Whose ‘murder’?

Whose murder?: My quick take on Sanjay Mishra’s “Vadh”

The beauty of the Indian language is that it brings a certain kind of subtlety to the word’s meaning. Take this example of वध and हत्या, both have the same meaning when translated into English, while in Hindi/Marathi हत्या is mere killing, while a वध is more of punishment for a crime committed. The title of the movie lets the cat out of the bag, hence we keep on expecting someone to be bumped off in the movie, which in my view could have been avoided.

The plot revolves around an old couple who have pawned all their savings to fulfill the ‘American dreams’ of their only child. Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta play this hapless parent, and both have given superlative performances respectively. This is a ‘saransh’ moment for Sanjay Mishra who has to date only impressed us with buffoonery (thanks to Rohit Shetty), his portrayal of a timid retired school teacher who is finding it difficult to make two ends is awesome. There are many moments where his body language and silence will make your eyes wet. Take a bow, Sanjay Mishra. He will convince the audience that old age and poverty are the two worst things to happen to anybody. Let me also commend the screen presence of Saurabh Sachdeva, after a long time I have seen a caustic antagonist on screen, like yesteryear's Pran used to get ‘cursed’ on screen, here Prajapati Pandey played by Sachdeva will make you cringe and you will curse him.

It's a well-written plot and cleverly directed the project, but for its obvious climax, the screenplay is quite engaging. Though one may be tempted to call this Bollywood’s answer to Drishyam. I loved the metaphor of a Rat and rat trap used in our homes, where, how so ever docile the family it may be, they will try to get rid of any rodents bothering them.

It's whose murder? are we talking about, is it वध of parents अरमान by an ungrateful son? Or is it something very serious incidence forcing the old man to react violently or is it something to do with bad man Parapati’s antics? To know more watch the movie.

It's a must-watch movie by as per me, watch it for Sanjay Mishra’s performance.