'Bawaal' Review: An unusual love story that leaves a lot desired

At a time when commercial Bollywood films are resorting to the good, old principle of black-and-white characters, it is unusual to have a protagonist who’s stone-cold and selfish to the point of being loathsome. And yet, that is exactly what happens in Nitesh Tiwari’s Bawaal, streaming now on Prime Video, which maps the inner evolution of Ajay Dixit, a history teacher who, despite hating the mediocre life he’s leading, must pretend that he is happy.

Ajay, played by an otherwise likeable Varun Dhawan, finds himself falling short when he compares himself to his friends who have reached new heights career-wise. But since a man isn’t allowed to be vulnerable, at least not so in public, Ajay tries his best to pretend that he believes in the noble cause that is teaching. In reality, he somewhat hates teaching and what it entails but puts on a show to hide his inadequacies.

Varun Dhawan, who has aced the roles of a young, vivacious leading man in all his films, does justice to the character. You find Ajay irredeemable, especially when you realise he’s apathetic towards his wife Nisha (Jahnvi Kapoor), who ticks all the right boxes of an ideal wife but happens to have epilepsy. Her condition proves to be a deal-breaker for Ajay as he begins to distance himself from her. It takes a tryst with the events of World War II for Ajay to rethink his life, and what really matters.

Nitesh Tiwari, who has previously directed Chhichhore and Dangal, is known to weave in a social message in all his films, and Bawaal is no different. Intertwining Adolf Hitler’s atrocities with a modern man’s inner conflict is certainly a new trope. In fact, during an interview with City Times, Tiwari had said, “There is an internal conflict, which is a very strong point in the film. It is about a protagonist constantly at war with the world and, more importantly, the war within.” While history often offers new perspectives, the existential conflict in the modern world has a different dimension to it, which is why Ajay’s gradual transformation appears a little unbelievable.

On many occasions, you find yourself wondering how the events of World War II can really fit into what is also, in equal parts, a love story. Sure, being a history teacher means that Ajay constantly has to deep dive into the past, but the political events that shaped the first half of the twentieth century emerged from a different context. The film follows a predictable path once Ajay gets invested rather deeply into Hitler’s atrocities in concentration camps and by now, a viewer knows exactly what is likely to unfold. This is why when he does begin to make amends, you are not completely convinced.

Putting a man’s inner conflict in conjunction with historical events was certainly an interesting idea. What happens to a human being when his moral compass becomes questionable? But what Bawaal does not factor in is that the personal may not always be political, that modern life comes with its own challenges and that human beings are not linear in the way they think or feel. Certainly, not the generation that has witnessed recession or the pandemic, but finds itself constantly being pitted against the idea of success that the generations before have passed down to us.

Varun Dhawan tries his best to make Ajay more angular. It’s not an easy task for an actor who, as mentioned earlier, has captured the popular imagination by playing immensely likeable roles. But the shift of perspective feels rather abrupt because, for the first hour of the film, Varun has done a decent job of making us loathe him. As a dutiful and beautiful wife who must put her needs secondary to that of her husband, Janhvi Kapoor is adequate. For a character that is otherwise charming and smart, the script gives her a lot less agency as a woman, something hard to relate to, even if it is set in a Tier II city.

A World War II theme in a love story. Sure, the premise makes Bawaal an interesting weekend watch, though it could have been more layered.

Director: Nitesh Tiwari

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor

Stars: 3/5

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