Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor’s Bawaal is a fiasco from start to end. The movie is directed by Nitesh Tiwari, who also directed the acclaimed Dangal. So, my expectation from the movie was higher than usual. Adding to the expectation were seasoned actors like Manoj Pahwa, Anjuman Saxena, and Mukesh Tiwari. Here’s our review of Bawaal.

An insensitive hero

Ajay Dixit is probably Varun Dhawan’s most hateful character. Ajay aka Ajju is a History teacher in primary school. For him, appearances are everything. Ajju has created a very elaborate story to show himself as a smart, intelligent, hardworking, and modern man. Everybody has a great perception of him, and that’s what he counts on. Even when he gets married to Nisha (Janhvi Kapoor), he does so because she is a well-educated woman from a well-to-do family. Nisha is an epilepsy patient and she discloses that fact to Ajay before their marriage is fixed. Since she hasn’t had fits in over 10 years, Ajay thinks it isn’t a big deal. That is until he sees Nisha having an episode on the day of their wedding. Like a man obsessed with his image, he feels embarrassed by his wife due to her illness. As Ajju claims, he has never mistreated her, abused her, or physically hit her, but he has also not taken her out, spoken to her with love, or had any kind of marital relationship.

Varun Dhawan’s Ajay lives in his own little world with no care for anyone else. He manipulates his family just as easily as he slips on a shirt. When he sees the world’s perception of him changing, he plans a trip to Europe to deal with it. To manipulate his father into paying for his trip, he plans a second honeymoon with his wife and puts on a show about wanting to be a better son and husband. Varun Dhawan does a decent job portraying Ajay because you do end up hating him.

Janhvi Kapoor’s Nisha is, for the most part, just an accessory. She doesn’t really put up a fight against the way her husband treats her. The only time she stands up to him is when Ajju tells her to go home from the airport because he doesn’t actually plan to take her to Europe. Nisha does give Ajay a reality check during their time in Europe in her own small way. Unfortunately, none of it really makes for an impactful performance or storytelling. Janhvi Kapoor’s Nisha is a little more believable in the scenes when she is sad and grieving as opposed to when she is trying to be romantic or funny.

An unfeeling ‘love’ story

History, especially World War II, didn’t need to be brought in to make a relationship work. And Ajay and Nisha’a relationship is toxic, especially with Ajay’s behaviour and Nisha’s doormat tendencies. The makers have made a mockery of one of the most tragic events in history and used it as a tool to make a failing relationship work and turn Ajay into a hero. Frankly, that doesn’t work. Because by the time Ajay redeems himself, you are already so done with him, you really don’t care what he does next. Nisha forgives him so quickly that you feel frustrated as to why a man like Ajay is forgiven, let alone given a second chance.

Since the movie is set in the backdrop of World War II, it had the potential to be a very moving, emotionally searing story of regrets, losing loved ones, and so much more. Unfortunately, Bawaal is none of those things. It might have worked better as a regular rom-com, instead of trying to tell a love story in such a convoluted manner.

Bawaal is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Can you watch Bawaal with your family?:  There’s no sex or violence in the movie, so you can. But the real question is, should you even bother?

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