Bhediya (2022): The Love Story Of A Beast

If the world will be free of problems, paradise will lose its value. But the world won’t ever be free of problems because as night falls, he transforms! The legend tells the tale of the Big Bad Wolf and seven lambs. One fine day as mother sheep headed out, she told her lambs, “Do not open the door for anyone until I get back home”. But guess who was hiding outside, and eavesdropping? A ferocious wolf! The wolf knocked on the door. The lambs cried, “Who is it?” The wolf replied, “Your Mother!”

The legend comes back to life as Bollywood came out with its own werewolf-comedy drama titled “Bhediya”, translated as “Wolf”. Written by Niren Bhatt, produced by Dinesh Vijan, and directed by Amar Kaushik, “Bhediya” stars Varun Dhawan as the werewolf.

Introducing Varun Dhawan As The Werewolf!

Bhediya (2022): The Legend Comes To Life

Deep in the jungles of Arunachal, resides a protector. A protector who is beyond human! A protector who shape-shifts and feeds on human flesh for a reason. That is to save its home, the forests, from human destruction.

As Bhaskar Sharma (Varun Dhawan) was sent to the Arunachal forests for a road construction project, he got bitten by the protector one night. Bhaskar and his friends visited the local veterinarian Dr. Anika (Kriti Sanon) for a cure for the wolf bite which he had suffered. As Bhaskar’s friends along with Dr. Anika strove to find a cure, he started showing strange behavior.

As time passed, half-eaten dead bodies of people, who were involved in the road construction project, were found. Villagers opined that “the shape-shifting wolf” was behind the killings. What’s coming up next? Read on to know…

Bhediya (2022) Official Trailer:

The Good:

A Gripping Screenplay

Bhediya truly lives up to its horror-comedy genre. Coupled with light funny moments, Niren Bhatt’s screenplay has several tension-filled horrifying instances that can surely make the audiences remain glued to their seats till the very end. The screenplay is utterly stretched-out, no doubt, spanning a duration of 2 hours and 40 minutes. But the intensity and the unexpected twists and turns in the screenplay render an essence of freshness to it. This makes the audience engrossed and completely involved in the drama.

The main aspect which engages the audiences is the unpredictability in the screenplay of Bhediya. With every passing moment, that unpredictability builds up as you never know what’s going to happen next. And oh, the climax! It’s surely going to leave you awestruck. The climax of Bhediya is direly interesting and is something you would never have expected to happen. I mean, what a twist!

The action scenes in Bhediya are thrilling and exciting. Yes, this turns out as a creature-action movie rather than a horror movie! This is not the kind of werewolf which you may have come across till now. Of course, the werewolf shown is scary and ferocious. However, this werewolf transforms to take down gangs of men in combat sequences. So, this is a typical “Bollywood Hero” kind of werewolf who actually fights for his lady love!

The Eternal Love Story Of A Werewolf!

Leaving all analysis aside, you may wonder, why am I praising the climax so much? What’s in it? Then spoiler haters step aside because now I am going to reveal what actually happened in the climax!

As you know that Bhaskar (Varun Dhawan) had turned into a werewolf. Later it was revealed that his love interest and doctor, Dr. Anika (Kriti Sanon) too was a werewolf who has been protecting the forests from tree-fellers and miscreants for a hundred years!  She was the werewolf who had bitten Bhaskar as he had come there for a project to cut down trees and build a road through the forest. But she got attracted to him and did not kill him. In her human form, she became Bhaskar’s love interest and showed him the beauty of the jungle. Bhaskar the werewolf; thus decided that he would never try to harm the jungle which is such a beautiful creation of nature!

Meanwhile, as a human, Dr. Anika was trying her best to cure Bhaskar of the “werewolf disease” that she herself had given him by biting him in her werewolf form. An aged medical practitioner had told Bhaskar that he would return back to normal if he is bitten by the same werewolf once again. So, as Bhaskar got ready to get bitten by the werewolf which had once bitten him, he came to know that the werewolf was none other than his physician-turned-girlfriend, Dr. Anika!

At the climax, Dr. Anika gets captured by army men in her werewolf form! So, Bhaskar turned into “Mr. Werewolf” and invaded their territory where they had kept her caged. In an effort to save his lady werewolf, he had to take down several army men. During the battle, the lady werewolf got severely wounded as they both were attacking the army men in their werewolf forms. She actually got wounded while trying to save Mr. Werewolf as he got surrounded in several instances. They finally killed all the army men and left the spot. Deep in the jungles, the lady werewolf succumbed to her injuries and fell from the mountain. Mr. Werewolf was heartbroken having lost his lady love!

Later, Bhaskar in his human form appealed to the government not to construct the road inside the jungle as it would lead to deforestation. Instead, the road would now be constructed on the outskirts. Bhaskar was now a changed man who supported forest conservation; “changed werewolf” actually!

