Did Naina Sethi (Tapsee Pannu) kill her lover?
If she did not who was the killer? How and when did the murderer enter and exit a room closed on the inside? Since a person can’t vanish into thin air, what did really happen?
Ace lawyer Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan) wants the truth from Naina, so that he convincingly defend Naina in the courtroom, three hours later.
What follows is a mind wrestling conversation, with Naina telling her version of events and Gupta countering with his arguments.
Sujay “Kahaani” Ghosh’s Badla, an official remake of the Oriol Paulo-directed Spanish crime thriller The Invisible Guest, aptly has the alluring grey-skied, ominous atmosphere of the original.
Agatha Christie and other inspirations: It is always difficult to pull off a murder mystery on the screen. The audio-visual medium is so revealing. What seems wonderful on paper can seem ovedone in a movie. Take for example Agatha Christie’s first masterpiece The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926). On paper, it is not even one of the most eventful and lively Christie novels ever. It is the big reveal at the end that is shocking and legitimate. But to pull off the same shock on a movie screen is a steep screenplay mountain to climb.
My favourite movies of murder and suspense are of Alfred Hitchcock. The ace director had so much to offer in terms of intrigue, part from the big reveal, that every scene was a cinematic moment. In Rear Window (1954), we more or less know who the murderer is. The beauty is in the setup, the gentle voyeurism, the many apartment windows – Each revealing a story. In Rope (1948), the first shocker scene is of a murder, and the rest of the act is just two murderers trying to cover up their crime. In this hide-and-seek, Hitchcock keeps us tense.
My absolute favourite Hitchcock, and of course of many cinephiles is the daringly black and white Psycho (1960). The first hour especially is such an engaging, arresting cinematic experience, that the movie is rewatchable even after the big reveal in the end.
My point – Badla works because of the layers apart from ‘who is the murderer’ reveal that keep the audience hooked till the end. There is a little thing at the start, that I really liked – How Naina puts on her coat when she sees that the lawyer is an old man. It tells us, without dialogues, that Naina has not met the lawyer before, doesn’t know his age or his face, or any other details, apart from his name. A great example of how ‘less is more’ can be executed in a movie scene.
Two tight, fortress performancesÂ
Convincing turns by Amitabh Bachchan and Tapsee is the key to bind us to Badla, the duo share maximum screen time together. Lesser performances could have made it repetitive and boring.
Bachchan’s stylized ‘hero mode’ baritone, lately getting through each character he plays, sits perfectly here, that the nuances are in dialogue than in expression, also fits snugly into the story curve.
Tapsee is gusty and equally competent as the sharp entrepreneur Naina.
Barring his off-character Malayalam accent, Tony Luke is decent as Naina’s lover Arjun. The talented Manav Kaul shines in a small cameo.
Amrita Singh is terrific as the vengeful Rani.
Pace, valid twists hold interest
I guessed the culprit right midway, but Ghosh’s adapted screenplay has enough engaging diversions, U-turns, speed and thrills that made me doubt my suspicions.
The special effects team who worked on a final revealing climatic scene deserve applause for making it look damn convincing.
Doing little things right adds to the film’s impact. As Bachchan’s character says, “Pay attention to the details.”
Badla is a superb remake, a deftly knit crime thriller that wisely retains most elements of the tantalizing original. Go catch it on the big screen.
