Bawaal follows the story of a narcissistic man who along with his ill treated wife makes a trip to Europe specifically on a World War 2 trail. Will love being them together again? The story here is contrived and absurd and you will have to put down all your guards to truly understand and like it in the first place. Let me put it this way, it is different but not without its flaws in a drama that will most likely divide the opinions. The screenplay standing at roughly 130 odd minutes does paint the drama with broader strokes with respect to a budding relationship. Yet, somewhere the film did touch me as well especially on the World War trail that equated the lives of the victims with the philosophy of love and loneliness in the lives of the protagonists.

The drama does open with the introduction of the protagonist, a self loving, narcissistic man who builds a world of lies around him to always safeguard his image. As the drama unfolds, you get to know that he is a History teacher and a married man, while not carrying out his duties in either of the two departments. His wife is ill treated after having suffered from fits that is primarily the cause of the distance between the couple. The plot here is extremely contrived from the premise itself, primarily because I didn’t quite find it convicing for the couple to be apart just for a frivolous reason. Yes, it is established that the protagonist does care about his image more than his wife but that itself painted the protagonist with a single coat of paint as opposed to getting into his psyche. But if you are willing to forego this fact, there are rewards to be had in the middle.

The plot kickstarts when the couple take a trip to Europe on a World War 2 trail that does result in a case of self realisation on the part of the protagonist. This was a very unique way of representing a relationship along with plenty of life lessons thrown in. The audience might be split on this aspect given how the trauma of World War 2 cannot be a self guide for improving and preserving the life of a couple, if you are willing to dig deeper into its philosophy then you shall be able to connect to the emotions and characters better. In a scene, the character of the wife calls her in-laws who see that they are still sleeping on different beds, the response to that being that the beds will come closer as the trip progresses. This while the elderly couple are sitting and conversing on the same bed, that signifies love. These kind of moments do make the watch worthwhile.

Another interesting aspect of the film is the World War 2 trail, that begins from the least disturbing part from the Eiffel Tower(a symbol of love) to the Holocaust Gas Chamber(a symbol of utter hatred). This journey is in contrast to that of the protagonists that have had a rocky beginning with almost hatred creeping in, to that of love by the end of it. It was quite a crazy comparison that works if you watch the film wholistically. In between, the lessons that history has to provide from over so many years is well integrated in the drama. At every step, there is a lesson to be learnt. For instance, the scene at the Omaha Beach in France had a moving theme to it. The protagonist fooling around only to be given the headphones is transported in an era of self realisation through the commentary of World War 2.

Yet, the final criticism for the film comes in the form of its final act which again did seem to be less convincing and far too simplistic. The events were rushed as opposed to focusing a little more on the emotions between the couple which would want to make you root for them. The broader strokes find their way in the narrative once again while also getting a little more preachy for my liking. I wanted to like this part as well but it did fall short probably in its execution. Overall, the screenplay is absurdist and needs to be looked from a different lens to truly appreciate it. That said, it is still not free of flaws but nevertheless a good attempt of saying something different with a familiar and a relevant message at the end.