Bawaal Review: The Amazon Prime Video movie stars Varun Dhawan as Ajay Dixit, Janhvi Kapoor as Nisha Dixit, Manoj Pahwa as Ajay’s father, Anjuman Saxena as Ajay’s mother, and others. The story is by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, and Nitesh Tiwari directed it. The cinematography is by Mitesh Michandani, and Charu Shree Roy has done the editing. Mithoon, Tanishq Bagchi, and Akashdeep Sengupta composed the music. The runtime is 139 minutes.
Bawaal Plot Short Summary
In Bawaal, Ajay Dixit is a history teacher at a school in Lucknow. He has made a “cool” image for himself, and people around him keep swooning over him. For him, his image is everything, and to keep up with the same, he marries a pretty lady, Nisha. But Nisha’s wife’s epilepsy becomes a reason for “shame” for Ajay, so he never takes her out.
One day, after an incident in school, Ajay is called for a suspension. To save himself from embarrassment and his “image,” he decides to take a Europe trip to teach his students World War II history from real places via videos. During his trip, as Ajay learns the horrors of the war, something shifts inside him.
Bawaal Review: Discussion
When the Bawaal trailer dropped, I was confused and didn’t know what to expect. I kept thinking, are they showing the reincarnation of lovers from that era? Is there a Time Machine? I didn’t read much about the movie’s plot to keep my curiosity intact. It’s a movie that draws parallels and learns from history. It’s a known but not commonly used method of storytelling. So did the Nitesh Tiwari directorial succeed in leaving us impressed with their story? In some parts, it really did.
From the beginning, Ajay Dixit is shown as selfish, irresponsible, callous, and pretentious. His entry makes us laugh at his antics instead of expressing any admiration. He’s a spoiled son, a bad teacher, and a horrible husband. His image was the only thing that mattered to him, not his job. Ajay kept giving his wife a disgusting look because of her health condition. At one point, I wondered why Nisha was tolerating all of this. But the story is set in Lucknow; even in big cities, women can’t escape bad marriages.
The first half is about Ajay being snobby and obsessed with his “good image.” Ajay didn’t get anything easily in life and called himself someone who was neither a topper nor a failure but in the middle. The film states that those in the middle would do anything to be noticed. It’s weird logic, but human behaviour is often questionable. What I liked about the first half is that we never felt any sympathy for Ajay. I was annoyed at how unreasonable this grown man was!
In the second half, Bawaal takes us to Europe, where Nisha and Ajay initially take separate paths in Paris. We finally see Nisha at peace, enjoying a good time in a foreign land, and realising her worth (for some time). But Ajay ends up embarrassing himself and begs his wife to accompany him. Together, the couple visits places like Omaha Beach, Auschwitz Concentration Camp, and several places of historical importance due to WW2.
History teaches us a lot in life: to understand the stupidity and brutality of some people in power, to not forget the wrongdoings, and to not repeat the same mistakes. Learning about the inhuman treatment and terrible incidents during the World War II era tremendously affected Ajay. In one scene, Nisha compares a person’s desire for more to a Hitler-like quality. It’s a controversial statement to make. I understand it was written to hit Ajay with the realisation that he should be happy with his life and not chase unrealistic fancies.
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But Hitler was a horrible person who committed genocide and had the blood of millions of innocents on his hands. A person’s desire to want more can arise from never getting anything good. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more if it doesn’t come at the expense of others. Another scene from Anne Frank’s house where Nisha says something powerful reminds us that many don’t constantly fear getting killed and yet have complaints in life. That scene left a major impact and stayed with me.
To create a solid impact on the horrors of World War II, whenever the characters visited these places, the makers depicted what happened through the visuals. It’s quite distressing to see what people went through because of one man’s greed. The sincerity in these depictions is commendable. However, to cut down on the tension, there are some songs and lighthearted moments in the second half too.
While I was invested in learning the lessons from World War II history and the idea of being grateful, the love story between Ajay and Nisha didn’t work for me. Ajay calls Nisha a defective piece just when you think things are sorted between them. A concentration camp survivor talks about his time in the camp, but his story is limited to information about his wife.
I understand that the husband-wife part was essential to the Dixit couple. But the makers should’ve made the survivor talk more about his experience inside, the treatment, and the cruelties. It would’ve helped us understand the cruel history of World War II even more. There’s another serious sequence in the gas chamber that shows Ajay’s transformation from a pretentious prick to a sensible man.
The way Bawaal started, I didn’t expect it to take us on a historical ride with some bumps. It’s an earnest attempt to convey a lot by director Nitesh Tiwari and writer Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari.
When it comes to performances, I truly believe that Varun Dhawan can play a spoiled and entitled man perfectly. After Bhediya, again in Bawaal, he plays an ignorant, entitled, and apathetic man whose crassness has no limits. He was convincing with his portrayal of the obnoxious Ajay Dixit, because I really didn’t like the man in the first half. The dislike intensifies when he says something very mean to his wife. Varun’s performance is incredible, and I’m happy with his script choices.
Janhvi Kapoor performs well as Nisha, who initially seems to be a submissive wife. But seeing her take a stand for herself and be emotionally mature and considerate gives the actor better space to shine. I was worried that Nisha would be shown as a woman who would “fix” a manchild. Initially, in Paris, the plot even went that way a little. But Ajay’s journey of growth and sensibility was his own. Kapoor has a beautiful screen presence and has some good dialogue.
Bawaal Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, Bawaal drops several truth bombs with World War II lessons that will stay with you. It’s an earnest attempt to remind us of the horrors of the past and to be kind. However, there were several scenes where a Gujarati family was stereotyped for some laughs. It was enjoyable in the plane sequence, but later, it became irritating.