Absurd is the word that comes to mind as you try in vain to make sense of the noisy and wild torrents of action and violence that are untidily stitched together to form Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. The 164-minute action flick starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff as the eponymous characters, comes off as a film that one can only hope was intended to entertain with heavy doses of thrills and excitement, though it misses its target by a long shot.
Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, a seasoned campaigner as far as the action genre is concerned, it is predictably crammed with extreme action sequences which, however, defy both imagination and intellect. Tanks, machine guns, helicopters, horses and other armoured military vehicles vie for screen space from the word go, causing attacks, ambushes, explosions, death and carnage, making you feel as though you are watching one of those mindless, destructive-themed games on a computer screen. The first half, despite its high-tech wizardry and impressive location shots, looks amateurish and often pointless, with its plot meandering waywardly trying to develop a dramatic and sensational backstory for our heroes, Captain Firoz aka Bade Miyan and Captain Rakesh aka Chote Miyan.
The male bonding between the two top-rated soldiers of the Indian Army is built around their irreverent love and affection for each other and manifests itself in the shape of tomfoolery, ego-tussles and ill-timed jests targeted at each other. Old army buddies who go back a long way, the two soldiers are portrayed as icons of bravery, righteousness and patriotism, as against their ‘meta-human’ adversary who is represented as ruthless, vengeful and power-hungry. Yet, it is the bad guy (Prithviraj Sukumaran), who is a cross between a genius and a psychopath and who, in spite of his evil designs, is the pick of the lot and pulls off a better and more nuanced performance than our fearless fighters.
In trying to blend an action, adventure, romance and buddy film together, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan clearly loses its plot. The story, a simple enough tale of jealousy, betrayal and revenge, could not have taken a more irrational, torturous and convoluted route to reach its climax. In doing so, it introduces us to some more characters whose contribution to the story looks forced and incredulous. Captain Misha (Manushi Chhillar) is more of a messenger and entourage service rolled into one. Pam aka Dr Parminder (Alaya F), the UK-based scientist-nerd-techie is flawless at her work but still the butt of jokes by the two army guys, who cannot fathom her technical jargon. It is however to the young actress’s credit that she makes her character memorable with her typical Gen-Z lingo sprinkled with spontaneous outbursts of “Jai mata di” whenever she succeeds in solving a problem. Her easy chemistry with Tiger Shroff is also unmissable and adorable, and certainly one of the bright spots in a film otherwise packed with brutal, violent visuals.
Whereas these two women epitomise an attempt by the makers to portray strong, smart, intelligent women characters who also have a sense of humour, the same cannot be said of Sonakshi Sinha who plays Priya, the lady army officer whose brain stores the code of Karan-Kavach, India’s biggest defence power ever. Sonakshi had a role that held great potential but strangely was not explored for what it was worth. In its eagerness to focus on the male stars and their heroics, the film reduced Sonakshi to being the proverbial damsel in distress, who merely calls out to her former beau Captain Firoz for help whenever she is in danger.
And as though one pair was not enough, the second half unleashes two pairs of Firoz and Rakeshes, pitted against one another in a fresh series of mind-numbing action sequences. Leaving no stone unturned in ‘entertaining’ the masses, the story is also interspersed with typical Bollywood-style songs and dances in exotic locations, giving the lead duo the opportunity not only to show off their muscles but also to demonstrate their dancing skills. And, though the locations of the film were authentic and appropriate, and its cinematography and effects top-notch, the film failed in making the action scenes, which are its core, original and creative. Most of the encounters, combat scenes and chases have been borrowed frame-by-frame from Hollywood movies like Armageddon, Universal Soldier and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, to name a few. So is the idea of an AI or technology-powered battalion, which has been dealt with many times in similar films.
What stands out in the end from above the shrill patriotism-infused dialogues and the nail-biting moments that seem too long-drawn, is the message that technology should be used for progress but never in a way that compromises human morality. Wonder whether that is good enough to compensate for the many defects of the film.
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