Bachchan is commanding as always but Pannu earns neither sympathy nor surprise, whereas Amrita Singh achieves both in her decisive role. If revenge is a dish best served cold, this one isn’t icy enough.

Bachchan and Pannu are in fine form. Beyond them no other actor is of any major consequence save Amrita Singh who effortlessly steals everybody’s thunder and turns out to be Badla’s big takeaway. Here’s hoping to see her more often on screen.

Badla has hugely familiar leads, and the casting of at least one of them allows Ghosh to deliver a weak and unconvincing coup de grace. Taapsee Pannu is unable to summon up the blank canvas onto which all manner of possibilities can be projected, while Amitabh Bachchan hops on the gravitas train for the nth time. The gender swap allows for a meaty role for Amrita Singh, who deftly plays a key character, and her presence, along with that of Tony Luke, work strongly in the movie’s favour and helps it along its pretzel-shaped journey.