Ek Ticket, Ek Black Coffee | Varun Dhawan's Bhediya proves that Horror is best when served with a dollop of comedy

‘Aap sadabahar bhediya ho!’

While I laughed hysterically at this literally, ‘mujhe mat khao, use khao’ style ‘spare me’ prayer from two friends, to a werewolf in boxer shorts, I realised that this film comes on the shoulders of everything one has read about ‘vampyres’ and werewolves. Yes, I spelt that correctly. Before they became ‘vampires’, Lord Byron was described to be a blood-sucking ‘Vampyre’, the first tale ever told about ‘them’. From England, Vampires then moved to exotic Europe: Transylvania to be precise. 

Even though Bram Stoker wrote about his vampire having hair in the middle of his palm (ugh!) the film adaptations made him sexier… Dracula was originally fashioned on Vlad the Impaler (imagine being made to sit on a tall pointy spike, your weight forcing the spike/stake up your nether regions and your blood-curdling screams being heard through the village… 

As soon as Annie Rice brought the count over to America, he became sexier because he was exotic. After all, Ms. Rice was known to lean towards the erotic… Stephen King though made vampires very Middle America in his Salem’s Lot. But the fascination of a pale man with a long overcoat and top hat continues to this day. 

I don’t know if we were blessed or cursed with the Twilight series, what with the gorgeousness of Bob Pat making women swoon and introducing us to his buffness: Taylor Lautner who changed into that big bad wolf, girls dream about meeting. And yes, everyone hated Bella (Kirsten Stewart). As someone who is very house proud, I was traumatised by their break-the-furniture lovemaking and visibly put off by Bella shaving her legs before breaking bathroom fixtures because, passion. 

Though I wouldn’t like to watch Robert Pattinson become a crisp kebob should he step out into the Sun, I did like the idea of them ‘glistening’. My fashion victim friends did buy into the ‘dewey’ makeup trend. I used the money to read all the penny dreadfuls about vampires and the awesome Anno Dracula series written by the award-winning writer Kim Newman. His Dracula Cha Cha Cha is set in Rome and the book is superb.

But why am I going on and on about vampires when Varun Dhawan gave us Hulk-like torn clothes when bechara Bhaskar transforms into bhayanak Bhediya who is hungry to tear into bad guys? Bhediya is no ordinary animal. Tree-hugging friends were thrilled to bits with Bhediya. His eyes are kind, they whispered to me as Varun Dhawan was upchucking pieces of bad guys he had chewed up the night before…

I was terrified as I looked at my friends' faces lit up by the light on the big screen in front of us. They just made excuses for cannibalism, I thought, as I gulped down the last of the coffee. No one is normal…

Humour is a great way of introducing the concept of a werewolf to Indian audiences. I am so happy to not see bearded heroes rough-handling heroines in the guise of ‘South Remakes’. The writing is top-notch, I grin as the concession chap shows up with another coffee (so grateful to them all, for if you are a regular first-day-first-show person, they know your favourite seat and exactly what you want!). Of course, the reveal is super cool too: who is the Bhediya who bit Bhaskar’s butt…

So vampires aim for the neck, and the bhediya chooses the other cheek. I love the ‘Stree’ connect that shows up at the end of the film. Clever, clever writing.

While most vampire films, especially the Twilight Saga films made too much of the supposed passion Edward feels for Bella. It was cloying to see them ‘gravitate’ towards one another. Bhediya made that walk in the forest romantic. Even though it was all soft focus and fake flowers, the two wolves walked so beautifully. It made me forget the stupid term they coined ‘Vishanu’ which basically means germs, and does not mean ‘he’s contagious’ (if vampires biting your neck turns you into a vampire then a werewolf biting your butt should turn you into a howling beast too, no?)...

They say Bhediya is part of the Stree and Roohi horror-comedy trilogy, but I hope Bhediya gets a sequel of his own. Bhediya in Bhowanipore, Bambai ka Bhediya or Bhediya in Bhatinda, we can take it all. And I would hope Bhediya in Bombay would crave bhel that has boti bits…

About the author:
Manisha Lakhe writes on films and TV shows, is a poet, teacher, traveller and mom (and not necessarily in that order). Could sell her soul for Pinot and a good cheesecake.

(Disclaimer: Views expressed in the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of OTTplay. The writer is solely responsible for any claims arising out of the contents of this article.)