John Abraham in a still from ‘Veda’
If one were to take a census of popular Hindi cinema, Dalits and their problems would be in the minority. So, it is heartening to see an action entertainer weaved in caste atrocities done in the name of divine justice in the hinterlands. It was wonderful to find a photo of BR Ambedkar inside the house, which was installed everywhere but useful like a mirror.
Vedaa Bairwa (Sharvari), a Dalit law student, wants to punch above her social weight by joining her college’s boxing club. However, the so-called custodians of the social order find themselves fit only to mop the floor for aspirants who belong to the upper rungs of the caste hierarchy. She finds support from Abhimanyu, an ex-Army officer nursing a personal tragedy, who has returned to her husband’s village and is coaching boxing at the local college.
Set in a patriarchal hotbed where politicians try to sound progressive as long as the caste order is not disturbed around them, the duo find themselves in the crosshairs of the head of the caste panchayat, Jitendra Pratap Singh (Abhishek Banerjee). Father of a girl, Jitendra sounds politically correct but he belongs to a generation in between. His father (Ashish Vidyarthi in a kill-type of turn) swear by atavistic tradition and his brother is a lumpen goon out to do the ruling. In short, a Munna from Mirzapur lost in Barmer. When Vedaa’s brother is found in a relationship with an upper-caste girl, Jitendra loses his fuse, and all hell breaks loose.
Once a romance magician, director Nikkhil Advani has painted a heartless world with care. A sullen hero riding an animal in a brooding atmosphere creates a moving picture. The pugnacious protagonist who talks about constitutional rights and packs a mean punch proves to be a doughty friend in this unequal battle for basic human dignity. Vedaa wanted to knock on the door of the local court, but the military court officer felt otherwise. The narration is expected to reveal the incident.
Vedaa (Hindi)
director: Nikhil Advani
Cast: John Abraham, Sharvari, Abhishek Banerjee, Ashish Vidyarthi
Run-time: 150 minutes
Story line: When a Dalit girl is being chased by an entitled man, an ex-army officer comes in her way
Nikkhil, however, seems not sure how wide a slice of social reality will fit in actioner John Abraham. Is it too cerebral and doesn’t reach the intended audience The Carrier every time John hits the accelerator or opens the gun? So, Nikkhil fed the script with a regular high protein diet and only changed the quality of fiber intake. It means a long, sometimes meandering action sequence placed with equality speech. There are parts that have no intrinsic logic, giving the impression that the creators wanted Vedaa to be trapped, chased, and saved like a video game algorithm.
The disclaimer states that the film is based on a true story. Indeed, but writer Aseem Arora has cooked the narrative in the furnace of Bollywood. The performance, though, is clear. John has mastered the art of staring. In fact, there is someone in the film about Abhimanyu, ‘ghoorta bahut hai’ (impress a lot). When Vikram called him a true atheist who kept quiet, he matched John. Sharvari is improving with every outing but a smaller physical transformation will help. The action choreography is also impressive, but we’re left looking for a bigger conflict to deal with. We kept waiting for John to move from the driver’s seat to the pillion but it was still too late. In the end, the dumb atheist started quoting from the Mahabharat.
When the mixture is not smooth, it feels like a serious problem is used only to treat the ordinary issue fare. The workers seem to realize that Abhimanyu should not be the savior of Dalit girls. However, this calculation is about how much ground to give to the protagonist after naming the movie after the show and blocking the flow of the movie. Maybe this movie lost some of its bite during the period it spent in the vaults of the Censor Board but Nikkhil and John are also among the generations. He can’t give up the item number hook but he also doesn’t want to sound politically incorrect.
Vedaa is currently running in theaters
