Film: Bamfaad

Cast: Aditya Rawal, Shalini Pandey, Jatin Sarna, Vijay Varma

OTT: ZEE5

Director: Ranjan Chandel

Rating: 3 Moons

Aditya Rawal, the son of veteran actors Paresh Rawal and Swaroop Sampat Rawal, has officially entered Bollywood with debutant Ranjan Chandel’s hinterland romance, Bamfaad on ZEE5. The Anurag Kashyap presented film also marks lead Arjun Reddy fame Shalini Pandey’s debut in Bollywood. Joining them in the lead are Jatin Sarna and Vijay Varma.

Bamfaad which means volatile in North Indian slang language, orbits around Nasir Jamal (Aditya Rawal) who belongs to an influential family in Allahabad. He is unfiltered, uber-confident and fears nobody. Despite being notorious enough to stir up a storm in the by lanes of the small city, Nasir wears his heart on his sleeve for his friends.

Recommended Read: Was surprised to know my son has signed a film as an actor: Paresh Rawal on Aditya Rawal making his debut with 'Bamfaad'

Soon, Nasir chances upon Neelam (Shalini Pandey). He instantly falls in love with her and confesses his love for her after a couple of meetings. Slowly, Neelam gets attracted to his honesty and the respect he has for her. However, their romance doesn’t go down well with Jigar Fareedi (Vijay Varma). Before falling in love with Nasir, Neelam dated Jigar who continues to sleep with her and helps her with a living. Unhappy with the way he treats her physically, Neelam wants to move on from the relationship.

Bamfaad takes a volatile twist when Jigar wants Nasir dead for a number of reasons. As the chase begins, Nasir and Neelam flee away to Lucknow to secure themselves from danger. However, they find no peace as she gets caught by the Police who hand her over to Jigar back in Allahabad. In a quest to rescue his love, Nasir returns to his hometown. With rage-filled eyes, his aim is to hunt down Jigar who is the sole cause of the trouble in his life. Will Nasir’s and Neelam’s love conquer? What’s in store for them? Bamfaad will steadily answer these questions in 1 hour 41 minutes duration.

Bamfaad, directed by Ranjan Chandel, is loaded with politics, violence, betrayal and of course love. Shunning all the gloss and foul abuses that rustic hinterland films comprise of, this project, unfortunately, has nothing new to offer in terms of story. It is the performances of actors that makes it watchable.

Aditya delivers a strong performance. Sinking into the skin of a spoilt brat who helps his classmate cheat in exams and also hurls a stone at a beehive, Aditya gets his act right. Coming from a family of actors, the newcomer shows glimpses of his father in him. He is intense, bold and ‘bamfaad’. Welcome to Bollywood, Aditya! Shalini, as Neelam, looks gorgeous and does her job well. Right from her screen presence to chemistry with Aditya, it works well for the story. However, the director and writer don’t do justice to her talent completely. She carries a half-baked character with her and tries to sail it across with honesty.

Jatin Sarna and Vijay Varma are totally wasted. The actors who have delivered stellar acts in the recent past, are just molded into caricatures that are weak links to the overall narrative. Amongst the two, Vijay gets the maximum scope to perform and makes the most of his screen time. Vishal Mishra’s music is likable and one of the best elements of Bamfaad. The songs take the narrative forward and add a little more pace to the flow. Writer Hanzalah Sahid keeps Bamfaad very basic without a much-needed punch to distinguish it from other Bollywood films that revolve around ‘love jihad’.

Bamfaad confidently rides high on performances, especially by Aditya, but falters because of familiar plotline and weak character sketches. Ranjan makes a good attempt at directing the film but could have been far better if its roots were etched a little deeper.

Watch it for Aditya’s performance and a never-dying love for Anurag Kashyap’s style of filmmaking.

PeepingMoon gives Bamfaad 3 Moons