'Mr. Bachchan' Movie Review - Don't Expect A Lot, You Might Get Entertained!

'Mr. Bachchan' Movie Review

Cast: Ravi Teja, Bhagyashri Borse, Jagapathi Babu, Tanikella Bharani, Sachin Khedkar, Goutham, Satya, Subhalekha Sudhakar, Naren, Chammak Chandra, Prabhas Seenu and others.

Music: Mickey J Meyer

Cinematography: Ayanka Bose

Story: Ritesh Shah

Screenplay: Ramesh Reddy, Satish Vegesna, Praveen Varma, Dattatreya & Tanvi Kesari

Producer: TG Vishwa Prasad

Story – Changes – Direction: Harish Shankar

Known for his sharp dialogues and energetic hero characters, director Harish Shankar is back again with 'Mr Bachchan'. This is his third film with Ravi Teja after 'Shock' and 'Mirapakay'. Harish Shankar is an expert in remaking hit movies and changing them completely according to his style. He succeeded in doing that with 'Gabbar Singh' and 'Gaddalakonda Ganesh'. He has now changed 'Raid' into 'Mr. Bachchan'. The hit songs and impressive promos generated good interest on the movie. Let us see how it turned out.

Story:

Set in the 80s, Bachchan (Ravi Teja) is an income tax officer who made over 70 successful raids. Though his name is Anand, his father (Tanikella Bharani) is a huge 'Sholay' and Amitabh Bachchan fan. He changes his name to Bachchan. One raid leads him to suspension and he returns to his native place. Bachchan happily goes back to singing in the orchestra. He also falls in love with Jikki (Bhagyashri Borse) and starts wooing her. Jikki too reciprocates the feelings and their families decide to fix the wedding. At the same time, the suspension of Bachchan is lifted and he is ordered to raid Muthyam Jaggayya (Jagapathi Babu) who is a very powerful politician. Bachchan already fights with Jaggayya's brother beforehand. Now, Bachchan ends up in Jaggayya's house and faces a lot of hurdles. Will he find illegal money? Will his love story with Jikki become successful? Answers to these questions form the rest of the story.

Analysis:

Usually, there are two kinds of cinema viewers. The first category are the ones who know what they are walking into and process their mind accordingly before the show starts. The second category are the people who expect every film to be a masterpiece and try to find loopholes in each and every frame. While the majority of the audiences belong to the first category, the ones who make more noise on social media are the ones belonging to the second category. Harish Shankar has been making films for the past two decades, whether it is 'Mirapakay' or 'Gabbar Singh' or 'DJ' or 'Subramanyam For Sale' or 'Gaddalakonda Ganesh' or even 'Ramayya Vastavayya', his stories are always routine. He follows a tried and tested commercial path. No matter what film he remakes, he makes sure to give it his own treatment by including all kinds of commercial elements. Despite the soul getting lost at times, he tries to make the film as appealing as possible to all sets of audiences.

'Mr Bachchan' is a decent film if walk in hoping for some fun and time pass. The major problem of 'Mr Bachchan' lies in its story. 'Raid' is a very intense film and trying to make it a commercial entertainer is not a good choice. When you remake a movie, it is quite common to draw comparisons no matter how much you change it. Harish once mentioned that 'Raid' feels like watching a documentary. It is set in the 80s and the Bollywood film takes a very realistic approach since it is based on true incident. They added a bit of drama but the movie did not have any elevations, fights, punch dialogues and songs. Right from start to end, the film runs with the same level of intensity. But the actual ride in 'Mr Bachchan' begins only after the interval. What happens before that is the creation of Harish Shankar. The movie doesn't go forward in the first half and focuses more on the love track set in the village and a few funny scenes. Satya's comedy episodes and Bhagyashri Borse's glamour paired with a few hero elevation moments keep the audience engaged despite the routineness.

While it entertains the audience, the main story got diluted. The raid which needed to be dealt with more intensity has been compressed into one half of the movie in 'Mr Bachchan'. Even then, the second half is filled with a few gags and songs in between which makes it even more stuffed. The audiences don't feel engaged while watching the raid scenes in 'Mr Bachchan' even though they are the ones that are supposed to bring the most drama in the plot. Harish is known for his racy screenplay but at no point does he show his speed in 'Mr Bachchan'. In the process of adding more masala to the original, the movie ends up getting dragged unnecessarily.

But the first half is still entertaining with Satya's comedy, and a good hero introduction sequence. The first raid of the hero raises expectations on the movie. But Harish puts a break on that track and shifts the film to the village and focuses on the love story and fun. The youth will enjoy the romantic track and songs in the first half. Satya's comedy saves the film throughout the first half and it should have been extended a bit more. Even the hero elevations scenes in the middle work out. The face-off between the hero and the villain leads to the interval block. But the second half brings the graph down. The characterization of the hero role and elevations are quite good but the thrill and drama went missing during the raid scenes. There is no curiosity in the second half as the hero solves every problem thrown at him with ease. Harish makes the mistake of creating situations for the songs that act as obstacles for the actual story in the second half. The audiences become restless after a certain point. Heroine suddenly coming into the film during the second half tests the patience of the audience. The climax is quite regular. But the cameo of Siddhy Jonnalagadda brings in some energy during the second half but it fails to save the entire half. On the whole, 'Mr Bachchan' is an okay film where Harish mark changes don't work out entirely. The lack of intensity is where 'Mr Bachchan' falters big time though Ravi Teja, Bhagyashri, Satya and a few Harish mark elevations and dialogues try to save the film.

Performances:

Fans of Ravi Teja had a problem with their hero not looking energetic in recent movies. But he is back to his hyper-energetic self with 'Mr. Bachchan'. Harish Shankar made sure that Ravi Teja is shown in the way that his fans wanted. His mark entertainment, mass dialogues and elevations will satisfy the fans completely. Heroine Bhagyashri Borse is one of the major attractions of this movie. She looked beautiful and gorgeous on the screen. Her acting is decent too and her own dubbing suited for the role of a Marwadi girl. Harish Shankar showed her quite glamorously in the songs.

Jagapathi Babu as Muthyam Jagayya disappoints this time. He is nowhere close to the original character played by Saurabh Shukla. Though his look is quite different, his acting looked a bit artificial. There is something lacking in his character. Satya's comedy is brilliant. He brings the laughs whenever he appears on the screen. His character should have been extended a bit as he is simply superb. Sachin Khedkar, Tanikella Bharani, Gauthami and others were decent in their roles. The rest of the cast were okay. Star Boy Siddhu's cameo worked well in theatres.

Technicians:

Mickey J Meyer once again proved that he can deliver music for mass films too. His background scores are quite good and his songs worked out well on the screen. Sitar Song stands out in this entire album but visually and audio wise. Ayanka Bose's visuals are quite vibrant. The movie is beautiful visually and every frame looks amazing. The editing is decent too though the second half could have been tighter. The production values are top-notch.

Director Harish Shankar showed his caliber in changing the original entirely and giving it a new spin in order to make it feel like a brand new film. His hard work is visible in the changes that he made. His strength is dialogue writing and hero characterization. He delivers big time on both fronts. But he faltered in bringing the seriousness and intensity during the income tax raid scenes. The movie is a decent commercial entertainer but the subject he chose to remake needs some more drama and depth which he dilutes with a love track and elevations. His touch can be seen in the way he used vintage Hindi classics for the love story. But Harish manages to succeed partly but not entirely when it comes to 'Mr. Bachchan'.

Verdict: 'Mr Bachchan' – Don't Expect A Lot, You Might Get Entertained!

Rating: 2.25/5