Vadh
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJaspal Singh Sandhu
Rajiv Barnwal
Written byJaspal Singh Sandhu & Rajiv Barnwal
Produced byLuv Ranjan
Ankur Garg
Neeraj Ruhil
Nymphea Saraf Sandhu
Subhav Sharma
Starring
CinematographySapan Narula
Edited byBharat S Rawat
Music byGurcharan Singh
Production
companies
Luv Films
J Studio
Next Level Productions
Distributed byYash Raj Films
Release date
  • 9 December 2022 (2022-12-09)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box officeest.₹60 lakh (lifetime)[1]

Vadh (meaning: Execution) is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language thriller film written and directed by Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Rajiv Barnwal and produced by Luv Films.[2][3] Vadh was theatrically released on 9 December 2022.[4][5] It was featured at the 54th IFFI Indian panorama section.[6]

Plot

Shambhunath Mishra is an old man who lives with his wife, Manju Mishra, in a dilapidated house in Gwalior. He is barely able to make ends meet with his pension and as a tutor to the local kids. The couple have a son, who has settled in America with his family and is least concerned about his parents.

To send his son to America, Shambhunath took an enormous loan from a bank and a loan shark, Prajapati Pandey, by mortgaging his house to Prajapati. The bank's EMIs are automatically deducted from his pension and sometimes he is short on his installments to Prajapati. Being a criminal, Prajapati thoroughly exploits Shambhunath. Naina is a bubbly school-going kid, the only source of happiness in the lives of the Mishra family, whose lives are otherwise tragic. She comes to their home regularly for tuition.

Shakti Singh is a corrupt cop, who is on the payroll of Prajapati. However, Shakti demands higher bribes for his increased criminal activities. Prajapati is annoyed, but has little choice as Shakti is the frontman for the local MLA, Dada, who is handling the criminal operations from behind the scenes. Prajapati does not want the matter to escalate to Dada and has to quickly think of a way to deal with Shakti.

He decides to sell Shambhunath's house and threatens him to vacate it in 2 days. As he is doing this, he preys on Naina, who is studying at Shambhunath's home. Shambhunath goes to the police station to file a complaint and finds Prajapati chatting with a visibly annoyed Shakti. After Prajapati leaves, Shambhunath requests Shakti to resolve the issue, who flatly refuses. Later that night, when Shambhunath is alone at home, Prajapati arrives and assaults him. After he calms down, he tells Shambhunath to fetch Naina for him, for an hour. This is the breaking point for Shambhunath and in a fit of rage, he stabs Prajapati in the throat with a screwdriver. When Manju returns home, she is shocked to find Prajapati dead. Shambhunath calms her down and disposes of the body. Manju, out of shock and anger, stops speaking with him. Yet, she cooperates with him when Shakti comes over for an investigation, but is shattered when Prajapati's distressed wife shows up with her daughter and pleads for information about her husband. Out of guilt, Shambhunath goes to the police station and confesses his crime with a detailed description to the constable, since Shakti has gone elsewhere, but the constable dismisses it as a plot from a fictional crime magazine.

When Shambhunath reveals his motive for killing Prajapati to his wife, she fully supports him and he feels guilt and stress-free. The next day, Shakti asks him to sign a confession of the murder, to which he refuses, owing to the lack of evidence. Shakti later meets him outside the police station and tells him that he would absolve him from the murder charges, if he hands him Prajapati's phone, to which Shambhunath again refuses. When he reaches home, he finds Prajapati's phone and goes to get a charger for it and checks the content of the phone. On returning, he sees that Dada is forcibly vacating his house. After a confrontation, Dada gives him 3 days to repay his entire loan.

Shambhunath then finally hands over Prajapati's phone to Shakti, which has a video of him having an affair with Dada's wife. As a part of the deal, Shakti then arrests Dada on murder charges of Prajapati, with the murder weapon and blood-stained clothes presumably recovered from the premises of Dada. After all this turmoil, Shambhunath and Manju give their house to Naina and her family, who are shown to be living in impoverished conditions.

Cast

Critical reception

Sonal Pandya reviewing for Hindustan Times praised the performances of Mishra and Gupta.[9] Pooja Biraia Jaiswal reviewing for The Week rated 4/5 and praised Mishra and Gupta.[10] Deepa Gahlot reviewing for Scroll.in praised the performances of Mishra, Gupta and Vij.[11]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Nominee Result Ref(s)
Filmfare Awards 17 April 2023 Best Film (Critics) Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal Nominated [12][13][14]
Best Debut Director Won
Best Story Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Best Actor (Critics) Sanjay Mishra Won
Best Actress (Critics) Neena Gupta Nominated

References

  1. ^ "VADH BOX OFFICE Collection". Bollywood Hungama. 9 December 2022.
  2. ^ "neena gupta sanjay mishra vadh trailer reminds you of shraddha murder case in delhi | 'Watching 'Vadh' trailer will remind you of Shraddha murder case, talk about Neena Gupta- Sanjay Mishra's acting | Loksatta". www.loksatta.com. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  3. ^ Tripathi, Ritu; Hindi, India TV (22 November 2022). "Vadh Trailer: संजय मिश्रा और नीना गुप्ता की फिल्म 'वध' के ट्रेलर ने दहलाया दिल, आफताब से भी खतरनाक तरीके से करते दिखे मर्डर". India TV Hindi (in Hindi). Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Vadh Movie Review: Sanjay Mishra shines in a passable thriller". India Today. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Vadh Trailer: संजय मिश्रा और नीना गुप्ता की फिल्म का ट्रेलर देख दहल जाएगा दिल, संस्पेंस से है भरपूर | News in Hindi". zeenews.india.com. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Indian Panorama 2023 Announces Official Selection for 54th IFFI, 2023". Press Information Bureau. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023 – via press release.
  7. ^ IANS (12 December 2022). "Sanjay Mishra Reveals How His Character in Vadh Is Agce0fi48yg4Sanjay Mishra Talks About His Character In Vadh & How It's Related To His Father!". Koimoi. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Neena Gupta reveals why she told a friend 'makaan baccho ke naam mat karna'". Hindustan Times. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Vadh movie review: Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta in a patchy yet well-acted drama about justifying murder". Hindustan Times. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  10. ^ "'Vadh' review: Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta's stellar performances power this thriller drama". The Week. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  11. ^ Gahlot, Deepa (9 December 2022). "'Vadh' review: Actors show the way in dark crime drama". Scroll.in. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Filmfare Awards 2023: Sanjay Mishra-Neena Gupta's Film Vadh Wins 2 Big Honours". Zee News. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  13. ^ "List of 2022 Films - Bollywood Movies Released in 2022 | Filmfare". filmfare.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  14. ^ Preeti (28 April 2023). "68th Filmfare Awards 2023 Winners: Best Dressed Celebs, Host, Venue, OTT, TV & More". JanBharat Times. Retrieved 2 May 2023.