Vadh – Sometimes, Killing Is Not An Option

When you discover Shambhunath Mishra (Sanjay Mishra) and wife Manju (Neena Gupta) in the lead, you are a bit put off, questioning yourself about how such middle-aged actors are the protagonists of a crime thriller. But once you watch a middle-class, ageing couple trying to lead an ordinary life in Gwalior, you are trapped in their outstanding portrayal.

The husband, Masterji, a retired school-master, teaches the neighbourhood children, while the wife who suffers from arthritis, keeps herself busy in prayers, cooking, watering the plants on the terrace despite her arthritis, and visits to the local temple.

This apparently simple family lives with two major problems. One is the backlog of a Rs.25 lakh loan they took from a local goonda and loan-shark named Prajapati Pandit, for their only son’s education abroad. The other problem is that their United States-based, thoroughly ungrateful son hardly keeps in touch with his parents. They have to go to an internet parlour to make video calls to him, which he does not like and cuts them off with sharp dismissals.

Then there is Prajapati Pandey (Sumit Sachdeva), a pain-in-the-you-know-where. He drops in at any time, any day. He either comes with a girl and steps into the old couple’s bedroom using it for a quickie, or lands up with drinks and orders them to serve him non-veg snacks he gets, knowing that the Mishras are strictly vegetarian.

He keeps reminding Masterji about falling back on his instalments. The senior couple is scared of him as they are bound by the huge loan they owe him, but cannot repay.

Among Masterji’s students is a 12-year-old girl named Naina, and Prajapati notices her one day during his visits to this house which he also parades to potential buyers without a word to the owner Masterji who has been living here for years. One day, when he visits Panditji’s home with a bottle of drinks, the wife is not at home.

Prajapati orders Masterji to get him some snacks to go with the drinks and also to bring in Naina for an hour till Masterji’s wife comes back. Masterji loses his cool and kills Prajapati brutally, chops up his body to pieces and manages to dispose of the parts in a drain some distance from their home in the middle of the night.

It is shocking that a quiet, submissive and honest old man like Masterji is capable not only of killing a man in terrible anger but coolly disposing of the body and all remnants that remain the only proof of his visit to their home like any professional killer. He kills in the heat of the moment but his getting rid of the body along with every shred of proof that might help the police nab him is cold-blooded and well-planned.

There is a corrupt cop, Shakti Singh (Manav Vij) who runs a prosperous “business” with the criminal Prajapati as his ally. And he begins to dig into Prajapati’s sudden disappearance. Since Masterji’s was the last house he reportedly visited, Singh begins to frequent Masterji’s house to question him.

But before that, Masterji himself visits the police station and informs the next in command that he has killed Prajapati and has come to confess to his crime. But the policeman and his team refuse to believe that this simple, innocent, old guy is capable of committing such a brutal murder. They tell him that the story he has picked up from his favourite magazine ‘Manohar Kahaniya’ is a good idea and lets him go, laughing away at his ‘story.’

When Manju learns what Masterji has done, she is not only shocked and hurt but also says that she and her husband have truly committed a grave sin by snatching a father from his little daughter and his wife from her husband. But Masterji tells her that he will do it again as he does not believe that he has committed a crime but has actually done away with an evil man.

Vadha (वध) refers to “that which should be killed”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.4.6 (“The miraculous feat of Kārttikeya”). Kumāra (Kārttikeya) said to the Brahmin Nārada: “O Brahmin Nārada, this goat does not deserve to be killed (vadha-yogya). Return home. May your sacrifice be complete. It has been so ordained by my favour”.

Another meaning of ‘vadh’ contained in the Puranas stands for “Execution, as punishment for rape, illegitimate intercourse, doing mahāpātakams and theft” and Prajapati is a perpetrator who fits neatly into this definition. So, according to Masterji, he has committed no crime.

The killing of Mahishasura by Devi Durga for example, is never mentioned as “murder” but as “vadh.” Because it was deemed necessary to get rid of Mahishasura at that point of time to save the Gods in heaven and only Durga was capable of doing it.

However, the climax suddenly shows a change of heart in Shakti Singh, who is no saint and is corrupt. One wonders why the script suddenly turns kind to him. The same does not apply to the politician who is running the entire show from behind and he is the one who is put behind bars as Masterji’s “vadh” has no proof.

The question that might arise here is what was the precise motive that pushed Masterji to kill? Was it to stop him from forcing him to sell his house against his wishes? Or, was it because he had ordered Masterji to bring Naina to him for sex?

Having looked at Masterji as a normal, timid and middle-class teacher, what could have been the real motive? It is for the viewers to decide. One is tempted to suspect that Masterji could not tolerate the thought of the little, innocent Naina forcefully being turned into a victim of rape at the hands of the evil Prajapati.

It is not so much the story as it is the way the narrative flows and gives shape to the different characters with conviction and artistry throughout the film that makes Vadh a different kind of thriller. On face value, Vadh appears to be a simple story of parental abuse by their only son who lives in the US but dislikes his parents and gets irritated whenever they call or do a video call in a paid-for studio.

It is the nuances that are so subtle that you may not even notice them if you are not careful that makes ‘Vadh’ memorable. One scene is Masterji applying an oil massage to his wife who has severe arthritis and always addresses her with “aap.”

The small scene showing Prajapati entering their home with a thoroughly scared young lady and then pulling her to their bedroom and shutting the door on the scared faces of the Mishra couple is telling.

Then, there is the touch where Masterji steps into a flour grinding shop asking for some flour in exchange for a Rs 2000 note. The shop keeper does not have the necessary change so he goes out to fetch some change and Masterji takes advantage of his absence to pour all the things Prajapati was carrying into the grinding machine.

The most moving scene is when the old parents pay off the video parlour’s owner after their last conversation with their ungrateful son, and inform the owner that they will never come again. The affectionate side of Prajapati is glimpsed in a short scene where he buys ice-cream for his little daughter and takes her for a drive in his car.

The repeated references to ‘Manohar Kahaniyan’ adds a touch of intelligent humour to the otherwise edgy scenario. The sound design of the film is award-worthy because it downplays the visual shocks of the body being slaughtered to pieces and then thrown into a gutter in an area which no one will ever suspect Masterji of having visited.

The music is underplayed which adds to the aesthetics of the film. But it is the brilliant cinematography that stands out. The lighting is imaginatively done, throwing the daily life of Masterji and his wife leading a very ordinary life, passing through the crowded lanes in the marketplace or focusing on a mid-shot capturing Manju flowering her plants, clambering up the stairs with great difficulty.

The editing is good too, cutting when called for, switching over to the next scene without jerks or pauses and generally maintaining a harmony between and among time, space and continuity.

It is the outstanding characterizations and their realisation by actors like Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta, along with every single actor who has done a cameo or a supporting character has successfully made a crime thriller. it takes away from common cops-and-robbers thrillers, or suspense-filled thrillers, or a murder mystery, or a revenge thriller.

Director-writer duo Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal have given us a thriller worth remembering, though the feedback in terms of viewership and reviews has been rather less.

A crime thriller is commonly assumed to feature handsome macho men and delicate women, or, maybe, a sexy-police-uniform-wearing, gun-toting and very attractive police woman. ‘Vadh’ is a completely different cup of tea and the tea really tastes delightful after the Southern circus around us masquerading as cinema.