During the 90s, Lawrence D'Souza directed several romantic films with some action and comic elements. However, as a producer, he ventured more towards action-oriented films. Despite helming a critical and commercial success like Saajan, the majority of his work is forgettable. During 1991, Lawrence D'Souza had signed Ajay Devgan for two films. Lawrence would direct the more romantic one with a love triangle, Sangram, and he would produce the more action-oriented one, Bedardi, for a newbie director, Krishnakant Pandya. Unsurprisingly, both Ajay Devgan films turned out to be major failures upon release in 1993.
Bedardi is the story of two brothers, Nirbhay Saxena and Vijay Saxena. Nirbhay is a professor who is loved by all students and teachers for his incredible speeches with some doses of poetry. He is courageous as he stands up for the truth instead of being a bystander to crimes. He is a character not known for succumbing to pressure. Nirbhay also is a family man who loves to spend time with his loved ones. Vijay is more hot-headed but he doesn't cause harm to anyone. He has completed his education but struggles to get a job. He is also a romantic who likes to sing and dance. Both Vijay and Nirbhay lead a middle-class life together with Nirbhay's wife and daughter. All is merry until Vijay starts clashing with an affluent and arrogant individual, Kanhaiya, whose actions then ensure that the Saxena family experience an unpleasant and parlous chain of events. The innocent middle-class family suffer at the hands of this criminal who always tends to escape incarceration due to his high connections. The Saxena brothers are honest and peace-loving individuals, they have always respected the law and never harmed any individual in their society. However, these harmless men transition towards merciless individuals after they the law fails to provide justice. Any individual who watches 90s action films knows exactly how this film will advance with the merciless Saxena brothers ravaging the villains in an action packed climax.
Bedardi had a solid cast and a typical but decent action film story but the director has not handled the film well. Krishnakant Pandya directs some scenes well but he is unable to hold the plot together for long. The initial portions with romance and comedy are dull but still somewhat watchable in parts. The family scenes are beautifully shown. Some of the clashes between the Saxena brothers and Kanhaiya are well directed but it drags a lot and gets too monotonous. The last 35 minutes could've easily been shortened but the director makes it too prolonged and way too dramatic. In addition, the impact of the finale dramatic and action moments pale in comparison to other 1993 similar Ajay Devgan films like Divya Shakti and Ek Hi Raasta. On the whole, the direction is mediocre at best.
Naseeruddin Shah is an exceptional actor but his act as Nirbhay Saxena works well only in parts. The dialogue delivery and expressions are good but his performance is severely affected, in parts, by a saddening but incredibly cliched plot device. At the end, the director has not been able to tap in to the full potential of Naseer's craft. This is one of Naseer's many forgettable commercial movies he himself doesn't like as seen in some of his interviews. Ajay Devgan repeats his trademark action role but he puts up a decent performance. His dialogue delivery is good and he appears confident with solid screen presence. In the 1990s, action was his forte and he is effortless for the most part. Despite this, I must say he has done better action in better 1990s films. Reena Roy is good as Nirbhay's wife, Preeti, but she doesn't have a meaty role. She still does well in the heartwarming family scenes of the Saxena family. Urmila Matondkar in one of her first acting roles is decent but doesn't get much to do. The romantic scenes are filmy and unrealistic which also makes the chemistry between Ajay and Urmila unconvincing. Ajay and Urmila have more memorable films like Bhoot where they were more convincing as a couple. Kiran Kumar is typecast as the villain and he was much better in Sunil Shetty's Pehchaan. Here, he isn't able to register that level of an impact and the arrogance and ego of a villain is completely overdone by him. Makrand Deshpande as a side villain is alright but he was better as Kaali in Sunil Shetty's Anth. Baby Gazala as Nirbhay's daughter, Ritu, is sweet and her scenes with Nirbhay strike a chord. In one scene, Ritu is trying to understand why Nirbhay won't talk to her; she is not able to understand that his vocal chords have been detrimentally affected by an injury. The director is successful here at making the viewer feel sad without making it melodramatic. Had the direction been more consistent, there would've been more such impactful scenes, the entire product would have been something more in the direction of extraordinary. Unfortunately, it is rather ordinary and substandard.
The film's music is directed by legendary composers Laxmikant and Pyarelal but there isn't a single memorable song. There is a silly romantic song called Ille Ille which is catchy but it has pathetic lyrics. The rest of the album contains mediocre tunes. The film's dialogues and screenplay is written by well-known 90s writer, Dilip Shukla. While the screenplay typical, it works on paper, the direction lets his screenplay down big time. The dialogues are somewhat good, Naseer's lines are nice at times but it gets way too monotonous. They are nowhere close to what we have seen in many other films of Naseer and Ajay.
