Bachchhan Paandey: Insult to Jigarthanda's brilliance

Bachchhan Paandey

Hindi (Theatres)

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernadez, Arshad Warsi

Director: Farhad Samji

Rating: 2/5

Farhad Samji’s ‘Bachchhan Paandey’ is the remake of Tamil hit ‘Jigarthanda’ (2014), a film that made Karthik Subbaraj one of the exciting filmmakers of our times.

Samji, like most Hindi filmmakers, forgets that tastes and expectations of the south and Bollywood audiences are vastly different. Expectedly, ‘Bachchhan Paandey’ doesn’t understand the point of the original and fails to recreate its magic.

The film is about a young woman filmmaker (Kriti Sanon) who aspires for a pathbreaking film. She is forced to compromise as her producer wants only a gangster drama. She stumbles upon the story of a gangster from Bhagwa who is known as Bachchhan Paandey (Akshay Kumar).

She teams up with her friend (Arshad Warsi) who also wants to make it big in the tinsel town. They collect data on him and their film depicts only his brighter side. The film changes Bhagwa residents’ perception about him and they begin to love him.

Samji dedicates the first half to explore the life of the uncrowned mafia lord and his grisliness. The pace slackens in the second half. The tone, mood and intensity of the film drop gradually. However, the subplot filled with emotions and sentiments holds your attention.

The backstory of Bachchhan, the lunatic killer, is unconvincing. His affair with a foreigner defies logic. The background of her parents is equally illogical.

The mix of various genres, exotic locations, glossy-finish camerawork and fancy costumes don’t work. The gangster’s henchmen evoke don’t any fear or laughter.

Akshay is impressive while Warsi and Kriti stand out. Jacqueline does a good job despite the minimum screen-time.