Vikram Vedha (2022) in google drive free
Yet another remake of a south Indian blockbuster, Vikram Vedha proves that while writing a mass entertainer or a crowd-pleaser, one doesn’t necessarily need to water down the depth of characters and demystify storytelling.
Based on the mythical tale of Vikram and Betaal, the wife-husband director duo of Gayatri-Pushkar, who also wrote and helmed the original, have turned the intelligent-incorruptible king into an honest police officer Vikram (Saif Ali Khan), who sees the world in black and white. The shrewd ghost turns into a dreaded gangster Vedha (Hrithik Roshan), one who vanquishes the rule of law almost on a daily basis and tests the moral compass of the enforcer by telling him tales from his life that navigate the gray areas between crime and punishment.
Through three well-knitted, deftly crafted stories, Gayatri-Pushkar question encounters where the upholders of law snuff the life out of innocent citizens, and justify such action as collateral damage for the greater good. What if the shoe is on the other foot? Do the bullets that pierce the innocent come to haunt those who pull the trigger? These seem like out-of-syllabus questions for a mainstream entertainer to address, but Gayatri and Pushkar answer them with sensitivity and urgency, within the framework of a festival tentpole.
The ode to Raj Kapoor through two of his timeless songs not only adds to the flamboyant storytelling but is also an interesting way to acknowledge the influence of the master on the nature vs nurture debate that Gayatri-Pushkar addresses. The premise of Vikram Vedha also reminds one of Kapoor’s 1951 film Awaara, where the judge repeatedly invokes the idea that those who are born to criminals end up on the wrong side of the law. Interestingly, like Nargis, Radhika Apte also plays a lawyer. Just like how Rita stood for Raj, Priya (Apte) represents Vedha, and her cop husband feels that his advocate wife is being manipulated by the dreaded gangster against him, very much like how the judge, Rita’s father (Prithviraj Kapoor) alleges in Awaara.
