BADLAPUR: Reviews & BO Updates - Page 17

The Pinkvilla Review: 'Badlapur'
February 19, 2015 Archita Kashyap
3528 reads 19 comments

Starring: Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Yami Gautam, Vinay Pathak, Radhika Apte, Divya Dutta & Huma Qureshi
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Dinesh Vijan & Sunil Lulla
Cinematography: Anil Mehta
How far would you go to seek revenge for an unpardonable act? Badlapur' answers this in an entertaining & troubling manner. All this while, keeping you engaged as you wonder if you can ever judge good and bad in a linear way.
The film is a tale of Raghu's revenge, whose beautiful life, with a pretty, loving wife & young son is torn apart by an act of mindless, spur of the moment violence (Varun Dhawan as Raghu & Yami Gautam as his wife). A team of two commits these crimes but one masterminds it on the spot- Layak. (Nawazuddin Sidiqqui). He is nabbed by the police even as his partner escapes and is never arrested (Vinay Pathak). Even as 15 years pass by, Raghu is unable to forgive. He goes through the motions of existence. He is jolted out of his despair driven stupor when a rather stylish NGO worker (Divya Dutta) enters his life, convincing him to help release Layak. Layak, broken & battered from many failed attempts at escaping jail, is now ill. Neither does he ever admit to committing the crimes nor does he spill the name of his partner. Raghu finds a window of opportunity to finally find his revenge. Here begins a slow, elaborate, visually shocking yet fascinating process of seeking revenge. The film ends with a surprising twist when lines of justification blur even as the seeker might yet turn prey.
Rarely do I write such a long summary for a film. This time it is warranted, as the plot is engagingly complex & packed with turns and twists. Far from being a visually stylized film, Badlapur' uses rare technique of real sound and natural raw visual bumps to shcok & awe the audience. Raghavan's narrative is peppered with noir making you laugh at the black humour underwritten in everyday incidents. A few scenes, especially one with the prostitute and Raghu, both shock you & make you admire the filmmaker's guts. Each character in the film, including the prostitute (played by Huma Querishi), the policeman & the crook's wife (Radhika Apte) add to its drama. The second half is somewhat haphazard, but in this roller coaster ride of a script, you don't get bored. And the end makes you think, a task that is rare at multiple levels in all things Bollywood!
Having said that, this is not a typical entertainer at all. It's for those who have an appetite for non-glossy, hard hitting & raw cinema.
The film's performances bring alive the script's complexities. Varun Dhawan has achieved physical transformation ably, and for a young actor, has done an efficient job. Amongst the four actresses, Yami Gautam has little to do but looks luminous. Radhika Apte delivers a stellar performance. But the best of the lot is Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Layak. He captures the sheer monotony of a jailbird, and the irony of staying locked up out of a strange sense of loyalty, masterfully. It's almost as if he was born as this character- that's the level of conviction by this actor. Matching his range onscreen does prove uphill for the young Dhawan; but that's not to take away from his commendable effort. That he picked this role, in itself, is worth lauding.
But the last word must be saved for Sriram Raghavan who combines quirk with realism effortlessly. In writing Badlapur', he has tried out an impulsive story telling style and brought out the best from his cast.

The Final Verdict
BADLAPUR is worth 80 percent of your ticket value- if you are the kind who enjoys watching twisted, psychologically testing entertainment. I would advise definitely give it a chance.

Badlapur First Day Collection Early Trends

0Posted by ankur baruah You May Also Like News on: Yami Gautam at Friday, February 20, 2015

Badlapur is heading for a good first day (Friday) at box office as film is doing well currently. Film started the day with an opening of 25% which is pretty decent considering film is released in very good no. of screens all across India. After that film hold well in Noon and Afternoon shows with occupancy reported around 25-30%. As from latest report film has picked up well from Evening onward and currently reporting good occupancy in the region of 40%. Multiplexes is doing pretty ok, whereas single screens are on lower side.


