Let’s be honest, Bollywood seldom ever gives us anything beyond sappy, unrealistic romances and melodramatic subplots revolving around strictly male heroes. Most of what qualifies for mainstream success can fit into the broad genres of ‘drama’, ‘comedy’, ‘romance’, or Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s formulaic period films. Our list of thrillers that successfully manage to keep the audience second-guessing is short and often disappointing. Sujoy Ghosh’s Badla, thankfully, isn’t another disappointment on the list.
An official remake of the 2016 crime thriller The Invisible Guest (TIG) made by Spanish screenwriter and director Oriol Paulo, Badla checks all the boxes when it comes to adapting an already brilliant film — great actors, a director who’s comfortable with the genre, and an immaculate script.
So to truly grasp the film, without being carried away by the whodunit aspect of it, I decided to get a head start by watching the original Spanish version of it on Netflix.
As we already know, the premise of both the films is pretty basic. Naina Sethi (Taapsee Pannu), a successful businesswoman, has been accused of murdering Arjun (played by Malayalam actor Tony Luke), the man she has been having an adulterous relationship with. Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan), a retired lawyer, is here to help her case. Why his name is an obvious anagram of the movie name is beyond me.
An almost frame-by-frame remake of its Spanish counterpart, Badla too starts off with Naina taking centre stage as the unreliable narrator. As scenarios and theories are thrown our way, the viewers’ suspension of disbelief grows stronger.
However, unlike TIG, Badla’s nail-biting script comes with a constant element of comic relief in the form of Badal Gupta.
Throughout the two-hour long interrogation, Badal keeps quoting from the epic Mahabharata. He effortlessly switches between icy cross-questioning and friendly banter (the kind that’s exclusive to Indian households), almost as if he’s the friendly neighbourhood lawyer and not a renowned veteran of the industry. At one point, he even takes a detour from the ongoing conversation to compliment Naina’s coffee-making skills.
In the original Spanish version, the script is incredibly straightforward and taut, with absolutely no digressions. The characters, Adrian Doria (the accused) and Virginia Goodman (the lawyer), talk swiftly and directly, without any light-hearted banter. In fact, the need to go and grab a cup of coffee is exactly how Virginia makes her final exit. Enveloped in an obscure hostility since the very beginning, TIG makes use of its characters and the conversations they have to build and sustain the tension. However, in Badla, it’s the sound effects that play an equal (if not more) role in furthering the whodunit effect.
Perhaps one of the main reasons why Bollywood has largely failed in creating successful crime thrillers and horror movies is that such films depend heavily on “details” - a lesson I learnt from the character of Badal Gupta himself.
While TIG follows this principle brilliantly, Badla falls short. The fact that it’s a remake becomes obvious to someone who is already familiar with the plot. Certain subtleties, like the flicking of the golden lighter, seem abrupt and half-hearted. Whether the fault lies in the direction or the acting - one can only speculate.
Like I said earlier, there’s not much that can go wrong with a remake. If you have the right cast, that is. Amitabh Bachchan’s towering persona perfectly lends itself to the overall tonality of the film. Taapsee’s stellar performance convinces us of her innocence despite the unrealistic setting of the situation. And Amrita Singh brings to the film her own nuanced warmth as a Punjabi mother in despair. These are all elements that are lacking from the Spanish version of Badla.
A film is nothing without its plot and its characters, both in unison as well as isolation. While the plot is invincible in both the versions, Badla’s characters are somehow more appealing in isolation. They’re well-developed and more refined, and they display human instincts more fully. Having said that, one can’t help but admit that much is often lost in translation. So while I do admire Badla’s characters more, TIG is definitely more fast-paced and flows better.
But if it comes down to choosing the one I’d rewatch - it’s The Invisible Guest all the way.
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