Badal

By Anna Joseph

Ratings : *  (boo)
Anything special : Nothing much to write home about
Comment : Avoidable


What happens when a terrorist who indulges in terrorism for its own sake, a cop who would have loved to be a terrorist and a belle whose mission in life is to be just that, come together in a movie? You get the horrendous Badal. Director and scriptwriter Raj Kanwar (who was inspired by The Devil's Own) has taken such a ridiculous, pro-terrorist stand that one wonders if he secretly wishes to be a gun toting, blood-curdling 'macho' terrorist himself.

Rajveer, played by Bobby Deol, becomes the terrorist-hero as he wants to take revenge on the devil-cop Rana (Ashutosh Rana) who had Rajveer's family and the entire village slaughtered simply because he was peeved at not being able to get his hands on his target, a runaway terrorist played by Ashish Vidyarthi. For that matter, he may also have been peeved for not getting his breakfast on time because being destructive is really a raison d'être for him.

Anyway the 'good hearted Rajveer', who had only become a terrorist because he had no choice (!), goes around killing innocent people and also loots a bank to buy arms from Pakistani militants. Well, he has to do something while making plans to wipe away the evil Rana from the face of the earth and do mankind a big favour. Moreover, that has to wait for a suitably important setting - which means an Independence Day function.

But even a terrorist can't survive only on the heady scent of gunpowder; the thrill of hearing agonised screams and watching blood spill. There has to be a ladylove with whom he can be his real, tender hearted, vulnerable self. And so he goes to a hill station (a scenic setting is a must for this kind of thing, of course!) to find Rani Mukherjee. Rani (Rani in the movie too) is only too happy to fill the role. Having accepted her role in the film with pride, Rani gets on with it with the required miniskirts, inane chattering, singing and dancing.

Mayuri Kango, who plays Rani's sister gets herself kidnapped so that Rajveer, who has got his name changed to Badal, has a chance to save the damsel in distress before he proceeds to the main business. The film climaxes with the killing of Rana, after which it thankfully decides to come to an end.

Amrish Puri, the girls' dad and a good cop, who has given refuge to the misguided Badal for some strange reason, is one of the few good things in the movie. So also, Neena Kulkarni who plays his wife. Johny Lever is quite entertaining as Guler Mehndi and pairs well with his newly acquired wife played by Upasana Singh. Otherwise, there's bad acting, too much blood and gore and songs that assault the ears. Altogether, highly avoidable.

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