Bhaiyya Ji movie review: Manoj Bajpayee's raw, rustic & massy dhamaka

Bhaiyya Ji movie review

‘Bhaiyya Ji’ who doesn’t want to be the star of the masses, the messiah on screen, the one-man army, the quintessential action hero who bashes up the bad guys like a mean machine, he may be a goon himself in the movie but a goon with heart and honesty. From a new comer to legends. to three national awards, six Filmfare awards, two Asia Pacific awards and Padma Shri holder like Manoj Bajpayee, everybody has that hidden desire.

Manoj Bajpayee who debuted on the big screen as Daku Man Singh in Shekhar Kapoor’s terrifically hard-hitting masterpiece Bandit Queen (1994) has maintained that unique ability to stun the audience with his timing and exceptional ability to get into the skin of the character with ease.

Whether ‘Bhaiyaa Ji’ is an ideal movie for him to celebrate his century as an actor in the film industry is a debatable issue and without going into the debate, I will just talk about ‘Bhaiyya Ji’ based on its genre and target audience.

Writer director Apoorv Singh Karki (previous Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023), Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt. Ltd. (2022), Aspirants (2021), College Romance (2018), Flames (2018), Engineering Girls (2018) ) with his co-writer Deepak Kingrani (previous Mission Raniganj, Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, Special Ops) choose a very routine badla (revenge) plot for ‘Bhaiyya Ji’.

The idea of a retired thug, outlaw lifting arms again for his family has been seen in movies in India in all languages, be it Amitabh Bachchan’s Hum, Rajinikanth’s Baasha or Chiranjeevi’s Indra – The Tiger to name a few.

Honestly, ‘Bhaiyya Ji’ is more desi and some naysayers may even call it to be a step above a Bhojpuri film but the USP of ‘Bhaiyya Ji’ is its Hindi language and its ‘desi’ feel that tries to give us a raw rustic action hero who smokes beedi and walks with a spade (calling a spade a spade?! Just kidding).

Manoj Bajpayee with his nuanced vulnerability in the beginning when he comes to know about his brother has met with an accident and later when he decides to take revenge, the transformation is subtle but assured. It’s a rare occasion when you find controlled and nuanced acting in an OTT Bollywood action masala.

The setting, atmosphere, lingo is well in sync as per the demand of the genre. A couple of highly charge moments and volatile emotions make ‘Bhaiyya Ji’ qualify as a mass action masala targeted at single screens centers in Hindi heartland and two tier, three tier pockets in India.

Yes, there are potholes bigger enough to consume a truck filled with goods, the raw, rustic action, couple of moments and performance by almost every actor make it a dekho.

Apart from Manoj Bajpayee who again delivers an outstanding performance as mentioned above, other actors also give their best.

Zoya Hussian as Mitali Bhaiyya Ji’s love of life gets meat in her role and she makes an impression.

Bhagirathi Bai as Bhaiyya Ji’s mother has strong emotional moments and she delivers.

Jatin Goswami as Abhimanyu, spoiled son of Gajar is good.

Suvinder Vicky as Gujar the antagonist is fantastic.

Akash Makhija as Vedant does a fine job.

Vipin Sharma as the police officer has his moments

Jaihind Kumar as the Pandit is fine

Amrendra Sharma and Anand Acharya as Niyaz and Bhola close aide of Bhaiyya Ji make their presence felt and get some action to do as well.

Music by Aditya Dev and Manoj Tiwari has the desi appeal. Manoj Tiwari’s camerawork is vibrant by day and intense by night. Production Design by Parijat Poddar and Boishali Sinha is apt. Art Direction by Mukesh Chauhan and Ankush Prashant More is as required. Costumes by Avani Pratap Gumber and Hari Nakai are adequate.

Bhaiyya Ji - final words

Looking at the people involved Manoj Bajpayee, Apoorv Singh Karki, ‘Bhaiyya Ji’ could have been more powerful and more explosive mass action dhamaka. I wonder why there is no space for humor and it does have glaring potholes but Manoj Bajpayee’s nuanced ferociousness in his full massy action avatar plus some moments and use of Hindi and dialect should please its target audience.

Going for a generous 3.5 stars (one star extra for Manoj Bajpayee)