Bawaal movie review: Nitesh Tiwari baffles with insensitive Holocaust, Hitler references in tone deaf relationship drama

Director: Nitesh Tiwari

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa, Parth Siddhpura, Anjuman Saxena, Mukesh Tiwari

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Rating: 2 stars

There is a passage in Nitesh Tiwari’s new film Bawaal where the protagonist compares problems in relationships to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Yes, the same place where the Nazis brutally murdered 11 lakh people during World War II. Maybe it’s just me but as far as parallels go, that was one that should have been flagged off by someone in the film’s team for being grossly insensitive. The problem with Bawaal is that this line isn’t even the most insensitive or tone deaf part of the film. Nitesh Tiwari – of Dangal and Chhichhore fame – takes a novel idea and then butchers it with some baffling, tone deaf choices, making Bawaal one of the most uncomfortable watches I have had in recent times.

Bawaal stars Varun Dhawan as Ajju, a narcissistic and selfish history teacher in Lucknow who is all style, no substance. This description is true both for the character and Varun’s portrayal of it. He marries Nisha (Janhvi Kapoor), who has epilepsy. Ajju’s vanity and disdain for his wife’s illness turns the relationship sour. When his job is in jeopardy, he conceives a plan to travel to Europe to teach the kids about World War II from the actual location. How he transforms through his experiences there and gains respect for his wife forms the crux of the story.

Bawaal is a novel idea, one that follows a man’s coming-of-age journey along with the rebuilding of a relationship through parallels from a historical tragedy. As soon as the trailer had released, one knew that this required deft, sensitive handling for it to be a good watch. Having seen Nitesh Tiwari’s previous work, I had hope that he was up to the task. Just how wrong I was became evident within the first half hour of the film. Bawaal is hands down one of the most tone deaf mainstream Hindi films I have seen. That it kills a unique concept that had the potential to deliver a thoughtful film only makes it worse.

The problem with Bawaal begins with its lead pair. Varun and Janhvi have little chemistry together on screen and do not gel together. Janhvi acts well with her eyes but her hammied dialogue delivery does not allow you to empathise with Nisha fully. Varun, on the other hand, does well when he is performing Ajju’s funny or arrogant side. But the moment he needs to flip the switch for intense or emotional scenes, the actor is found lacking, quite badly. Ajju’s transformation from selfish prick to emotionally sensitive man seems to rushed to be convincing. This is a romantic tale where you are hardly ever rooting for the lead pair. In fact, you almost want her to leave that man child and be on her way. And even after his ‘transformation’, that feeling does not go away.

The film is also overly dramatic with the background score hammering each plot twist into your ears. The dissonance in the film’s tone and the music is quite baffling and it never lets you take the film too seriously. The lingo and the setting of old Lucknow is genuine but offers nothing new, getting into the stereotypical territory time and again. The film really promises to come alive only when the protagonists reach Europe.

But Bawaal fails to keep that promise because once Ajju discovers the horrors of World War II, director Nitesh Tiwari chooses to juxtapose Varun and Janhvi in the middle of the human tragedy. The drawing of parallels between a relationship’s struggles and a war that killed 6 crore is downright insensitive, no matter how well-intentioned it is. On top of that, equating greedy people to Hitler and including monochrome shots of the protagonists in concentration camps are baffling choices that simply have no explanations.

Bawaal has positives too. The Europe sojourn is well shot and the songs are catchy. However insensitive the World War II flashbacks are, some are actually shot quite well. One particular sequence of the Battle of Normandy was stunningly shot and visually aesthetic. It is another matter that it was not sensitively depicted but full marks to the DOP for the effort there.

With Bawaal, Nitesh Tiwari attempted something bold and brave. But sadly, the execution is where he faltered. This is a director who has given films like Dangal and Chhichhore, which is why Bawaal’s misfire looks all the more stark in contrast.