Even a man who is pure in heart.

 Bhediya (2022) is set in the heavily forested state of Arunchal Pradesh, in the northeastern part of India, and it draws from local folklore, especially the Yapum, a type of forest spirit known to take the shape of a wolf.  That's not all it draws from, though; other influences include The Wolf Man, 1982's Cat People, and just a dash of Spider-Man.

After a cold open involving a fairy tale interrupted by a wolf attack, the film cuts to ambitious young contractor Bhaskar (Varun Dhawan) updating his employer, Bagga (Saurabh Shukla), on his current assignment.  They plan to build a road straight through the jungle in a rural corner of Arunchal Pradesh, and Bhaskar is supposed to win over the locals.

Bhaskar collects his quirky cousin J. D. (Abhishek Banerjee) and meets with his local contact Jomin (Paalin Kabak). They are joined by another local, Panda (Deepak Dobriyal), who also serves as the designated dispenser of spooky warnings about the forest and its spirits not taking kindly to development projects.  Bhaskar and friends blow off the warnings, until one night in the forest Bhaskar is bitten by a wolf.  

He's bitten on the backside, but it is a serious injury requiring medical treatment, and on Jomin's advice they avoid the hospital and instead seek help from the local veterinarian, Anika (Kriti Sanon.)  And in the morning, Bhaskar is . . .  fine? His wound has healed basically overnight, and there have been other changes.  His sense of hearing has improved, and his sense of smell has improved even more.

It's not all good news, though.  Bhaskar also suffers from sudden flashes of temper, and he can understand the local animals, which will not shut up.  He begins waking up in strange places. Local businessmen who have been bribed to support the road project are attacked by some sort of wild animal, and something Bhaskar ate is disagreeing with him.

Bhaskar and his friends quickly realize what's happening; the bite has transformed Bhaskar, and on full moon nights he's striking at those who threaten the forest.  They don't think to ask who bit Bhaskar, though, and instead focus on finding some way to lift the werewolf's curse.  

They're not the only ones who have noticed, though. The police consider Bhaskar to be the prime suspect in the attacks, and at least one local officer has connected Bhaskar to the local legends about the Yapum.  In addition, the authorities have hired a band of crack hunters to deal with the wolf problem, so the forest is in danger, Bhaskar is in danger, and his friends are in danger, and the only solution is for Bhaskar to stop acting like a Hollywood werewolf and start acting like a shapechanging forest spirit.

Bhediya is a part of the Maddock Supernatural Universe, along with Stree and Stree 2, and like the Stree movies it's not afraid to tackle social issues; in addition to the obvious environmental message the movie deals with the prejudice that Northeastern Indians face.  It's a solid horror comedy in its own right,though, playing with the Hollywood werewolf mythos but remaining its own thing.  And while J. D. was actually in Stree, the movie stands alone and the connection isn't really mentioned until Vicky shows up in the end credits scene.