Girish Wadhawan

That a movie featuring action star John Abraham is packed with furious fighting, bicep flexing and gunshots is no surprise. However, what is truly impressive about Vedaa is its lead actor Sharvari Wagh, who plays a Dalit girl that just wants to break free from the shackles of caste and oppression. It truly blows my mind and in a good way that a Bollywood flick, released on Independence Day no less, has chosen to showcase the story of a young Dalit woman and make her the protagonist. Given the everyday violence that Dalits are subjected to, Dalit women in particular, this movie is really a breath of fresh air. While it shines a light on atrocities committed against Dalits, there are some incredible scenes of empowerment that made me want to stand up in the theatre and applaud! A gripping narrative sprinkled with your regular Bollywood masala ingredients and way too much action (that ruins the movie to some extent, which is why I rated it 4 instead of 5) makes this a compelling watch. It would have been nice if the movie had a bit more depth and less action sequences, but it is still an exceptional story to come from Bollywood where oppressed groups seldom get a lead role. Despite the criticism of John Abraham and his poor acting, I thought this was a pretty great role for him. Sharvari Wagh is brilliant and so are Abhishek Banerjee and Ashish Vidyarthi.