Tu nahi badla!

Jasmine Singh

If for some reason you haven’t been able to catch this week’s Punjabi film release, Needhi Singh, don’t worry... you just have to pull out the DVD’s of Hindi films Phool Bane Angarey, NH 10, Ek Hasina Thi, Hate Story 1 and 2 and Anjaam, stacked somewhere in your memory. Now, play these in your head, placing actress Kulraj Randhawa at the helm of affairs and you have a brand new Needhi Singh, with of course original additions as well!

Directed by Jaivi Dhanda, Needhi Singh is apparently one of the countable women- centric films of the Punjabi film industry, starring Kulraj Randhawa, Ashish Duggal, Nirmal Rishi and Gurdas Maan. The movie, as the name suggests, revolves around the happy-go-lucky girl Needhi, played by actress Kulraj Randhawa, who is forced to be revengeful because of a twist in circumstances.

Does this sound new to you, by any means? You can ask the writer of the story, Jaivi Dhanda, the director himself! The movie starts with the usual, everything happy, joyful or let’s say too joyful, till things begin to go wrong. Do you smell anything new in this? Well, you can again ask the screenplay writers Jaivai Dhanda (yet again) and Gaurav Bhalla. With Needhi Singh reminding you of so many women revenge-centric stories, there are barely any new and fresh moments, except for Kulraj Randhawa herself. This actress has shown some amazing skills in the film; at least Kulraj Randhawa can portray a flush of emotions coming and going in her reel character.

The director hasn’t bothered much about shaping up the story; he hasn’t even bothered to make Needhi take badla in some new way. So, you have the usual playful girl becoming a zinda laash, and then going on a rampage, taking badla one by one from all her dushmans, pretty much the way you have seen before. Watch Surveen Chawla take her badla after she becomes a zinda laash in Hate Story 2! You’d know what we mean here.

The predictability of events in the film works against it. The been-there-done-that thing coupled with the audience saying, ‘I know what will happen next,’ leaves nothing as a wow moment in the film.

Actor Ashish Chaudhary is the bad man and we bet you would not find anything new in his character or acting. Seeing Gurdas Maan in a film is definitely a nice change. Kulraj Randhawa has nailed her run-of-the mill written character. A pat on the back for the costume designer of Kulraj Randhawa for keeping her costumes real, and one for the production team for sticking to the continuity in the film!

Needhi Singh could have come out as a fine women- centric Punjabi film had the director thought about giving a new shape to the revenge angle; if not a new shape, then may be a different treatment. The music of the film is in sync with the theme, the item number however is uncalled for. The star belongs to only and only Kulraj Randhawa - the Needhi Singh!