Badla

At the end Sujoy Ghosh captures two vital faces staring out of a window. They remind us of how important characterisation is to a tightly-wound plot, and how easily a suspense drama can come undone in the wrong hands. Not this one.

Badla offers a clever recipe for revenge. Definitely worth a try.

With its fine detailing and superlative performances, Sujoy Ghosh's cleverly-crafted Badla makes you realize that sometimes you can't see what's right in front of you.

While the climax doesn't knock you off your feet, you will still enjoy the blow-by-blow account of how things escalated to a murder and a cover-up. In my eyes, that's a good enough reason to watch a suspense thriller.

The only missing piece is the local detailing that Ghosh masterfully embellishes his films with (Kahaani and Kahaani 2), the result perhaps of adapting a successful international story. Dialogues in this film are critical given that it is the conversations between the defendant and the defender on which the film rests and Ghosh's and Vasant do well on that front. Editing by Monisha Baldwana plays a key role in ensuring that the film is shorn of all narrative flab. Overall, Badla, is a watchable revenge story worthy of its name.

BADLA is a smart and impressive suspense drama with the shocking climax and riveting performances being its USP. At the box office, its prospects might be limited to multiplex audience.

Sujoy Ghosh is back with a revenge drama. Badla, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu and Amrita Singh, will keep you on the edge of your seat all through the film

And just like the Spanish version, Ghosh and writer Raj Vasant don't dilute the Bollywood version with song-and-dance and skip the INTERVAL altogether. At 125 minutes, 'Badla' is a thrilling watch. But, Ghosh can't take any credit for it.

As an attorney in this film says, "It's all in the details—they can make or break a piece of evidence." And it is this acute attention to the various singularities presented in this film that makes it worth sitting through.

Master of mysteries, Alfred Hitchcock once said, 'Revenge is sweet, not fattening.' At two hours running time, Badla keeps the deed both short and sweet.

For a director whose breakthrough film centered on a woman out for revenge under the ruse of impending motherhood, Badla remains forcibly consistent to this oeuvre of maternal rage. Only, it focuses on the other side of the kahaani, which is why you can see the strings and the puppeteers running the show. Making something – or someone, in this case – look better than it is maybe an art, but it is clearly a dying one.

All in all, the film is well adapted, but does feel like the plot is too convoluted, and it goes on and on, even though it lasts only for two hours.