Satisfying, risk-free remake of ‘Vikram Vedha’

Vikram Vedha

Hindi (Theatres)

Director: Pushkar-Gayathri

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte

Rating: 3/5

The thing with appreciating a remake, for what it is on its own, is that it also involves unseeing the original work. It works easier when its setting and sensibilities are independent of the original. Pushkar-Gayatri’s 'Vikram Vedha' is not that remake; it does not leave you with that stirring, unfamiliar taste of the add-on.

The writer-director duo recreates their own 2017 Tamil film, of the same title, with such meticulous reverence that they even retain the iconic theme score by Sam C S. This could mean a 159-minute rerun that leaves you rather passive to the functional, story-building parts and have you wait for the rousing bits that you hope would work, again. They do work, though the film’s big moments that involve character deception and plot twists are already known.

A gangster (Hrithik Roshan) probing a cop (Saif Ali Khan) with questions on crime and punishment, through an episodic backstory of his own, makes a terrific premise. This is an ideological face-off built on questions about justice, encounter killings and a progressively blurring line between the right and the wrong. The writers, however, do not let the ethical heft of these questions define what is essentially a smartly written, cleverly packaged massy film, run on the star power of its two frontmen. There, of course, is enough wattage to be drawn.

Hrithik Roshan’s Vedha moves to a different tune. He does not, for a moment, take in Vijay Sethupathi’s icy unpredictability and, instead, goes for unfettered, mad-eyed violence, stopping just short of overplay. This choice makes the comparisons unwieldy but it is the actor who also serves the right dosage of fan service —the build-up, the cross-screen gunshot leaps and even a few dance moves — that brings in some new flavour here.

Saif’s Vikram gets guitar riffs for his intro shot but his is a largely understated presence. Hrithik’s swagger plays well with Saif’s quiet confidence, making this almost a duel in reverse — R Madhavan’s Vikram, in the original, was a touch angrier.

The two leads, in fairly untested territory, cover for some of the generic subplots that unfold in the ganglands of Lucknow and Kanpur.

The film takes a rare turn off the course in an action segment, staged in the best traditions of the south mass film, with a Mukesh-Raj Kapoor song about life’s little joys playing in the background. Vikram Vedha needed some more of that kind of inspired madness to take it beyond what it ends up as: an almost satisfactory, risk-free remake.