Creature Feature mixed with Comedy and Thrills – that’s Bhediya. It is novel, entertaining, and has comedy but nothing adequate. While it is great for a one-time watch, there is something about Bhediya that doesn’t make a strong lasting impact!

With Stree and then Roohi, Maddock Films has started to build its own universe of the horror-comedy genre. While comedy and horror are both very difficult genres to pull-off, Maddock seems to have aced it as both these films were path-breaking and successful. It is back again and expands its foray with ‘Bhediya’ directed by the director of Stree, Amar Kaushik and starring Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanaon, Abhishek Banerjee and Deepak Dobriyal. Bhediya, however, is a not a horror comedy but a creature comedy.

Creature Feature as a concept in Hindi Movies is not something that has fully developed as yet. Cinema-goers in India appreciate creature films coming from the west more than the Bollywood ones. Most of such attempts have previous gone in vain. Having this knowledge and yet trying to attempt something like this and also in times when Bollywood’s ship is already sinking is commendable. The makers take 1 star only for this effort.

What does Bhediya gets right? It has a simple yet novel plot and nothing like this has been seen in Bollywood. This mixed with some good slapstick comedy which is funny in bits and pieces makes the film entertaining. The humour more than the writing, is added by Abhishek Banerjee’s commendable timing and exceptional portrayal of the character. Apart from this, Varun Dhawan aces his role very well. Kriti Sanon, Deepak Dobriyal and Paalin Kabak (plays Jomin) add commendable support and perform their bit very nicely. The makers also add quite a few messages to their script – about Nature Conservation and also subtle messages about the discrimination that happens with the North-East folks.

Apart from this, the VFX is decent. Though there are some scenes where it looks unbearably animated and C-grade. One instance of this will be the song in which Kriti takes Varun to tour the Jungle. The setting of the film is on point. The makers capture the socio-cultural milieu of the small village amidst the dense Jungle of Arunachal very well. They also hit the right chords with the BGM and soundtrack. The use of the song ‘Jungle Jungle Baat Chali Hai’ from the 90s’ popular animation ‘The Jungle Book’ adds so much nostalgia. Also, the songs ‘Jungle Mein Kaand’ and ‘Baaki Sab Thik?’ from the soundtrack are very nice.

Where does Bhediya trips? The humour is very slapstick and saving a few punches, not everything lands on the audience as intended nor is memorable or funny enough. Also, the pacing of the film is very slow and the length is very stretched without purpose. The film could have been wrapped up 20 minutes early and have looked much better in this case. Overall, while the creature comedy is delivered properly, the underlying message of Nature and Forest conservation that the makers intend to give, don’t go through with as much impact. Varun-Kriti’s chemistry is invisible. The purpose of the protagonist and the turning point in his character is invisible as well.

On the whole, Bhediya remains a one-time watch and given its shortcomings, doesn’t make a lasting impact. However, it is entertaining and can be best-enjoyed on a big-screen due to its decent visual factor. Also, another reason to not skip it will be the last scene with Rajkumar Rao and Aparshakti Khurrana’s special appearance hinting towards ‘Stree 2’ and a potential crossover of Varun Dhawan as Bhediya in that film.