General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Bhediya (भेड़िया)

Bhediya (भेड़िया) is a 2022 Hindi-language horror comedy directed by Amar Kaushik, in which a man named Bhaskar, bitten by a mythical wolf in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, begins to transform into a werewolf himself.¹^•² Produced by Dinesh Vijan and Jyoti Deshpande for Maddock Films and Jio Studios, it is a film in the producer's shared universe of horror comedies that began with Stree (2018).³^•⁴

Key fact	Detail
Release	25 November 2022, in cinemas in 2D and 3D, in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu⁵
Director and writer	Amar Kaushik (director), Niren Bhatt (screenwriter)¹
Lead cast	Varun Dhawan as Bhaskar, Kriti Sanon as Dr. Anika Mittal, with Abhishek Banerjee, Deepak Dobriyal, and Paalin Kabak⁶
Runtime	156 minutes²
India net box office	₹666.5 million (₹66.65 crore) lifetime total per Bollywood Hungama; Sacnilk reports ₹689.9 million (₹68.99 crore)⁷^•⁸
Critical scores	62% Tomatometer from 13 critics; 82% Popcornmeter from over 100 audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes¹
Franchise status	Entry in the Maddock horror-comedy universe; a sequel, Bhediya 2, is among the announced slate³^•⁹

Spoilers

Story and setting

The film is set in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. Bhaskar, an ordinary man, is bitten by a mythical wolf and begins to transform into the creature; as he and his friends search for answers, the story mixes horror, comedy, and twists.¹^•² Press coverage described the film as based on ancient Arunachali folklore.¹⁰ The supporting cast includes Abhishek Banerjee as Janardan "Jana", Deepak Dobriyal as Panda, and Paalin Kabak as Jomin, with Saurabh Shukla and Baharul Islam in further roles.⁶

Themes. Critics noted that the film carries a pro-environment message and an anti-racism thread: the Variety review called it "a terrifically entertaining romp through the jungles of Northeastern India that delivers pro-environment and anti-racism messages," and Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express observed that the script slips in commentary on how people from northeastern states are treated by visitors from the rest of India.¹ ThePrint credited the film's social satire and its authentic representation of Northeast India as factors in its reception.¹¹

Production and visual effects

The creature effects were handled by the international studio MPC, whose VFX supervisor James Austin led a team that delivered over 640 shots in 20 months.¹² MPC's primary contribution was the wolves and the werewolf transformation, showing the metamorphosis from human to full wolf form; the studio also built digital doubles for sequences in which actors interact with the wolves, along with fully 3D environments and set extensions.¹² Director Amar Kaushik said he wanted the first transformation sequence to play as a single continuous shot so that audiences, including international viewers, would be surprised by it.¹³ MPC's work on the film won Best VFX Feature and Best VFX Shot awards at the VAM Summit and Awards 2023 in Mumbai.¹⁴

The music was composed by Sachin–Jigar with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, and the cinematography was by Jishnu Bhattacharjee.⁵ The film was shot in Arunachal Pradesh.⁴

Box office

Bhediya opened on 25 November 2022 and earned ₹74.8 million (₹7.48 crore) net on its first day in India, rising to ₹95.7 million (₹9.57 crore) on Saturday and ₹115 million (₹11.50 crore) on Sunday.⁷ Bollywood Hungama's day-wise tracking puts the lifetime India net total at ₹666.5 million (₹66.65 crore), while Sacnilk reports ₹689.9 million (₹68.99 crore) net, ₹814.1 million (₹81.41 crore) India gross, and ₹949.1 million (₹94.91 crore) worldwide.⁷^•⁸ Box Office India lists a lower worldwide gross of ₹883.3 million (₹88.33 crore), including $1,600,000 from overseas.² The Numbers records $294,653 from reported international territories, led by Australia ($154,863) and New Zealand ($85,531).¹⁵

The release competed directly with Ajay Devgn's Drishyam 2, which had opened a week earlier, and trade commentary attributed the film's modest run partly to that clash.¹⁶ Koimoi's retrospective classified the film as the only underperformer of the Maddock Supernatural Universe, with an average verdict.¹⁶

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 62% Tomatometer from 13 critics and an 82% Popcornmeter audience score.¹ Indian critics were broadly positive: Gupta of The Indian Express gave 3 of 5 stars and wrote that the horror is nominal while the comedy works; Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave 3.5 of 5 and praised the creature effects and computer-generated imagery; Rahul Desai of Film Companion called it "silly, stylish, surprisingly poignant."¹ A more negative review from Carla Hay in Culture Mix called it a horror comedy that is neither scary nor funny and criticized the visual effects as overrated.¹ Reviewers also placed the film in the werewolf-movie lineage of An American Werewolf in London and earlier Indian creature films such as Junoon (1992).¹⁷^•¹⁸

Place in the Maddock universe

Bhediya belongs to the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, the shared universe of Hindi-language supernatural comedy horror films produced by Dinesh Vijan's Maddock Films that began with Stree (2018) and continued with Roohi (2021).³^•¹⁹ An end-credits scene unites the film's protagonists with characters from Stree, and characters from Bhediya reappear in Stree 2 (2024).¹⁹ In January 2025, Vijan announced eight new films in the universe with release dates, including Bhediya 2 alongside Thama, Shakti Shalini, Chamunda, Stree 3, Maha Munjya, and the two-part Mahayudh.⁹

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 2020s › Hindi films of 2022

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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