- Date of Release: 24 May 2024
- Genre: Action, Drama
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On : Theatres Only
Bhaiyya Ji
Introduction
Oh Bhaiyya Ji, what have you done! How could you go so wrong?? It was a few weeks ago that I was witness to the poster of the film titled Bhaiyya Ji starring Manoj Bajpayee in a massy role, and probably his first in his illustrious career. The film touted as his 100th outing was packaged as an ‘MB’ film in a never before seen role and helmed by Apoorv Singh Karki who is a prolific director with notable works with TVF, and his previous film Bandaa. Invariably, this was the team of Bandaa which were reuniting, thereby giving me a sense of hope that Bhaiyya Ji would be a Superhit. But seldom did I know that the two hours of the film would be probably the worst of the week for me, something that would attribute to a splitting headache for me. A hundred slaps on my face notwithstanding, I found it a ‘Roadies’ task to keep myself awake during the course of the film that just went from serious to unintentionally funny and cringe personified! You may have already got the gist of my tryst with Bhaiyya Ji, but stay tuned for this utter roast review, something that I never thought I would do for a Manoj Bajpayee’s 100th film.
Story & Screenplay
Bhaiyya Ji is a simple revenge saga featuring Bhaiyya Ji(oh too many Bhaiyya Jis) who has lost his step brother in a freak accident only to get to know that it was a murder following a trivial fight. Up against him is Chandrabhan, a powerful man himself who is seen butchering a girl in his introductory scene. What happens next is exactly what would have transpired between the Marvels and Thanos if the setting was of the 80s in an Indian village. Needless to say that the plot of the film is ridiculously bad, something that made me seeth with anger and frustration. The screenplay of the film standing at 135 minutes is 135 minutes too long(lol) wherein the writing is so wafer thin that it could have concluded in the first 30 minutes itself, if not for some timepass and deviations that Bhaiyya Ji resorts to. And I wonder why given how easily the antagonists were overpowered at the end. Also, cringe..tch tch…
The drama actually had the potential to be a cerebral thriller with a resounding impact given its premise. Here I must say that the premise itself isn’t novel but it definitely has a sense of purpose to the proceedings in the manner in which it begins. So you are introduced to Bhaiyya Ji and his family who are in jubilation following a family event which is underway. Amidst this, you have Bhaiyya Ji’s step brother who is on his way home to join his family in the celebrations. This until, his sudden disappearance brings Bhaiyya Ji to Delhi where he learns that his brother has actually been murdered. So far so good but the goodness in the script dies a natural death from this point when the writing unleashes the massy elements in the drama that absolutely did not warrant it! The slide is real and never stops from this point.
The proceedings get unrealistically loud and unintentionally funny that much so that I found myself facepalming at regular junctures in the screenplay. What could have been a simmering revenge drama turns out to be cringe worthy as Bhaiyya Ji unleashes his beast mode in a rather hilarious manner. The man is part Singham, influencing his entire village to raid the house of the perpretrators while himself going and requesting for the custody of the accused. I mean who in the world approved this dogsh*t wherein everyone is threatened by Bhaiyya Ji even before he lays a finger on anyone. The writers have tried to infuse humour along the way but to no avail as the events themselves are funny. The entire interval block is such a yawn-fest that I wished to put a bullet in my head to find peace within me. But the film doesn’t end there unfortunately!
I won’t be wrong to say that there were atleast 3 junctures wherein the drama could have ended gracefully. But each time I chose to get up, a new deviation shoved me back in my seat. It was almost like the drama did not want to end at all, deviating into a subplot involving the wife of Bhaiyya Ji who out of nowhere becomes a shooter(and hilariously justified as a national level shooter as a flashback which was an after thought). But the manner in which the things escalate and end with Bhaiyya Ji in cheat mode, made me realise that why didn’t he chose to do that earlier, almost gaining footage by getting shot only to rise above like a phoenix. By the end of it, I had to mark myself on Facebook to let my dear ones know that I am safe! Also cringe…tch..tch..
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues try to incorporate heavy Hindi words which the makers think would turn theatres into stadiums but sadly it was just cringe. The lines try to be humourous at times but end up being campy instead. The music is forgetable but the BGM atleast tries to beat a dead horse to life. The cinematography captures some weird angles that are so bad and so 80s that I couldn’t help but marvel at the thought of it sitting in 2024. Cringe and nostalgia go hand in hand I guess. The editing is patchy and doesn’t account for the multiple lags in the drama(oh that was virtually the whole film! My bad). Director Apoorv Singh Karki is a good director and I have been an admirer of his work but I couldn’t have my eyes to believe that he was at the helm of things here. This makes me realise that this was just not his genre and that the gulf between his abilities versus what was showcased here was so wide that perhaps he shouldn’t ever visit this genre again. I could forgive him for this hot mess this time around but mass is just not his game.
Performances
The performances are decent but the writing never allows any character to rise above the script. Rrama Sharma shines in a little part as the girl who gets butchered at the start of the film. Vipin Sharma as Magan and Jaihind Kumar as Panditji are good but never fully utilized. The same is true for Jatin Goswami who is such a talented actor but reduced to a one-dimensional character like Abhimanyu. Zoya Hussain has a good screen presence but the weird writing supersedes the traits of her character in a very big manner. Suvinder Vicky is such a fabulous actor, perhaps one of the best we have in the country at the moment. But even his character isn’t allowed to fully bloom in the garb of the writing. Manoj Bajpayee in his 100th outing does a good job and I felt sad that here was an actor who was really trying to make ends meet but never really successful because of the writing. I was even more surprised that he chose to produce this film which was just so bad that I am out of words. Somehow, the mass genre didn’t suit Manoj Bajpayee in what was a forgettable outing in his 100th appearance in an otherwise illustrious career.
Conclusion
Bhaiyya Ji is mass done wrong, very wrong! It almost seemed like a fight between Thanos and Iron Man in a district in India from the 80s, something that gave me a splitting headache. Leave alone Bhaiyya Ji, only have Parle G(and if that doesn’t make sense, this cringe joke is a byproduct of my trauma from the film). Available in a theatre near you.
