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'Badla' (2019) is the Hindi-language remake of the 2016 Spanish hit 'Contratiempo' (available for viewing on Netflix). After catching the film in theatres I decided to watch the original to compare. I needn't have bothered, for director Sujay Ghosh has practically done a scene-by-scene retelling of the original; swapping only one detail: the genders of the protagonists.
Ghosh is a master of creating mood and the film is pitch-perfect when it comes to the gloomy, desolate landscapes, extremely tight or wide expansive frames (courtesy cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhya) and the eerie but minimal sound design. In addition, the narrative is fast-paced and editing taut, leaving not much room for the viewer's mind to wander. I also really enjoyed how the dialogues were adapted for an Indian audience by inserting Mahabharata references. This for me was the most satisfying part of the remake; doubly satisfying in an environment where Hindu mythology is increasingly being solidified for political purposes when in fact the epics are so full of complexity as to allow for the adoption of various perspectives and shades of grey.
Casting Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu in the leads is a clever choice aimed at leveraging their last turns as lawyer and client in the 2016 film 'Pink'. Designed as an elaborate cat-and-mouse game between the two protagonists, and given that most of the film takes place in a closed room, a lot of the weight is borne by the acting performances of these two. They both step up to the task, yet unfortunately Taapsee comes off short in comparison to the stalwart that she is paired with. The female lead is written as a complex character, yet she plays it out flat, sullen and emotionless rather than cold, quick and endlessly calculating. (Mario Casas does a comparatively much better job in the original, leading us to invest emotionally in the story and yielding a more breathtaking payoff)
The parallel storyline of two parents seeking justice for their missing child is also not fleshed out sufficiently, and by diluting the moral condemnation of how the police favours the rich that imbues the original—replacing it with simply the corrupting power of money in the remake—Ghosh saps the story of even more emotional heft. What we end up with is a serviceable, gripping thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you hooked, but no lasting impression of the lengths to which both the rich and the poor have to go to in a system where the cards are stacked in favour of one over the other.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Language: Hindi
Runtime: 1h 58 min
Year of release: 2019
Streaming platform: Netflix
Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.
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