Based on the real life controversial encounter of 2008, on which serious criticism and doubts were raised of being fake, killing young university students, BATLA HOUSE is a muddled thriller that intentionally tries to do two contradicting things at the same time. At one end it tries to convey all about the case in a realistic but partial manner and on the other wishes to win over the box office too incorporating all clichéd commercial elements including a completely forced or out of place item number of Nora Fatehi. As a result the film eventually manages to be a just average thriller inspired from a real life case.
In addition, BATLA HOUSE also turns out to be a rare or first of its kind of film, which has the longest disclaimer in the beginning and then also has captions written on the bottom of the screen saying that the film doesn’t take any sides and just portrays the case as it happened leading to a court hearing.
However, that’s not exactly the case as the film never depicts the happenings in any complex ROSHOMON kind of narrative, but presents it with a simple one sided perspective focusing on the men in uniform. It begins well as a taut realistic thriller showcasing the questioned encounter and the internal politics of the policemen dealing with their appointed officer. But then soon becomes completely one-sided, forcibly inserting all fictional sequences like a typical Bollywood film to please the general public.
As a result, the narration loses its grip and the whole film looks like a purposefully made attempt with a clear target. A scene further verifies its partial outlook when we are shown the protagonist cop waking up from a nightmare, finding himself surrounded by all men wearing skull-caps.
Adapting a potential subject, BATLA HOUSE could have been a layered, thoughtful drama putting the viewers in a dilemma leaving them with their own conclusion, if only the makers had the intention to make it that way. Travelling in two boats together it becomes an uneven film that has sequences deserving praises presented with some fine action, cinematography and background score, but never becomes as tense and thrilling as it should have been.
John Abraham once again plays a cop and it perfectly suits his onscreen persona of a tough fighter as his mannerisms actually lack the required variations. The film completely belongs to him but the two actors who still successfully manage to leave an impression are Mrunal Thakur (as John’s wife) and Ravi Kishan as the officer in team playing a cameo kind of role.
In all, BATLA HOUSE, directed by Nikhil Advani gets marred by its prejudiced approach and too conscious effort of not being called a propaganda film. But its basic vision gets revealed when the makers use a fictional name for a political party throughout the film, but then also incorporate real life news footage showing the actual political figures on the screen.
Hence in the present scenario, when even the bio-pics or the films based on reality are being made mentioning "Fictional depiction inspired from real life events" and clear captions saying “We are not on any side of the issue”, then one needs to form a perception after giving it a serious thought making a deeper study of his or her own.
So do watch it as it gets released online and essentially give this new trend a thought!
Rating : 2.5 / 5
Note : BATLA HOUSE got released on 15th August 2019. While walking through the market marching towards the multiplex a day before to buy the tickets, I saw Independence SALE written at most of the shops on both sides of the road in order to attract the customers.
I reached the Mutliplex counter, but surprisingly they had once again increased the ticket price celebrating the Independence Day.
So in the same consumer market, where at one end the shops had organized SALES sharing their joy with the customers on the occasion of Independence Day, multiplexes had increased the ticket prices encashing the event, exploiting their customers taking an undue advantage.
That is exactly the practice BTC has been opposing since long. To be specific, (clearing the confusion of many), higher ticket prices at multiplexes - is one thing that can still be accepted as per the quality services offered. But increasing the prices every time a big film comes on festivals and holiday weekends is sheer exploitation of the ticket buyers and nothing else.
So as per BTC tradition one star gets deducted from every such film’s ratings due to the timely increased prices taking the viewers for granted.
Net Ratings: 1.5 / 5