Looking at film face value and budget, Badlapur has taken a positive start at box office. Film may further see growth on Saturday (2nd day) and Sunday (3rd day) if audiences report are good. Varun Dhawan is the brightest new age star of Bollywood with back to back successful films in 'Student of The Year', 'Main Tera Hero' and 'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania'. Badlapur might be his 4th success in a row.

As for first day collection early trends of Badlapur. Film should collect in around 7+ crore nett for the day which is a good start. There are chances that final number may be even little higher depending on how rest of Night shows perform for the film. Overall Badlapur has taken a good start at box office.

http://www.addatoday.com/2015/02/badlapur-first-day-collection-early.html

There were plenty of factors riding against Badlapur. Director Sriram Raghavan was coming from the failure of Agent Vinod. Varun Dhawan, the star of over-the-top romantic comedies, was headlining a dark thriller. Ek Villain, another film with a similar premise of vengeance, had been released last year, made money and gone. That budget was super tight and in Bollywood, only movies that cost a lot of money make a lot of money.

Much like the protagonist of this film, Badlapur renders a brutal wallop to everything going against it, and emerges as the first truly great movie of the year.

Dhawan stars as Raghu, a successful ad agency professional in Pune whose life descends into the pits when his wife (Yami Gautam) and child are killed during a car hijack. One of the culprits, Liak (Nawaz) is caught and put behind bars, but he refuses to divulge the identity of the other guy. Raghu cannot accept this - his mind fractures, and what follows is a crazy revenge trip that is set, aptly, in the town of Badlapur.

Fortunately, we don't get a rehash of Ek Villain. What we do get is Raghavan's version of Ek Hasina Thi. It is surprising that unlike what the trailers suggested, Badlapur isn't a bloody, vengeful journey. It's a black comedy and character drama with a small dose of violence. The film zips by from one plot point to another, as we follow Raghu's weird path of salvation.

Raghavan extracts humour from apathy, like from Koko (Radhika Apte), a hapless wife willing to offer sex to a murderer without a moment's consideration. He also extracts humour from desperation, like Liak's bungled attempts at escape from prison. There's also a lovely dynamic between Liak and his mother (Pratima Kazmi) that ends in a subtly heartbreaking way. To have such a nuanced and offbeat film as a mainstream release is a nice change.

At most times, Badlapur feels like Raghavan set out to take badla and mess with the clichs of the formula and genre. Meandering romantic sub plots? To hell with that - Raghu just uses and throws. A thirst for revenge? Too easy, let's make the hero and the villain wait for 15 goddamn years until they actually do anything. No one even smokes in the film, yet there are persuasive mentions of ganja. The familiar element of a suitcase full of cash is present, and the plotline is quietly subverted by the end. What's more, there's shades of James Hadley Chase and Vijay Anand in the mix as well, complete with sex-based shock value.

What works best is that Badlapur is stripped down, crystalline filmmaking. Minus the unnecessary song with the end credits, there aren't any frills that pander to commercialization. While Johnny Gaddar had a dash of pulp in every frame, the shots here are simple and beautiful. Raghavan composes his scenes at the most basic level and lets the terrific acting and narrative do the heavy lifting.

Badlapur's visual resplendence is seen right from the opening scene: a long and meticulously composed, Haneke-style take where a woman simply crosses the road, while two shady folks in the frame do their own thing, until something horrible happens. It's the reason why the tagline of the posters reads "Don't miss the beginning".

This is also violence done right. Raghavan seems to know that if there's too much gratuitous brutality, the audience becomes numb to it and the scene that matters won't be effective. So the brutality arrives at a point when you least expect it, and whatever happens in that short burst will make the hair on your neck stand.

Raghavan managed to make even Neil Nitin Mukesh seem like a decent actor, and his knack for getting unheard of performances is on full display here. Varun looks like a beast, and his presence is felt. Much like Shahid Kapoor in Haider, his transformation is memorable for how messed up this character is. This is the film that is going to win everyone over and make him a household name. A bit more work on his delivery would have been perfect though.

