Sonal Pandya
Mumbai, 19 Feb 2021 19:00 IST
Aahana Kumra plays a woman wronged and hell-bent on vengeance in the film directed by Akhilesh Jaiswal.
In Bawri Chhori, Aahana Kumra’s Radhika is a woman on a mission once she lands in London, England. Abandoned by her husband soon after their marriage, she sets out to find her errant spouse and make him pay.
The slice-of-life film opens with Radhika looking up tips on how to dispose of a corpse. She even has a foolproof plan — chop up the body, turn it into a meat pickle with mustard oil, and feed the rest to pigs. But the avenging woman has a long way to go before her plan is implemented.
The dramedy shows Radhika as a woman out of sorts in London. She connects with an old friend Aanad (Vikram Kochhar) who guides her initially, but on her quest to locate her husband Radhika runs into unscrupulous people and is robbed of her belongings.
After meeting up with a young British-Asian woman Ana (Rumana Molla) and another Indian woman Saroj (Niki Walia), Radhika begins to see that maybe there is more to life than revenge. The film becomes more a journey of reflection and retrospection for her.
Kumra is both tenacious and vulnerable as Radhika who is initially fuelled by her anger and hurt. But as she travels through the unknown country, she begins to live a little more for herself as she meets different allies on the way. The actress is the heart of the film, and she delivers on her character’s journey.
While the story, co-written by Prateek Payodhi and Akhilesh Jaiswal, is interesting, the film’s execution is less so. Many scenes are clumsily staged to elicit humour, it seems, and look awkward.
Radhika’s interactions with Ana and her friend Aanad are handled better, simply because the story focuses more on her than her quest for revenge. And for all her preparation, Radhika doesn’t really seem to have much of a plan to confront her husband.
The film’s promise begins to unravel quickly, which is a shame, because Radhika’s tale of vengeance had such delicious potential, but it ends up being sappy and predictable.
Eros Now is streaming Bawri Chhori.
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