‘Mr. Bachchan’ movie review: This Harish Shankar, Ravi Teja film is an overdrawn, meandering mess

Ravi Teja in ‘Mr Bachchan’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Mr. Bachchan is an adaptation of Ajay Devgn’s 2018 Hindi film Raid, directed by Rajkumar Gupta. Anyone attuned to director Harish Shankar’s Telugu adaptations would be aware that the source material and his masala-laden adaptations would be vastly different. At times, it delivers massy entertainment. The Dabangg remake Gabbar Singh is a case in point. Sometimes, the result is middling, like in the case of Gaddalakonda Ganesh (adaptation of Jigarthanda). This time, though, he could have taken up any story since the idea that anchored Raid — to highlight what a sincere income tax officer could do — is lost in a melee. The Hindi film set in the 1980s was inspired by true incidents, presenting a dramatised version of one of the longest IT raids in India. This 163-minute adaptation starring Ravi Teja and Bhagyashri Borse feels like one of the longest endurance tests, and it gets excruciating as it progresses.

The film opens with an episode that establishes what Mr. Bachchan (Ravi Teja), named thus since his father (Tanikella Bharani) is an ardent fan of Amitabh Bachchan, is capable of doing. This episode, involving Jhansi in a cameo and several others, is over the top but manages to pack some fun. 

A lot of time is devoted to paying tribute to Amitabh Bachchan’s oeuvre and stardom, with Ravi Teja doling out dialogues from Sholay, Deewar, Shahenshah and Agneepath. When he is not an IT officer, Mr. Bachchan is part of an orchestra. That gives the film enough scope to establish that the hero can sing chartbusters, from the Kishore Kumar era (‘Yeh raaten ye mausam’) to Kumar Sanu era (Aashiqui). He may still sport the rose-tinted glasses of the 80s and add ‘naam toh suna hoga’ to his conversations now and then, but he can also regale the 90s youngsters with numbers from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. He can also bridge the generation gap by assuaging the fears of the leading lady, Jikki (Bhagyashri Borse, named thus since her father is also an avid music buff) by making Kumar Sanu songs endearing to her father (Sachin Khadekar). Much later in the film, Mr. Bachchan also lip-syncs and dances to Akkineni Nageswara Rao’s Telugu hits. 

But wait, why am I going on and on about Mr. Bachchan’s retro tribute? Because until the intermission segment, little else happens. Of course, he serenades the glamorous Jikki. Mr. Bachchan is so focussed on nostalgic music and playing up the glamour quotient of its leading lady, that it puts the plot aside. It would be unfair to gauge Bhagyashri’s mettle going by this film that wants to be only an eye candy. The age gap between the leading couple is only one of the film’s many troubles. For a brief moment, he apologises and steps back from wooing her when she says she is uncomfortable, and it comes as a pleasant surprise. However, that happiness is short-lived. Romance brews and Jikki is characterised as cute and nothing more.

When the actual story starts at the halfway mark, there is some respite from the romance. But soon, the narrative becomes an ordeal. A battalion of forgettable characters are introduced. Jagapathi Babu as the antagonist is made to yell and some more. His character is more of a caricature than a menace. 

Mr. Bachchan punctuates the long IT raid with a few more romantic numbers. Perhaps this film is meant to be viewed as a showreel for Bhagyashri Borse or to show how Ravi Teja can dance — to retro music as well as dance numbers composed by Mickey J Meyer. The composer also plays up the 80s and 90s mood in his background score.  A star cameo towards the fag end peps up the proceedings briefly.

Several ‘Side A’, ‘Side B’, references pop up in the film. Maybe listening to old Hindi and Telugu hits would be a better bet than watching this pointless narrative.

Mr. Bachchan is currently running in theatres