Nawaz is once again effortlessly in top form as the sleazy, film-obsessed baddie, and his chemistry with Huma Qureshi remains intact. Kumud Mishra as a cop is fun, and really brings the house down in a shouty meltdown scene with Nawaz. Yami Gautam is fine, but she's played the same role previously in Action Jackson, so hopefully she won't be stereotyped as the murdered wife. The cherry on top are the wonderful cameos from Raghavan regulars Ashwini Kalsekar, Vinay Pathak, Zakir Hussain and Gopal Singh, the suitcase guy from Ek Hasina Thi.

The question of comparison to Ek Haseena Thi and Johnny Gaddaar is irrelevant. Badlapur is the kind of film we need more of, and also the kind of film that you need to see. It's in theaters now, so if you want to see a change in the quality of Bollywood products, buy a ticket or two.

http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/badlapur-review-varun-dhawan-nawazuddin-star-in-an-offbeat-yet-great-film-2110911.html

Wow! Watching it tomorrow...can't wait!

Badlapur takes a good start
Rave reviews and presence of Varun Dhawan help the Sriram Raghavan's film at the box-office

WRITTEN BY
Written By Filmfare
Editorial
Posted Fri, Feb 20, 2015

Today's big release Badlapur took off on a slow note with dull occupancies in the morning shows. However, as soon as the extraordinarily good reviews started coming in, the film took an upward trend. The overall opening is around 40% which is good for a mid-budget film. Director Sriram Raghavan's crisp and gripping storytelling is being hugely appreciated by the critics as well as the masses. And so is Varun Dhawan's steller performance which is drawing the audience to the multiplex. The film is set to perform better in the evening and night shows too. Going by the early trends, Badlapur will rake in around Rs. 7-8 crores in its opening day, which is a good result.


At the end of week one, Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal starrer has banked approximately Rs. 42 crores. The film was heavily panned by the critics but still it took one of the best openings of 2015 all thanks to Ranbir Kapoor's star power. The negative word of mouth is affecting the film very badly and it has been on a downward hill. A lifetime number of Rs. 50 crore looks possible for the film.

Shamitabh has proven to be a disaster at the box-office. The film has managed to collect approximately Rs. 21 crores in two weeks. On the other hand Akshay Kumar's Baby maintained a steady pace and is closing its good run at about Rs. 95 crore and thus becoming the first big hit of 2015

BADLAPUR brings back the audiences in theaters!!

Posted by Rashmi Shrivastava On February 20, 2015

And ends the dry spell which prolonged for so long!

Badlapur has opened very well pan India with 40-45% occupancy for morning andnoonshows. Trends are looking very positive for the evening and night shows, poised to hit occupancies upto 75% or more.

Single screens too have shown a good jump in the3.00 pmshow at most places which have registered almost 50 to 60 percent occupancy

One of the most anticipated films of the year Maddock Films & Eros International's Badlapur, has hit the theaters today.The film had garnered the right amount of buzz and was eagerly awaited by both the critics and the audiences..It has been running to packed houses at many centers, and with the weekend around the corner the numbers are surely going to increase.

Dinesh Vijan's Maddock films has provided the audience with a brilliant so called twisted entertainer as they rightly term it.Sriram Raghavan's thriller plot, Varun's badass avataar and Nawazuddin Siddiqui's outstanding performance makes BADLAPURa must watch!

Badlapur is definitely one of the best thrillers and the most engaging film of this year. The film has opened well at cinepolis and footfalls are increasing with positive word of mouth...Mayank Shroff, National Manager, Programming & Film Marketing, Cinepolis


Badlapur has opened very well across INOX cinemas. It will further improve over the weekend as film is carrying very strong Word of mouth and positive reviews. Must watch for Varun and Nawazuddin's spectacular performances.-Rajender Singh, VP Programming & Distribution, Inox

Around 8 crores on the first day...amazing👍🏼...hope it holds up well in the coming days.

intriguing stuff.by sriram raghavan ..superb performance by nawazuddin and varun dhawan..

Rajeev Masand's Review:

Originally posted by: NailClipper

If I'm not wrong her Dedh Ishqiyan review was good. 😆