VANVAAS delivers a heartfelt and sincere narrative

Vanvaas Review 3.0/5 & Review Rating

Director: Anil Sharma

Vanvaas Movie Review Synopsis:
Vanvaas is the story of an old man and a young chap, both of whom are abandoned. Deepak Tyagi (Nana Patekar) lives in Shimla in a mansion named Vimla Sadan. He built the mansion and named it after his wife Vimla (Kushboo Sundar). Vimla passed away a few years ago. Deepak is a dementia patient and at times, he forgets that his wife is no more. He lives with his three sons, their wives and grandchildren. His sons and wives are fed up taking care of him and his tantrums. When Deepak decides to hand over the house to a trust, they conclude that enough is enough. They devise a plan – they would go on a holiday to Banaras and admit Deepak in an old-age home, without his consent. Deepak is not aware of this devious plan and travels to Banaras with them. There, his family faces a problem when all the old-age homes ask for ID proof. They refuse to accept this condition as they fear that Deepak will be returned back to Vimla Sadan once they realize that he’s not ready to stay in an old-age home. Hence, they ask the old age homes to admit him without any ID proof or details of the family address. They even agree to pay more but all the old age homes refuse the request. With no other option, they decide to abandon him at a Ghat. They take away his identity cards and even empty his medicine bottle. In the absence of his pills, Deepak forgets who he is and assumes that his children are in their teens. He starts looking for them but to no avail. This is when he comes across a petty thief Veeru (Utkarsh Sharma) who acts as his saviour. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Vanvaas Movie Story Review:
Anil Sharma, Sunil Sirvaiya and Amjad Ali’s story is very emotional and has the potential to touch a chord with the audience. Anil Sharma, Sunil Sirvaiya and Amjad Ali’s screenplay has its share of well-written and fleshed-out scenes but has a lot of rough edges as well, sadly. Anil Sharma, Sunil Sirvaiya and Amjad Ali’s dialogues are hard-hitting.

Anil Sharma’s direction is simple. His old-school style of filmmaking gives a nice touch. Also, it’s very mainstream as it appeals to the target audience, that is, the families and the ones in B and C centres. The pain of the protagonist is very moving and the way he remembers his dead wife adds to the emotional quotient of the film. At the same time, his equation with the young thief with a heart of gold is heartening. Some scenes that work big time are Deepak being abandoned, Deepak and Veeru forming a bond over alcohol, the intermission point etc. Anil Sharma, however, reserves the best for the climax. It is very touching and is sure to make moviegoers teary-eyed.

On the flipside, the film looks similar to BAGHBAN (2003) and even BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN (2015) and 3 IDIOTS (2009). A few developments are bewildering. For instance, the family of Deepak doesn’t even get the death certificate ready after his ‘death’ and is reminded of it only after a month. The second half is too dragging. The entire track of Veeru hurting Meena (Simratt Kaur) unintentionally and Rampatiya Mausi ji’s (Ashwini Kalsekar) outburst needlessly add to the length. Lastly, the film is releasing with negligible buzz and it’ll impact its collections.

Vanvaas Official Trailer | Anil Sharma | Nana Patekar | Utkarsh Sharma | Simrat Kaur

Vanvaas Movie Review Performances:
Nana Patekar delivers an award-winning performance. Interestingly, he had played a similar role before in the Marathi film NATSAMRAT (2016) but he ensures that there would be no comparisons between the two. Utkarsh Sharma puts in a sincere effort and succeeds to some extent. But he could have done better in the emotional scenes. Simratt Kaur has a fine screen presence but is still raw. Kushboo Sundar is lovely in a cameo. Rajpal Yadav (Pappu) raises a lot of laughs. Ashwini Kalsekar is just okay. Hemantt Kher (Somu), Kettan Singh (Bablu), Paritosh Tripathi (Chutka), Bhakti Rathore (Manjari; Somu’s wife), Snehiil Dixit Mehraa (Anchal; Bablu’s wife) and Shruti Marathe (Pooja; Chutka’s wife) lend able support. Rajesh Sharma (Gautam Gupta) and Rajiv Gupta (Param Negi) leave a mark. Mushtaq Khan (Inspector Lal Singh) and Virendra Saxena (Shukla) don’t get much scope. Manish Wadhwa (Madhav) is great in a cameo.

Vanvaas movie music and other technical aspects:
Mithoon’s music is okay but is well inserted in the narrative. ‘Yaadon Ke Jharokhon Se’ and ‘Bandhan’ are played at crucial junctures and work. The same goes for ‘Ram Dhun’. ‘Geeli Maachis’ fails to make a mark. ‘Chhabili Ke Naina’ (by Monty Sharma) is forgettable. Monty Sharma’s background score is in sync with the film’s theme.

Kabir Lal’s cinematography is breathtaking and captures the locales of Banaras and Himachal Pradesh beautifully. It also gives the film a big-screen appeal. Muneesh Sappel’s production design is satisfactory. Neeta Lulla’s costumes for Utkarsh and Simrat are stylish while Niddhi Yasha’s costumes for the rest of the actors are realistic. Sham Kaushal’s action gives the film a mass appeal. Squad VFX’s VFX is a bit tacky. Sanjay Sankla’s editing could have been slicker.

Vanvaas Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, VANVAAS delivers a heartfelt and sincere narrative that resonates deeply. With its poignant subject matter and an emotionally charged climax, it holds the promise of becoming the BAGHBAN for this generation. At the box office, its potential may be hindered by limited pre-release buzz, lack of widespread awareness, and stiff competition from PUSHPA 2 and other new releases.