Film

Badlapur

Name: Badlapur
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Action, Drama
Released: 2015
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam Dhar, Divya Dutta

Vigilante
Very dark

Badlapur is a revenge thriller that strips away heroics and watches a man burn himself alive chasing vengeance. Varun Dhawan plays against type as someone consumed by rage and desperation, making poor choices that compound his grief. It's a dark, uncompromising film about how revenge corrodes the person seeking it—gripping but emotionally punishing.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like revenge stories that stay morally muddy, where grief curdles into something you are not sure you should root for, and where the tension comes from character rather than set pieces.

Skip it if you want a clean, fast revenge thriller with a hero you can cheer without reservation, since this one is long, grim and often uncomfortable to sit with.

What it asks of you: It runs about two and a quarter hours and takes its time, with long stretches of quiet planning and sour, slow-burning dread before anything erupts; it wants patience more than thrill.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 12012

A sprawling, stylish revenge saga across decades and crime hierarchies. Anurag Kashyap creates a world where brutality feels inevitable and characters are trapped by cycles they can't escape. Comparable moral weight and scope.

But Runs nearly five hours across two films, with a large ensemble cast and shifting timelines that demand attention. Subtitled, if you're not watching the Hindi version.

Johnny Gaddaar2007

A taut heist thriller where nobody is what they seem and trust evaporates. It shares Badlapur's refusal to make revenge or crime feel clean or righteous. Surprises wait at every turn.

But Smaller scale and lower budget than you might expect. The English dialogue feels stilted in places, and some plot threads resolve too quickly.

Ugly2013

Anurag Kashyap's brutal film about a missing child and the ugliness it brings out in everyone—family, police, strangers. Relentlessly bleak, morally murky, and refuses easy catharsis. Similar emotional devastation.

But Genuinely disturbing in ways that linger. A three-year-old is missing for the entire film, and the desperation it breeds is suffocating, not entertaining.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Badlapur

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Nightingale2018

Both films understand that revenge is not a solution but a symptom. The protagonist doesn't win; they transform into something damaged. The violent act doesn't close the wound—it opens it wider.

Jennifer Kent's Australian film about a woman hunted across the Tasmanian wilderness. Like Badlapur, it's a revenge narrative that refuses triumphalism—brutality breeds brutality, and survival means becoming what you hate. Visually stunning and morally pitiless.

But Explicitly, graphically violent. The sexual violence is front and centre, not implied. It's trauma cinema, unsparing and slow-burn, not action.

Shahid2013

Rajesh Tailang as a lawyer fighting for justice after his friend's death. A quieter, more introspective take on loss and the system's failures. Conviction born from grief rather than rage, but equally shattering.

But Slower-paced and less visceral than Badlapur. The courtroom sections may feel more familiar than gripping to thriller audiences.

Natrang2010

A Marathi film about a man obsessed with becoming a theatrical legend, losing everything to ambition and ego. The obsession parallels Badlapur's protagonist—both men destroy themselves chasing something they can't have.

But A regional film without the action or thriller pace you'd expect. It's a character study that builds gradually, not a plot-driven spectacle.

A Wednesday!2008

A compact, ingenious thriller about a common man pushing the system to its limits. Like Badlapur, it's about someone taking the law into their own hands, but here with laser focus and jaw-dropping twists.

But The climax hinges on a reveal that feels dated now, relying on mid-2000s sensibilities about terrorism and justice that haven't aged smoothly.

Drishyam2015

A Malayalam film (also remade in Hindi) about a man protecting his family by deceiving the police. Tense, intelligent cat-and-mouse game with high stakes and genuine suspense throughout.

But The Hindi remake is more accessible, but the original is slower and subtler. Either way, it's more puzzle than passion—cerebral rather than visceral.

NH102015

Anushka Sharma plays a woman driven to revenge on a highway odyssey. Fast-paced, bloody, and propulsive. A modern take on survival-turned-violence that matches Badlapur's refusal to prettify brutality.

But Genre action rather than deep character study. The emotional resonance is secondary to momentum, and some story beats feel convenient.

Raman Raghav 2.02016

Anurag Kashyap again, pairing a serial killer and a cop in a dance of mutual corruption. Hallucinogenic, violent, and psychologically baroque. If Badlapur's darkness fascinates you, this goes further.

But Actively unpleasant to watch—not just dark but genuinely nauseating. The narrative is fragmented and the protagonist isn't someone you root for, he's someone you fear.

Tokyo Vice2022

Both centre on men whose obsessions destroy them. Badlapur is rage; Tokyo Vice is fixation. Both watch their protagonists lose themselves not because the system beats them, but because they choose the wrong things to love.

An HBO series (English language, American sensibility) about a journalist embedded in the Tokyo yakuza underworld. Spare, methodical, obsessive storytelling about a man consumed by his pursuit. Michael Mann directing the slow-boil sections.

But Slow. Very slow. Some episodes are more atmosphere than plot. The crime elements are secondary to mood and character erosion. Two seasons in and narrative momentum is optional.

The Chaser2008

Both use a singular, obsessed male protagonist and refuse to make their rage poetic. The films understand that someone chasing death becomes a killer themselves—morally ambiguous, not heroic. Same engine, different aesthetic register.

A Korean thriller where a former cop hunts a serial killer with brutal efficiency. Comparable in its refusal to sentimentalize the protagonist and its willingness to sit in grime and chaos. Propulsive and unflinching.

But The tone is deliberately sordid and ugly. It's a genre film, not a prestige film, and moves on quickly from moments that could devastate. Subtitled Korean.