Bawaal Review: An enjoyable diversion from the regular saccharine romantic dramas

Bawaal Movie Review Rating: 3/5

Four years after the release of his much-loved coming-of-age comedy-drama Chhichhore, well-known filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari brings the romantic drama film Bawaal, which is very different from what we have seen in Bollywood romantic dramas before. The film features Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor in starring roles. BollywoodMDB reviewer has seen the film and here are his thoughts on the same. Do read the detailed review of Bawaal only on BollywoodMDB before watching the film on Prime Video.

STORY: Based in Lucknow, Ajay Dixit (Varun Dhawan) is a primary teacher who is extremely conscious of his image. He can do anything to maintain his image in society as it is more important to him than anything else in the world. He marries Nisha Dixit (Janhvi Kapoor), a well-educated woman, who has epileptic fits. However, he is too ashamed to take her out of the house as he does not want the world to know about her epileptic fits and cause irreparable damage to his so-called image. Ten months into a marriage that is going nowhere, both fly to Europe to brush up on his knowledge of World War II. What happens next forms the crux of the story.

HIGHS & LOWS: Varun Dhawan is not new to playing happy-go-lucky characters that are very emotional at heart. His character is in the similar terrain here in Bawaal and he plays it with sincerity and conviction. Janhvi Kapoor also does complete justice to her part in the film. Her chemistry with Dhawan in good. However, her character is not as well fleshed out as Ajay Dixit, played by Dhawan. Talented actors Mukesh Tiwari, Anjuman Saxena, and Manoj Pahwa round off the cast of the film. However, it is painful to see that how their talent is completely wasted in the film.

Another issue with the film is its complex storyline. Many people will be able to understand it only after watching it more than once. Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, who has some incredibly wonderful films to her credit as a filmmaker and writer, is credited as the story writer of the film with Nitesh Tiwari, Piyush Gupta, Nikhil Mehrotra, and Shreyas Jain as screenplay writers. So many wonderful minds at work but still the result is not very satisfactory. Talking about the film’s music, it is very forgettable.

FINAL VERDICT: Bawaal is a one-time watch, with powerful performances from the lead cast. The entire film relies on the shoulders of Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor and the two carry it well. The story of the film, however, could have been a little easier for it to draw more viewers. It is complex and you have to engross yourself into it with all seriousness to grasp it in its entirety. Director Nitesh Tiwari tries to come up with a different romantic film and success in his attempts in bits and parts. I am going with 3 stars.

Watch Bawaal trailer:

MOVIE CREDITS:

Banner: Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, Earthsky Pictures

Director: Nitesh Tiwari

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor

Runtime: 137 Minutes