Never Ending Movie Carnival
Never Ending Movie Carnival
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan review: Double Trouble, Double Torture
What: Don’t be carried away by the exquisite visuals of the picturesque Northern Himalayas where a convoy of Indian Military force carrying a Package is blown into smithereens. The film, made by the action aficionado director Ali Abbas Zafar unveils like a low-brow, hollow entertainer desperately trying to woo its audience through its scale and ambition, but lacking heavily in soul and substance.
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan synopsis
The plot is so pedestrian – An ex-army man has gone rogue and megalomaniacal. He calls himself Pralay and openly challenges Colonel Azaad (Ronit Bose Roy) if they can recover the stolen package from him and stop him before he decimates India with his powerful weapon.
In this hour of crisis, when Capt. Misha (Manushi Chillar) approaches Cl. Azad can only think of two of his best men – Freddy and Rocky – the two ex-Army officers – played by Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff. With too much of maano-manao, ego-massaging and tantrum throws, they agree to embark on the mission but apparently, Pralay hints, “Yeh Dushman ek Puraana Dost hai”
he action unfolds in Waterloo station, UK and till the intermission point, it’s decent– ensuring a potpourri of slick and stylised action and stunts. The comic banters between Bade and Chote spell fun, their one-liners land and I found Tiger good with his sense of humour. Akshay and Tiger snap at each other and try to outsmart each other all the time, ensuring we derive a generous dose of dopamine from the interplay.
But the second hour is a total downhill – in terms of its writing, Zafar and his co-writer Suraj Gianani hit the zenith of messiness and mediocrity– which sees the antagonist, Kabir (Prithivraj Sukumar) revealing his wounds from the past and why he seeks vengeance from our Desh ke Two Soldiers. At one point, Tiger says, “Yeh Pucca Virgin aur Psycho hai”!
There is a hell lot of technical wizardry, razzmatazz around Artificial Intelligence, Super and Meta-humans, and Clones but the brain behind all this is entirely kindergarten level and the dialogues are a cringe fest. It was disgraceful and equally funny to see Ronit Roy and Manish Chaudhary standing in Savdhan position, looking into the big screen monitors, and throwing quizzical faces at each other.
The actress brigade – Manushi, Alaya F and Sonakshi Sinha serve token presences in the most ill-conceived characters. Chiller embodies a no-nonsense soldier with action chops, Alaya is a complete misfit in the role of a geek, starving for Tiger’s body and biceps and objectifying him as G.I. Joe. In the end, when Freddy and Rocky blow off Kabir’s facility, they forget to take the girls. In the next scene featuring the curtain closer item song, we see them shaking legs with the beefy duo.
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan – final words
To give credits where due, there is a lot spent and splurged on action and set pieces. The leading men are in good form – Akshay looking old with his grey side balls but pulling off action with aplomb and matching up to Tiger’s agility is a thing to behold.
Otherwise, it’s a snooze fest, with double trouble and Double Torture. It may be good for your eyes, but hits your senses badly.
I go with 2 stars out of 5 for Pooja Entertainment’s Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan – its better if you rerun its namesake, the 1998 David Dhawan’s comedy featuring Amitabh and Govinda.
Ahwaan Padhee, is an IT Techie/Business Consultant by profession and a film critic/cinephile by passion, is also associated with Radio Playback as well, loves writing and conducting movie quizzes. More By Ahwaan Padhee