On the whole, Bedardi is mostly a forgettable watch. It is another flop film from Lawrence D'Souza's production. It is an unpleasant experience largely due to below par direction.
Bedardi is the story of two brothers, Nirbhay Saxena and Vijay Saxena. Nirbhay is a professor who is loved by all students and teachers for his incredible speeches with some doses of poetry. He is courageous as he stands up for the truth instead of being a bystander to crimes. He is a character not known for succumbing to pressure. Nirbhay also is a family man who loves to spend time with his loved ones. Vijay is more hot-headed but he doesn't cause harm to anyone. He has completed his education but struggles to get a job. He is also a romantic who likes to sing and dance. Both Vijay and Nirbhay lead a middle-class life together with Nirbhay's wife and daughter. All is merry until Vijay starts clashing with an affluent and arrogant individual, Kanhaiya, whose actions then ensure that the Saxena family experience an unpleasant and parlous chain of events. The innocent middle-class family suffer at the hands of this criminal who always tends to escape incarceration due to his high connections. The Saxena brothers are honest and peace-loving individuals, they have always respected the law and never harmed any individual in their society. However, these harmless men transition towards merciless individuals after they the law fails to provide justice. Any individual who watches 90s action films knows exactly how this film will advance with the merciless Saxena brothers ravaging the villains in an action packed climax.
Bedardi had a solid cast and a typical but decent action film story but the director has not handled the film well. Krishnakant Pandya directs some scenes well but he is unable to hold the plot together for long. The initial portions with romance and comedy are dull but still somewhat watchable in parts. The family scenes are beautifully shown. Some of the clashes between the Saxena brothers and Kanhaiya are well directed but it drags a lot and gets too monotonous. The last 35 minutes could've easily been shortened but the director makes it too prolonged and way too dramatic. In addition, the impact of the finale dramatic and action moments pale in comparison to other 1993 similar Ajay Devgan films like Divya Shakti and Ek Hi Raasta. On the whole, the direction is mediocre at best.
Naseeruddin Shah is an exceptional actor but his act as Nirbhay Saxena works well only in parts. The dialogue delivery and expressions are good but his performance is severely affected, in parts, by a saddening but incredibly cliched plot device. At the end, the director has not been able to tap in to the full potential of Naseer's craft. This is one of Naseer's many forgettable commercial movies he himself doesn't like as seen in some of his interviews. Ajay Devgan repeats his trademark action role but he puts up a decent performance. His dialogue delivery is good and he appears confident with solid screen presence. In the 1990s, action was his forte and he is effortless for the most part. Despite this, I must say he has done better action in better 1990s films. Reena Roy is good as Nirbhay's wife, Preeti, but she doesn't have a meaty role. She still does well in the heartwarming family scenes of the Saxena family. Urmila Matondkar in one of her first acting roles is decent but doesn't get much to do. The romantic scenes are filmy and unrealistic which also makes the chemistry between Ajay and Urmila unconvincing. Ajay and Urmila have more memorable films like Bhoot where they were more convincing as a couple. Kiran Kumar is typecast as the villain and he was much better in Sunil Shetty's Pehchaan. Here, he isn't able to register that level of an impact and the arrogance and ego of a villain is completely overdone by him. Makrand Deshpande as a side villain is alright but he was better as Kaali in Sunil Shetty's Anth. Baby Gazala as Nirbhay's daughter, Ritu, is sweet and her scenes with Nirbhay strike a chord. In one scene, Ritu is trying to understand why Nirbhay won't talk to her; she is not able to understand that his vocal chords have been detrimentally affected by an injury. The director is successful here at making the viewer feel sad without making it melodramatic. Had the direction been more consistent, there would've been more such impactful scenes, the entire product would have been something more in the direction of extraordinary. Unfortunately, it is rather ordinary and substandard.
The film's music is directed by legendary composers Laxmikant and Pyarelal but there isn't a single memorable song. There is a silly romantic song called Ille Ille which is catchy but it has pathetic lyrics. The rest of the album contains mediocre tunes. The film's dialogues and screenplay is written by well-known 90s writer, Dilip Shukla. While the screenplay typical, it works on paper, the direction lets his screenplay down big time. The dialogues are somewhat good, Naseer's lines are nice at times but it gets way too monotonous. They are nowhere close to what we have seen in many other films of Naseer and Ajay.
On the whole, Bedardi is mostly a forgettable watch. It is another flop film from Lawrence D'Souza's production. It is an unpleasant experience largely due to below par direction.
