Cast: Aditya Rawal, Shalini Pandey, Vijay Varma, Jatin Sarna
Director: Ranjan Chandel
Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)
A trio of Bollywood first-timers - director Ranjan Chandel (one of the writers of Anurag Kashyap's Mukkabaaz), lead actor Aditya Rawal (Paresh Rawal's son) and female lead Shalini Pandey (last seen in the Telugu-language Arjun Reddy) - joins forces to create an inter-religious hinterland story of doomed love that ducks and weaves its way in and out of the clichés of the genre. The mild surprises that it throws up on occasion (including a big one in the climax) aren't enough to help Bamfaad, a Zee5 original film presented by Anurag Kashyap, tide over the been-there-done-that air that clings to it no matter what.
Neither Aditya Rawal nor Shalini Pandey, both of whom are earnest enough not to look completely at sea, exude the sort of scorching screen presence than can inject the power of youthful fervour and amorous passion into this Allahabad-set tale of a Muslim boy, Nasir Jamal, who falls in love with a Hindu girl, Neelam. The first letter of our names is the same, Nasir says to Neelam the first time that the two talk to each other. The boy could not obviously be unaware that a letter of the alphabet is the only that they share. There is a whole wide chasm that separates them.
But hold on, the religious divide isn't what Bamfaad is particularly interested in. There is a stray, matter-of-fact reference to 'love jihad', but that element of the plot construct never comes anywhere near becoming central to the film's narrative arc. Neither family nor community opposes the blossoming affair between Neelam and Nasir. Trouble stems from elsewhere, from a place where religious identity and its attendant complications cease to matter. This anodyne approach robs the film of the opportunity to explore the huge social gulf that the young lovers cannot shrug off even when in their own minds there isn't an iota of confusion over what they are up against.
The small-town underworld is controlled by two men - Nasir's father Shahid Jamal (Vijay Kumar) and a mild-mannered gangster Jigar Fareedi (Vijay Verma). Both are politically ambitious and will do whatever it takes to stay in the good books of the local legislator. Bamfaad places that big picture in the background of Neelam and Nasir's story. Unfortunately, it stays right there, unmoving, ineffective and petering out completely by the time the lovers are ready to make a dash for their lives.
Far more interesting is the plight of Neelam. She is in the clutches of Jigar, who provides her with all the comforts she requires but treats her like his personal property without being brazenly abusive. Her relationship with the goon is rooted in her vulnerability, an attribute that Shalini Pandey conveys with a degree of conviction (and shades of her performance in Arjun Reddy).
The male protagonist is cast in the mould of a Prince Charming - Rawal's general demeanour may be hero-like, but he is every inch an average bloke - wiry of built, wavy hair, nondescript attire - who must rescue the damsel in distress. A massive chestnut that.
Mild twists come in the form of both Neelam's contradictory impulses and the nature of Nasir's revolt against authority. On the face of it, Neelam is a feisty, free-spirited girl who always seems to be in control. She is often the one who takes the initiative in determining the shape and direction that her relationship with Nasir will take. But as her back story emerges via the bits and pieces that she chooses to reveal, it becomes abundantly clear that she is no more than a caged bird, albeit of her own volition.
Nasir is a full-blown rebel all right, but his actions are limited to helping a classmate cheat in an exam or woo a girl, hurling a stone at a beehive as the college principal passes under it, or jumping into street brawls at the slightest provocation. He is at worst a spoilt brat. He does not turn into an unstoppable growling and scowling killing machine when confronted with the reality of Neelam's links with Jigar Fareedi. Instead, he flees on the first bus to Lucknow with his lady love.
Although Bamfaad hasn't actually been filmed in Allahabad, it makes an effort to capture the 'sights and sounds' of the city through the language that the characters speak, the locational details (Rani Mandi, Tharethi Bazaar, Khusro Bagh) highlighted in the story, and the repeated references to Ganga and Prayag. If only the screenplay had invested a little more thought into the fraught love story and its vicious ramifications and delivered the action with greater heft, Bamfaad might have become the explosive tale of star-crossed lovers that it aspires to be.
In a climactic moment, Nasir warns Neelam that the air is poisonous around here. However, the venomous, suffocating environment that he alludes to is hardly palpable. When Nasir is on the run, Jigar's lackeys launch a bordering-on-perfunctory manhunt. Their contempt for the fugitive is understandable, but their fury has none of the intensity that could singe the lovelorn Nasir, let alone the entire town.
Bamfaad is an underwhelming drama that pulls too many punches and, in the bargain, fails to be anything more than a damp squib. It simpers rather than simmers, and hisses rather than crackles.
