A good Bollywood movie after so long. Though it is a remake of a Tamil film of the same name, it is indeed a mass entertainer.

Hritik Rohan and Saif Ali Khan have delivered strong performances. For the first 10 to 15 minutes, I thought 'what is going on in the movie?' but the movie takes a grip just after that.

With a very engaging storyline, strong acting by the lead actors, and top-notch direction, this is a very good movie.

I haven't seen the original one, so I think I'm not well qualified to compare the original one to this one. Still, I can guarantee you that if you haven't seen the original one, you will enjoy this one very much.

Vikram Vedha is beyond just a faithful remake. The makers deserve a standing ovation for delivering a perfect combination of a meaty mass and a class entertainer. If you have seen the original, this will surprise you with its twists and turns. The director duo Pushkar and Gayatri has done an excellent job again, after delivering a blockbuster Vikram Vedha in Tamil and one of the best thriller series Suzhal: The Vortex, they are back and given another impressive film to the Hindi audience.

The pace of the film in the first 20 minutes is a bit slow but the movie gathers its pace once Hrithik Roshan enters the screen and you won't be able to leave your seat when both the lead actors are on the screen. The second half is, even more, engaging with its taut screenplay. The dialogue, cinematography, and the climax are other highlights of the film.

The songs are just average. All the fight scenes are stylishly choreographed. Apart from the perfect direction and remarkable performance, the background score and writing are the film's biggest strengths. The intelligent writing surprises you at regular intervals.

The script has given equal importance to both the lead actors and does not let one overshadow the other. Hrithik Roshan has done complete justice to the character of Vedha and delivers outstanding performances. Saif Ali Khan also gave a noteworthy performance. Radhika Apte, Sharib Hashmi, Rohit Saraf, and other supporting casts have done a decent job.

Direction 4/5 Acting 3.5/5 Editing 3/5 Story 3.5/5 Screenplay 3.5/5.

The duo of Pushkar and Gayathri have enthralled audiences in the South, first with their original smash hit Tamil film "Vikram Vedhan (2017)" and now most recently with the hit Amazon prime series "Suzhal (2022)". But to make a smooth transition into the tumultuous world of Bollywood is a mean ask but the two capable filmmakers pass the test with flying colours, delivering a faithful remake of the cult classic, enhanced by the unmistakeable swag of superstar Hrithik Roshan.

Roshan stars as the titular "Vedha" a ferocious gangster terrorizing the streets of Lucknow. Saif Ali Khan plays "Vikram", the trigger-happy encounter specialist cop leading the task force assigned with curbing the gangsters of the city. Although both actors don't the same range as the ace performers in the original film, namely National Award winner Vijay Sethupathi and R Madhavan, the directors smartly pivot the character to play to these actors' strengths. The confrontation sequences between the gangster and the cop are laced with mass and gravitas, with Hrithik especially excelling in the stunt sequences with his agility and panache.

The gritty, serpentine streets of Lucknow are depicted in painstaking detail as the makers transpose the impact that Chennai had in the original movie, to a North Indian context. The storyline sticks to the original but with Hrithik's version of Vedha coming across as wackier, more gung-ho and fanatical than the smoother, more reserved depiction by Vijay Sethupathi.

Bollywood remakes of South blockbusters seldom rise to meet the standards of their original versions. Ajay Devgn's "Drishyam (2015)" and Shahid Kapoor's "Kabir Singh (2019)" stand at one end of the spectrum, having delivered while most remakes end up in the trash pile, case in point being dismal efforts like "Force (2011)", "Rowdy Rathore (2012)" and "Bhaagi 2 (2018)". Thankfully, due to the deft direction of Pushkar-Gayathri and earnest performances from the two lead actors, "Vikram Vedha" ends up in the former category, as a faithful remake that also stands apart with its contextualized take on the Vikramaditya-Betaal folktale. A recommended watch in theatres!