Badla does not just keep you hooked till the end but it destroys your delusion of ‘I’ve predicted the climax’. Outstandingly performed mind-numbing drama that is on a slow burner and in those last couple of minutes, it explodes like a good dream.
Sujoy Ghosh, with his direction, might question the depth of your concentration while watching a film. He has adapted the screenplay to design it into that unsolvable question of logical reasoning. He steers the narration keeping in mind about how after a point of time all will not be about ‘who is the murderer?’. Yes, I know there was no scope of joy in the film, still, I wished the dialogues (Sujoy Ghosh and Raj Vasant) could’ve been edgier with a (little more) pinch of wit.
Amitabh Bachchan looks sharp and edgy and delivers performance on similar lines. Thanks to his otherworldly baritone, you’ll just get lost in what he says rather than what should you see. With his inborn quirks, he manages to pull off this complex role at pretty much ease. It surely will go down as one of his memorable performances.
After movies like Pink, Mulk, Manmarziyaan and now this, Taapsee Pannu is an actress we should seriously talk about. We all know she is a natural but proving it with every film, she has a long way to go in Bollywood. She delivers an easy-to-judge but difficult-to-act performance. Amrita Singh has an important role and she carries out the role of Rani splendidly well. Tony Luke and Manav Kaul are passable as the supporting cast; they fill the required voids.