Oh nah.
What a bumbling mess of a movie. I watched this movie with a couple of buddies after hearing about its controversy. The metaphorical tie-ins of the Holocaust and Hitler’s regime billow out in a ghastly fog, enveloping the film in a noxious cloud of ignorance. The capricious structure of the film causes emotional whiplash. The only reason why the rating isn’t lower is because of some pleasant masala movie moments and incongruent times of clarity.
I am all for irredeemable characters and consequent redemptions in movies if done well. Bawaal clearly does not meet this mark. Ajay’s obsession with his self-image, built on a stack of unbelievable lies, manifests itself in abuse of his wife. The one note of his personality revolves around total control, to the point where Nisha is trapped in her in-laws’ house. I understand that the intention is to topple this regime of deceit bit by bit, but driving through this unnatural narrative of redemption (taking lessons from Hitler nonetheless!) without putting in the work for it screams of directorial naivete. With a relationship that toxic, I have to basically suspend disbelief to believe in its complete redefinition.
