Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The Mishras are parents to an ungrateful son who forces them to take a ridiculous loan to fund his American dream. As the parents struggle to pay off loan-sharks, their son who hasn’t been to India in six years sends them a pitiful Rs 5000 while he has enough to buy himself a flat in the U.S. The couple’s life is further complicated when a goon starts to harass them, and the cops would rather read the latest edition of ‘Manohar Kahaniya’ (a very popular Hindi crime fiction magazine) than deal with an old couple’s problems.
Written and directed by duo Jaspal Sandhu, Rajeev Barnwal, the 2022 movie ‘Vadh’ is a character driven crime-drama, relying on the cast’s performances to carry the story forward. Sanjay Mishra does the heavy lifting as protagonist Shambhunath Mishra, a humble teacher who is hesitant to ask him son for help. Neena Gupta plays his simple religious wife Manju Mishra who dotes on her son, despite his assholery. Saurabh Sachdeva doesn’t get to be a swaggering villain but delivers a fantastic performance that makes him immediately repugnant as Prajapati Pandey, a scummy goon who bullies the hapless Mishras.
Vadh’s first half is slow, with lingering shots that could’ve been speedier. The proceedings were like a throwback to ‘Baghban’, which was also about a couple married for 40 years who find themselves almost penniless while retiring and are treated terribly by their adult kids who they doted upon. The Mishras however are far less privileged, with a rundown home that does look like it belongs to a middle-class couple. In a land where goons and cops collude to keep the oppressed in the pits, it’s hard for the simple man to lead a life without fatal falls. What starts off as a family drama about a neglected aging couple trying to make ends meet, soon becomes a moral tale of crime and punishment. But Mr Mishra has something to say about guilt that is quite unlike what Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov experienced in Dostoevsky’s famed classic.
Set in Gwalior, the cinematography is minimalist, there are plenty low-lit shots and warmer tones through the runtime. ‘Vadh’ is a dramatic, gritty, straightforward crime drama and isn’t a ‘whodunnit’ thriller, so there’s only slight mystery in the movie. However, in an interesting high point, this film has a stronger second-half, with the Mishras teaming up to be stronger in face of adversity. Sanjay Mishra’s Shambhunath emerges an unlikely middle-class aged hero, who may cower against the powerful, but is fearless when necessary.
It’s a 7/10 from me. Stream it on Netflix.
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