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Badal
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'Badal' Bobby, Rani impress in ‘Badal’

By Rekha Bakshi
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

The just released film Badal has the action-hero Bobby Deol as a sensitive actor, now playing a dreaded terrorist and the very next moment a lover-boy.

Bobby Deol seems to be sticking to the action-hero genre, the public not having accepted him as a romantic-hero.

In keeping with this effort, Director Raj Kanwar has kept the film fast-paced throughout. Rocket launchers are used with predictable frequency and entire villages are wiped up in a ball of fire.

Yes, the comic antics of Johny Lever, and his staccato one-liners, provide the hilarious moments in this film.

The film deals with a sensitive and current subject as to why ordinary people become terrorists, but is not able to offer a viable solution how they can be induced to come back into the mainstream.

It may be noted that in Punjab, scores of police officers, who battled terrorism a decade and a half ago, are today facing court cases filed by human rights groups in view of “fake-encounter deaths”. Thus, the human face of the terrorists is also coming to light.

The film’s story basically deals with an average citizen who is forced into terrorism because of police harassment and exploitation.

Naturally, when the “terrorist” is showered with love, he mellows down and responds positively.

The film does have some hummable songs and the dance sequence involving Suman Ranganathan is interesting.

Milne se darta hai dil, ikrar ho na jaye, na milo, na milo, humse zyada, kahin pyar ho na jaye is one successful song from this film topping the charts. Jugni Jugni ... is also turning out to be a hit. With its Punjabi touch, the music is becoming popular.

Badal is a dreaded terrorist, as per the police records. But the DIG, Jai Singh Rana, played by Ashutosh Rana, is to be blamed for turning him into a terrorist. Apparently, when Badal was a child, Rana had set fire to his entire village. Now, only to avenge that act, Badal has become a terrorist.

Rana has done full justice to this role and injects a rare menace to the bad guy.

Badal reaches Sundarnagar, where he gets refuge in the house of ACP Ranjit Singh. This role of a good cop is played by Amrish Puri. The hardened Badal finds love and a feeling of belonging in Ranjit Singh’s house. He is becoming more normal, falling in love with Rani Mukherjee, who plays the good cop’s daughter. Rani, once again, impresses, especially in the energetic dance sequences.

Just then, he learns of some of his terrorist friends being killed at the behest of Rana, and is determined to take revenge.

The film is a light-romance before the interval, but after that, it is action-packed around the theme of terrorism

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