John Abraham is back again with another action flick in the form of Vedaa on the occasion of Independence Day. Vedaa starts off on a decent note but crashes badly at the end, which makes this one a below average flick.
Vedaa is based on a true story. The film tells the story about a Dalit girl named Vedaa (Sharvari), who tries to fight upper caste people who have killed her siblings. In this journey, a court martialed officer named Abhimanyu (John Abraham) joins her and acts as a mentor.
John Abraham is unbeatable when it comes to action and intense roles. John always nails the role of an army officer, agent, etc. This was a tailor made role for him and he perfectly gets into the character with his intensity. Sharvari is a good actress and with Vedaa she gets to perform a handful of actions along with acting. Vedaa is just a trailer and we will get to see the whole film in the form of Alpha (talking about Sharvari’s action). Sharvari has nailed the Gujarati accent in Maharaj and she does it right again with the Rajasthani accent in Vedaa. John and Sharvari make a good student-mentor pair on-screen. Abhishek Banerjee doesn’t suit the minister’s role. He doesn’t have that personality, where he can play the role of a powerful man. Ashish Vidyarthi plays one of the villains and does a decent job. Kumud Mishra doesn’t get enough screen presence to showcase his talent. Tamannaah Bhatia appears in a cameo, but doesn’t impress. She owned the screen in Stree 2 with just a song, but that’s not the case in Vedaa. The remaining cast is average.
Vedaa is just another film which deals with the subject of honor killing, caste discrimination, fighting with system, etc. The message is loud and clear, but the presentation lacks effectiveness.
Vedaa has a good first half and doesn’t follow the same Bollywood routine. Vedaa tries many different things and gets most of them right. It’s not a regular Bollywood mass film, until the second half arrives and spoils everything. The makers have succeeded in setting the plot in the first half, but have failed to carry forward the momentum throughout.
The second of Vedaa is full of action. It’s a complete game of cat and mouse. The action is again what we have seen a lot of times in Bollywood. The second half offers nothing new and it ends up with a disaster. Sharvari learns boxing, but that doesn’t help her at all in the whole film, except a short sequence where she punches the villain. The motive behind Sharvari’s boxing is not showcased. The film loses its track by not connecting the dots.
The entire court sequence in the end is full of dumbness. The heroine wants to fight a case against the villain, but the makers already kill him in the climax, then what’s the point of fighting the case? The heroine randomly enters the cabin and tries to convince the judge to fight her case. There is no hearing or such, and just a small monologue by Sharvari which almost gives a verdict. The basics have gone wrong here and the entire court sequence is completely rubbish.
Nikkhil Advani accidentally made a classic like Kal Ho Naa Ho and after that he has never made something close to it, except for D-Day which was engaging enough. Nikkhil was disappointed after making a decent film like Batla House. His direction is not that impressive and this is just another bad film in his filmography.
The screenplay in the first half is a bit engaging, but it irritates in the second half. The writing could have been much better. The silly mistakes could have been avoided, and Vedaa would have turned out to be a good film. The film fails to hold the grip and thrill in the second half. This becomes altogether a different film in the second half.
Vedaa is a very dark and intense film, which might not fully please the mass audience for whom this was made. The frames are dark and have less brightness. The cinematography is decent. The action sequences are ordinary.
Vedaa is another bad film which seems to be outdated and repetitive. There is nothing memorable in it and this will become just another forgettable film. Vedaa should be skipped at any cost.
Rating – 2/5*
