Bedhadak review: This attempt to highlight conflict between sports and education lacks punch

Bedhadak comes at an opportune time, as the school summer vacation draws to a close and ’tis the season for board exam results. The narrative in middle-class Indian households around this time does not vary a lot. Great marks make for great careers is the dominant sentiment. This may sound like a gross generalization as there are parents who encourage children to pursue their passions. But it would be silly to be in denial that this push is almost always a consolation. Excelling academically is the grand prize.

Director Santosh Manjrekar has a one-track agenda — to prove to his audience that an aptitude for sports needs just as much respect and incentive. It is not novel in real life, though parents are known to discourage athletic pursuits at the cost of education. However, in reel life, it does seem novel — making a case for sports in the bout against big baddie ‘education’. Is it necessary to villainize one or the other at any given time? No. Does Manjrekar take the easy way out? Yes. Does the film pack a punch? Hardly.

The conflict in Bedhadak is repeated all through the first half. It’s almost as if the makers don’t trust the intelligence of the viewers to accept and believe what they are trying to say. So there are scenes of our athletic protagonist Ajay Sahane (Girish Taware) being insulted all the time by his college principal father Arun Sahane (Ganesh Yadav) and ‘educated’ brother Rahul (Prasad Limaye) for barely getting by academically. The mother plays referee as the men trade punches around the house.

When Ajay is thrown out of the house for creating a scene at a party to honour his brother’s academic achievements (really? who does that?), coach Ramakant (Ashok Samarth) takes him under his tutelage. Ramakant trains Ajay to be the best. And, of course, there is the romantic angle with the coach’s daughter, which is thankfully kept in the background as director Manjrekar sets out to fulfil his sole agenda.

Some things work for Bedhadak. The fights are well-shot and drama is kept to the minimum. Director Santosh Manjrekar’s focus is in harmony with Ajay’s character. He ably uses music to create an atmosphere of urgency. Credit must be given where it is due and Manjrekar makes a good try. However, you cannot call Bedhadak a sports film. It’s more about letting children pursue their passions.

Speaking of children, the main characters are supposed to be Standard XII students. But not one of them looks the age. You are instantly reminded of the Hindi blockbuster 3 Idiots (2009) in which Aamir Khan, nearly 44 then, played an engineering student and got away with it.

Girish Taware gives a restrained performance. The problem is the restraint seems to stem more from lack of confidence than the demands of the role. His love interest played by Namrata Gaikwad overacts.

It’s a pleasure to watch Ashok Samarth as coach Ramakant and Ganesh Yadav who plays Ajay’s father. They hold the film together as you sit back and pray it won’t take a predictable route. But alas...

The lack of attention to detail deals body blows to Manjrekar’s honest attempt. In most of the fights, none of the competitors against Ajay seems to be from his weight class, which is heavyweight. Ajay plays a friendly bout in surfer shorts and some songs pop up with no connection to the previous scene. This abruptness is the director’s flagrant need to fit in too much, again, perhaps, doubting his viewers’ intelligence.

Some of the twists are superficial and the climax is painfully predictable. The runtime of 126 minutes is too long to sit through, especially after you have predicted every move of every main character and have had enough time to predict those of the secondary characters too. Quite exhausting, that.

If you must watch Bedhadak, let it be for the flimsy story. The treatment isn’t quite delightful. This film is a classic case of good intentions blowing up a perfectly good opportunity to smithereens.