‘Vedaa’ movie review: John Abraham’s socially-conscious action entertainer does not stay the distance

John Abraham in a still from ‘Vedaa’

If one does a census of popular Hindi cinema, Dalits and their issues will constitute a minority. So, it is refreshing to see an action entertainer woven around caste atrocities carried out in the name of divine justice in the hinterland. It is heartening to find B.R. Ambedkar’s photo inside a home, attached to something as ubiquitous but meaningful as a mirror.

Vedaa Bairwa (Sharvari), a Dalit student of law, wants to punch above her social weight by joining a boxing club in her college. However, the so-called custodians of social order find her fit only to mop the floor for aspirants who belong to the upper stairs in the caste hierarchy. She finds support from Abhimanyu, an ex-Army officer nursing a personal tragedy, who has returned to the village of her spouse and is serving as a boxing trainer in a local college.

Set in the hotbed of patriarchy where politicians try to sound progressive as long as the caste order is not disturbed around them, the duo finds itself in the crosshairs of the head of a caste panchayat, Jitendra Pratap Singh (Abhishek Banerjee). Father of a girl, Jitendra sounds politically correct but he belongs to the in-between generation. His father (Ashish Vidyarthi in a Kill-type turn) swears by an atavistic tradition and his younger brother is a lumpen goon out to exercise authority. In short, a Munna of Mirzapur lost in Barmer. When Vedaa’s brother is found in a relationship with an upper-caste girl, Jitendra loses his fuse, and hell breaks loose.

Once a conjurer of romance, director Nikkhil Advani has painted a heartless world with care. The sullen hero riding a beast in a brooding atmosphere makes for a moving picture. The pugnacious protagonist who talks about constitutional rights and packs a mean punch proves to be a doughty companion in this unequal fight for basic human dignity. Vedaa wants to knock at the doors of the local court, but the court-martialled officer feels otherwise. The narrative is expected to unravel her journey.

Nikkhil, however, seems unsure of how big a slice of social reality would fit in a John Abraham actioner. Would it be too cerebral and out of reach of the audience who expect The Transporter every time John presses the accelerator or loads his gun? So, Nikkhil nourishes the script with a regular high-protein diet and only changes the quality of fibre intake. It means long, at times meandering action sequences punctuated with talk of equality. There are passages where intrinsic logic doesn’t hold, giving an impression that the makers want Vedaa to be trapped, chased, and saved like an algorithm of a video game.

The disclaimer says that the film is drawn from real-life stories. It indeed is, but writer Aseem Arora has cooked the narrative in a Bollywood furnace. The performances, though, are sharp. John has mastered the art of staring. In fact, someone in the film says of Abhimanyu, ‘ghoorta bahut hai’ (stares a lot). When Vikram calls him the true atheist who stays silent, it fits perfectly with John. Sharvari is improving with each outing but a little more physical transformation would have helped. The action choreography is impressive as well but we keep looking for the bigger conflict to be addressed. We keep waiting for John to shift from the driver seat to ride pillion but it keeps getting delayed. By the end, the silent atheist starts quoting from Mahabharat.

When the blend is not smooth, it feels that a serious issue is being used only to temper the regular masala fare. The makers seem conscious that Abhimanyu should not come across as the saviour of the Dalit girl. However, this calculation of how much ground should be ceded to the protagonist after naming the film after her shows and obstructs the film’s flow. Maybe the film lost some of its bite during the period it spent in the vaults of the Censor Board but Nikkhil and John also belong to the in-between generation. They can’t give up the hook of an item number but don’t want to sound politically incorrect either.

Vedaa is currently running in theatres