The first lesson I was taught in screenwriting was characterisation. And characterisation is about the protagonist and antagonist. 

Vikram Vedha - the title tells you this is a story of Vikram and Vedha. It may seem like Vikram (Saif Ali Khan) is the protagonist and Vedha (Hrithik Roshan) is the antagonist. And this is a cop-felon drama. But is it?

What makes the protagonist the protagonist? It’s the antagonist.

Ram is Ram because of Ravan. If there was no evil, what would be considered good? If Ram hadn’t burnt Ravan, he wouldn’t be remembered. He wouldn’t be the hero.

But then again, who decides what is good and bad? Our perceptions of right and wrong.

Vikram is a cop whose agenda is to capture Vedha, a murdererer tough to capture. When he does come in confrontation with Vedha, he is in a dilemma. Because Vedha has to own up to the murders. Vedha is a storyteller. In all his stories is a clue.

The film is a crime investigation drama where you get involved in solving the clues and you think you’re a step ahead of the clues and you might even unravel the mystery, but you wonder, what choice will they make?

Because this is a story after all. And they want you to be invested in the story.

The lines blur. The lines blur when the two characters interchange places. Are murderers evil because they kill innocent people, then are cops as innocent and clean as you think they are and are encounters justified?

It’s easy to make a choice when it is between good and evil or black and white but life is somewhere in the grey. And even when you want to move towards the white, your circumstances might make you choose black.

Vikram Vedha is a story of choices. 

Choices that aren’t on either side of the line but when both choices are on one side of the line, what choice do you make?

For two years of the pandemic, we have gotten used to watching movies on OTT and it seems like an expensive affair to go to the cinema or out of comfort, we have chosen to watch movies on OTT and we are willing to wait for theatrical releases to come to OTT to watch them then.

Going to the cinema is an unmatched experience. Hrithik Roshan is hotter on the big screen. Yes, it’s true. 

The cinematography is outstanding. It is not about foreign locales, sometimes it’s about how crisp a film is and the experience of watching hi-definition celluloid.

The cast is made up of really good actors: Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Radhika Apte, Sharib Hashmi, Rohit Saraf, Yogita Bihani who all blend into their characters so well. They’re playing the characters and not themselves. Which is not always the case in a Hindi movie.

For me, the writing is what kept me intrigued. Every scene was well thought of and strung the screenplay together.

The music is a filler and kind of there to give it that Bollywood touch. It’s not an eyesore though.

The background score, though will stay with you even after the movie.

Props to Pushkar and Gayatri, the writers and directors of the film.

I went in not expecting to enjoy the movie but I did and I would recommend that if you’re stuck in the choice between cinema and OTT or to watch or not to, give it a shot and consider that you’ve given in to one of your vices.

Vikram Vedha gets my vote.

- Dhruvi Shah Mota