Mr Bachchan is director Harish Shankar’s third collaboration with actor Ravi Teja after their previous outings, Shock (2006) and Mirapakay (2011). The director, who created a mark for himself with his brand of entertainment in remakes, returns with another such adaptation of the Ajay Devgn starrer Raid (2018). Now, the original is a tight, suspenseful thriller with barely any room for error. Remaking an intense film like that is a huge challenge, but the director conveniently avoids the challenge and goes on to do what he does best—just add scenes in the name of entertainment. Does the film want to be Harish Shankar’s energetic entertainer? Yes. At the same time, does the film want to be a serious thriller about illegitimate wealth? Again, yes. Does it succeed? Well, let’s put it this way: the film’s tagline could have been “For the hopeless” instead of “The only hope.”
In the 80s, following a raid on an influential businessman, Mr Bachchan (Ravi Teja), a sincere Income Tax Officer, is suspended. He subsequently returns to his hometown and falls in love with Jikki (Bhagyashri Borse), an Andhra Pradesh-settled Marwari girl. One day, Bachchan receives a call from a higher-ranking official instructing him to return to work right away and perform an income tax raid on the residence of the feared Muthyam Jagayya (Jagapathi Babu), a powerful MP. What happens during the raid, how Mr Bachchan extracts the hidden wealth in the house, forms the plot.
Hands down, the best part of the film is the music by Mickey J Meyer, who surprises you with beats apt for a masala film. The song ‘Reppal Dappul’ comes at a perfect time to fire up the film. In the first half, the film engages you with homages, Ravi Teja’s Sholay-obsessed family antics and a Kumar Sanu or Kishore Kumar song every few minutes. As you have a decent time with the old songs and the 80s setting, the film keeps amping up the awkward romance. It reminds you a lot of the director and actor’s previous outing, Mirapakay. The same temple meet-cute, the similar comic sidekick trying to woo the heroine, the similar glam show—except this time it’s not amusing to watch for many reasons.
It’s not possible to write about this film and not talk about the age gap between actors Ravi Teja and Bhagyashri Borse. Although the makers have heavily defended the criticism for this and talked about screen age, on screen the actor Ravi Teja doesn’t look one day less than his actual age. His pairing with a 25-year-old actress created inadvertent giggles among audiences for many intimate scenes. Now, the problem is not the age-gap but the film’s incapability to let you forget about it. Because this romance is neither worth all the incessant trolling nor electrifying enough for the viewers to just have fun. Bhagyashri Borse has great chemistry with the camera and she knows how to pull the viewer in with her expressions, but she is just ‘waisted’ in the film (if you know, you know). Again, not pointing fingers at the director because this is the same person who gave us the subtle, natural love story in his debut film Shock with the same actor. ‘Madhuram Madhuram’ is still a beautiful song with enchanting lyrics. And oh boy, where did it all go wrong?
After the love story, the raid starts at the tail end of the first half and the film keeps playing both sides. One moment, Mr Bachchan is a sincere IT officer, and the next moment, he dances to ANR songs in front of Annapurnamma’s character. One moment, he abides by rules while conducting the raid, and in the next one, he beats up everybody, shoots bullets and establishes his heroism. The tonal shifts are too jarring and don’t make any sense. Agreed, logical flaws in an entertainment package film need not be questioned. Only those who nitpick too much find logical loopholes in a commercial entertainer.
But what film are you showing? Is it a pure Bachchan show where the hero can do anything? Yes, go for it. Or is it a tight thriller showcasing the integrity of an officer against a corrupt system? Again yes, go for it. But mix both ingredients in one recipe, it’s an unmitigated disaster. It’s like watching two polar opposite films clubbed in one video. Logics aside, you don’t have a double-masala biryani with sambar-idli; it’s not recommended to test your intestines beyond a point. Sure, even a remake can be a great idea given the director’s previous adaptations but the choice of this remake is baffling. It’s like the raid happens on the audience for the sin of expecting a simple, entertaining film.
In the original, even a tiny scene of Saurabh Shukla sipping his chai with a laid-back confidence scares the viewer of the man’s ruthlessness. Here, Jagapathi Babu’s Muthyala Jaggayya shouts at the top of his vocals, and that doesn’t affect you one bit because the hero is an unstoppable Bachchan. On top of this, the truly unhumorous stretch of scenes with Chammak Chandra, Annapurnamma, and Sathya are hard to sit through. Recollecting that this is a director whose strongest suit is comedy and who gave us the madcap entertaining Antakshari scene in Gabbar Singh (2012), this fall is disappointing. Other than the lively cameo of a trending actor and the massy songs, there is not a lot of fun going on in the film. Even the editing by KGF-famed Ujwal Kulkarni doesn’t bring his pacy touch to the film.
Mr Bachchan could have been the quintessential commercial entertainer, the kind that social media audiences pretentiously troll but secretly enjoy watching comedy scenes on YouTube, but the film doesn’t rise above its ambiguous screenplay. Had the director not attempted another remake, he probably could have made an entertaining film. Had he stuck with the idea of paying homage to Amitabh Bachchan and the angry young man era, just the way he wanted to with 80s pop culture, he probably would have succeeded in making a nostalgic blockbuster with the energetic Ravi Teja. Irrespective of the surge of criticism, you ought to give credit to the makers for the conviction that they are going to make the film their way. Hopefully, director Harish Shankar returns with another fun commercial entertainer rather than a lacklustre remake.
Cast: Ravi Teja, Bhagyashri Borse, Jagapathi Babu, Tanikella Bharani, Annapurnamma, Satya, Chammak Chandra
Director: Harish Shankar
Rating: 1.5 stars