different castes. The boy (Anurag Thakur) is a Dalit. He is Vedaa's (Sharvari) brother, and Vedaa is someone who has faith in legal justice. But the person who controls the law in her village is a man named Jitendar Pratap Singh (Abhishek Banerjee). He is a bad guy. The media and the police officers bend their heads in front of him. Vedaa's faith in the justice system in this setting can only be seen as futile. There is a scene early in the film where a disappointed Vedaa looks down and shakes her head after seeing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. She might as well be thinking, "Nothing has changed since the independence for people like her - the Dalits." Vedaa can't even use the cooler to fill her water bottle. She takes the help of an upper-caste girl and thanks her so enthusiastically that it feels as if the girl has given her a new life. In another scene, Vedaa notices her sandals inside a locked room and shrugs casually. Such small moments effectively indicate how Vedaa has accepted certain things about her daily life. Any other person would have asked a staff member to open the lock to retrieve their sandal. Vedaa, though, knows that her request will be dismissed.

The first half of Vedaa is almost stunning. "Almost" because of the background music that creates a wall between us and the screen. When former Major Abhimanyu Kanwar (John Abraham) puts bandages on Vedaa's wounds outside the boxing room, couldn't the film have spared us from listening to a sentimental tune? If only Advani had trusted his actors' capabilities. "Almost" because of the action scenes that carry little to no emotional charge and are made to look stylish. Abhimanyu locks Suyog inside a room and beats his men ferociously. He takes this violent step to punish them (they had assaulted Vedaa on their way to college). But the scene doesn't release the steam. You don't experience a sense of catharsis. When the goons are punched and kicked, you don't scream, "Yes, get these twits!" That's mainly because the whole sequence is converted into an exercise in style. You recall John Wick 4 when the camera observes the action from above. Female dancers are used as a deadly tool, which only leads you to whisper, "Cool." Even the post-interval action scenes suffer from the same issue. The slow-motion shots, the drone shots, and the timing of Abhimanyu's jump from an ambulance to a car to a bike are too choreographed and neat. The fights lack an undercurrent of rage, which is why they merely look like well-executed set pieces. The action scenes should have been something along the lines of those punches the titular character gives to Suyog at a mine - it comes with an adrenaline rush as well as a sense of release. Even Vedaa's physical assault by Suyog appears shocking. The sudden cut to the wide shot registers like a punch to the gut. Everybody in the theater became quiet.

Abraham's character is thin. He is your typical man of a few words whose soul is scarred by a tragedy. The actor, though, plays this brooding character so convincingly that you think he doesn't need more layers or backstory. He is good, just as he is. Abraham, with his solid muscles, looks impressive and intimidating. I initially wondered why Advani didn't cast another chunk of meat as the villain. Banerjee, however, dispelled my feelings with his performance. What he lacks in brawn, he makes up for with his brain, which helps him maintain a deception of politeness. He also delivers a Dickens quote. You sense an amusing tension between him and his family members when Suyog and Ashish Vidyarthi's character interrupt him during crucial moments. Vedaa, though, doesn't develop or do anything significant with this friction. The movie, ultimately, belongs to Sharvari, and rightly so. She finally gets to show her talent in something that's decent till the interval. Vedaa, unfortunately, starts derailing post-interval, and it eventually collapses.

The second half is one long chase sequence as Vedaa and Abhimanyu run from Jitendar and his men. The caste issue becomes an excuse for mounting slick action scenes that merely showcase Abraham executing attractive moves like elegantly reloading his gun. Vedaa starts focussing more on blood and bullets, leading to a disconnect between the story and the audience. Hence, our eyes become busy catching logic and loopholes. We ask questions like, "How did Abhimanyu and Vedaa escape from that search at a temple?" Abraham has a distinct look, and Sharvari appears the same even after the haircut. Perhaps the bad guys are really very, very incompetent? Why else would everybody, except for Jitendar, fail to recognize Abhimanyu through a video in the first half? This incompetence still feels like a stupid excuse - it's plot convenience. What's more, how did Jitendar know that Abhimanyu and Vedaa are heading towards the court?

There is only one word to describe those final court sequences: Awful. Writer Aseem Arora says, "Justice should be served by the judges." Vedaa is determined to put her problems before the law, which seems appropriate in today's mob justice climate. But then, all the criminals are dispatched through violence inside the court. Does Arora believe in the legal system, or does he support it alongside aggressive retribution? Should a Dalit kill his/her oppressors before going to the court because they would hinder the judicial process? I don't think we should spend too much time analyzing the climax of Vedaa, and you should definitely head towards the exit as soon as Vedaa, the character, begins her speech in front of the terrified judges. The filmmakers are more interested in blood and gore than starting a real conversation. The first half, in hindsight, comes across as deception. It leads us to expect a sensible film, but that promise is broken in the second half. The characters talk about chakravuyh, and you feel the urge to tell the filmmakers that there is nothing labyrinth-like in their production. The caste system is complex. The movie, though, uses it as a springboard for polished action sequences. Thus, all the mythological talk sounds pompous. Vedaa is based on a true story. The filmmakers shouldn't have brought it to the realm of fiction.

Final Score- [5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times