Raises Awareness On Forest Conservation

Man is on a mission to destroy nature. When you see a tall building, just imagine, once there were several trees in its place which had to be cut down for its construction. So, what a change Bollywood has made by coming out with such an awesome werewolf comedy with a beautiful message! After passing through a dull year with over-hyped and boring films, Bollywood has finally made its mark with an engaging werewolf comedy that supports forest conservation. Save trees, save forests!

Mind-Blowing Performances

Varun Dhawan has simply nailed it! He is a great comedian, and his character of Bhaskar in Bhediya involves horror, comedy as well as intense raw action. As you can see, the character of “Bhaskar the werewolf” is complex! This is a character that has more than “50 shades”, but of course not like Mr. Gray! He is comical, romantic, and not to forget, shape-shifts into a deadly beast! Varun Dhawan has completely adapted himself to the character, and upon watching him you will not feel that you are watching Varun, but the werewolf Bhaskar.

Kriti Sanon gave an excellent and very natural performance as Bhaskar’s physician and love interest, Dr. Anika. Her chemistry with Varun Dhawan in the movie is praiseworthy. Abhishek Banerjee as Bhaskar’s cousin Janardan is fantastic and adds humor to the play. In fact, many light moments throughout the film have been created keeping his character as the center.

The supporting cast includes Deepak Dobriyal and Saurabh Shukla who lent great support throughout. And I have to say, Sharad Kelkar’s narration was simply awesome!

The Dialogue That May Drive You Crazy!

This is not the werewolf that only preys on humans. This is the kind of werewolf who is a lover boy as well as an action hero who delivers heroic dialogues too! Check out this dialogue. THE WEREWOLF SAYS, “Sirf Naagin Ke Paas License Hain Kya Icchadhari Hone Ka?” It means, “Do only snakes have the license to shape-shift?”

Breathtaking Visuals And Locations

Bhediya has beautiful cinematography by Jishnu Bhattacharjee. The filming of Bhediya was done in the forest and village locations in Arunachal Pradesh. If you are familiar with the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh which borders China, you might also be familiar with its captivating mountain and forest landscapes. The full moon night, the mountains, jungles, and villages of Arunachal added to the mesmerizing scenic atmosphere.

Moreover, the astounding realistic VFX did the magic! If you see the werewolf in this movie, you will be reminded of the werewolf in the “Twilight” franchise. It looks more or less the same. Big, hairy, and beastly! Besides, the werewolf transformation shown is comical. The shape-shifting shown involves a big and hairy tail piercing out of Bhaskar’s pants! Even if this movie may appear to be a bit lengthy, it involves some sharp editing and skillful scene placements by Sanyukta Kaza.

Rocking Songs

The tracks in Bhediya like “Thumkeshwari” and “Jungle Mein Kaand” are rocking! Even if they may not appear melodious, I am sure you won’t be able to resist tapping your feet to the dance steps of Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon in these tracks. The dance choreography was marvelous! And yes, if you are a fan of melody, you can consider listening to the magical voice of Arijit Singh in the love track “Apna Bana Le”.

The Bad:

TRP Affected Due To Drishyam 2!

Currently, Drishyam 2 is ruling the hearts and minds of Bollywood fans. The craze for Drishyam 2 is high! So high, that it has seriously affected the TRP of this thrilling horror-comedy drama as it was released just a week after. Drishyam 2 is breaking all box office records, and its second week too is in for a blast! This is the sole reason for the weak advance bookings for Bhediya which was released on November 25, 2022.

The Verdict:

Bhediya was no “easy-to-make” film. It has been well-written, well-made, and well-enacted. I must tell you that it is difficult to make a creature-horror film which involves comedy too! So, Amar Kaushik’s skillful direction indeed deserves a distinction!

Scenes, where Varun Dhawan as Bhaskar transforms into a ferocious werewolf, are exciting to watch. In fact, I was eagerly waiting to see him shape-shift into a wolf because till now I have seen him only as a comical hero. It was indeed thrilling to watch him as a shape-shifting wolf who also performs comedy in his human form. A rare combo of horror and comedy, I must say!

The promotional teaser of Bhediya is interesting as well as funny. It has the famous tune from the Hindi version of Jungle Book, “Jungle Jungle Pata Chala Hain, Chaddi Pehen Ke Phool Khila Hain”, signifying the wolf. It means, “The news has spread throughout the jungle that a flower has blossomed with his underpants on!” In fact, the werewolf has been shown wearing underpants because those failed to rip off during his transformation.

The climax of Bhediya even leaves the audience wondering, is there room for a sequel? You will only be able to understand the ending scene in Bhediya if you have watched the 2018 horror-comedy drama “Stree”. All characters from that movie assemble at the end, and Bhaskar transforms into a werewolf once again! Actually, Bhaskar’s cousin Janardan was associated with “Stree” as he actually was a character from that movie. So, are the audiences now waiting for a sequel that will be a combination of the cast of “Bhediya” and “Stree”? I get even more confused when I ponder, will that upcoming film be a sequel to “Bhediya” or “Stree”? Who knows?!

Whatever will be the case, Bhediya is for sure a mass entertainer! Check out Bhediya at your nearest theaters to experience Varun Dhawan shape-shift and bear out his fangs!