Bawaal Movie Review: World War II Keeps An Indian Marriage Together in 2023

Rahul Desai

The Bawaal is in the Writing

Where would storytellers go if there was no history to humble them? What would we do if there were no murderous dictators and wars to trivialise? How would we normalise toxic marriages and men if there were no horrific genocides to compare them with?

Fake it Till You Make — But in Europe

Ajay convinces his father to splurge on a belated European honeymoon for Nisha and him, under the pretext of personally going to World War II places of interest to livestream his lessons to his students.

A Clear-Eyed Misfire

Bawaal is such a clear-eyed misfire that it’s making me reconsider my enjoyment of Chhichhore (2019), director Nitesh Tiwari’s previous film. The signs were there.

A Film of Relative Hindsight and Unforgettable Lessons

A film teaching us to appreciate things through the relativity of hindsight has convinced me to criticise things through relative hindsight. You can’t say Bawaal is a bad teacher, after all. This is not an education I will forget.

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