- Date of Release: 04 September 2026
- Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Jeevan Ya Bheema Con
Introduction
One of the few interesting aspects of the new Hindi film Jeevan Ya Bheema Con was its erstwhile title. Previously titled ‘Jeevan Bheema Yojana’, the name offers a subtle commentary on the government life-insurance scheme – something that would invariably extend to the current title of the film too. So in a world wherein cons are common, you wouldn’t know on who is Jeevan or Bheema or even Yojana – a case that embroils itself briefly in the narrative here. So when you are first introduced to Yojana (Sanjeeda Shaikh), she is mourning the loss of her husband whose body is about to be lit up in flames. But once she enters her home a scene later, you notice that her husband Jeevan (Arshad Warsi) is in fact hail and hearty – deliberately hiding in the bedroom in order to save himself from the loan sharks. The plot twist (as seen in the trailer too) is that of a deby-ridden Jeevan assuming the identity of his doppleganger Bheema (also Arshad Warsi), in order to enjoy the benefits of his counterpart, and burying the problems of his current identity. But is the road to his enjoyment this simple?
Story & Screenplay
Written by Abhishek Dogra, Mukta Bhatt, Meghvrat Singh Gurjar, Jeevan Ya Bheema Con doesn’t disappoint with its premise that felt like an immediate crossover between the chaos of Delhi Belly (2010) and the madness of a Priyadarshan directed film (errr…erstwhile atleast). The issue then remains with the pitch of the comedy that is so high, that much of the laughter is subdued in the mix. For instance, an interesting twist in the tale in the form of a local goon Vinayak (Vijay Raaz) and his sidekick Manu (Brijendra Kala) arriving at Jeevan’s house, only to find him alive in a case of mistaken identity – is sandwiched between gags that drowned in the high-pitched tone of the conversations. Add to that, some juvenile jokes that are never ending – like the ongoing ‘fart’ joke of Manu even as Vinayak tells him to take a dump, felt like a connecting thread that had me increasingly disgusted than feeling ticklish. It is a very specific problem of creative bankruptcy that engulfs the narrative here.
Make no mistake, I found the setup to be decent – even as I was introduced to the characters in the mix, along with the fragmented flashbacks, and the inclusion of some of the other characters in the mix like a lusty-and-groping landlady Yashika (Pooja Chopra), or an insurance agent by the name Sachin Agarkar (Atul Parchure in probably his final outing onscreen; also an indicator that the film was shot atleast 4 years ago). Another indicator of the latter remains the inherent theme of a pandemic followed by a lockdown that now feels ages ago – even though the writing does provide some unintended commentary on unemployment that followed. But most of these plot points that could have resulted in a fairly enjoyable affair are vanished in the wake of the least favourable part for the film.
There could have been a streak of hope with certain plot points – like a central character undergoing a state of confusion on whether the person alive is Jeevan or Bheema. Or even a flirty offshoot on whether Bheema incidently died of natural causes or was he bumped off by the sociopath couple in question (he has traits of a criminal, she is a nurse; this could have been a match made in hell given the potential ‘killing’ angle). But instead, the writing chooses to play it safe – literally nosediving with gags of a character trying to seduce the goons with icecream, or the infinite attempts of the goons who are tied up to be freed. Or a running gag on an inspector named Atul Tendulkar who is approved by Sachin Agarkar – in a seemingly tiring reference to cricket and a couple of the other legends in question.
One issue that made the screenplay slightly stretched remained its setting. Given that most of the drama unfolds in a single location, it adds to the staleness of the proceedings – a major limitation, given its two-hour runtime. For the setting to work, the antidotes remained sharper writing and a reduced length – both of which were guilty of breaking the rule. There is an attempt of exploring the concept of Chekhov’s gun through objects like a near-broken ceiling fan, or melted icecream, or a bag of diamonds that are missing. And while the writing tries and connects these aspects together towards the end, it lacked that fizz or the bite that was required to elevate the moments.
Be it the chaos that ensues towards the end, something that felt too sanitized and staged in the moment. And all of this while the film felt like a drag, even as all the comedic elements were either evaporated or reduced to jokes on anti-feminist jokes (like a character getting calla from his wife), or the potty jokes. Nah, the attempt was to reach out to the lowest hanging fruit – eventually resulting in a tepid screenplay that flattens out quickly.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are pretty tone-deaf, something that evaporates any bouts of humour that could have been explored. The BGM is woeful, often comprising of cartoonish sounds orchestrated to aide the non-existent comedy in the mix. The cinematography comprises of frames that doesn’t fully commit to the potential chaos in the mix, often reducing the gags to the tepid outliers – as opposed to going all in. Some gags land at the halfway mark – like the one involving a bullet richocheted at a point, resulting in an unforeseen injury. But the juice in the gags is exploited continuous, eventually exhausting them – even as the frames remain devoid of humour and emotions.
The editing pattern needed to be crisper for a shortened runtime, particularly given the limitation of the setting. Director Abhishek Dogra tries to pack in punches through high-pitched exchanges – and that remained a fundamental flaw here, given that the writing wasn’t sharp enough. This felt like a last-ditch attempt at creating something funny, even when the technique employed was pretty safe in the mix. Needless to say that the direction misses the mark here.
Performances
The performances are a mixed bag by the members of the cast. I quite liked Atul Parchure in (probably) his final act onscreen as Sachin Agarkar, particularly his trademark exchanges with the other character in question. Jaywant Wadkar as Ajit Tendulkar is passable. Pooja Chopra as Yashika has a good screen presence, and does a fair job – despite the writing reducing her character to a one-dimensional lusty lardlord. It pained me to watch a talented actor like Brijendra Kala (as Manu) being reduced to such low-levwl humour that wasn’t self aware on when to tow the line.
Vijay Raaz as Vinayak is understated but literally sleep walks through his character here, with the same kind of stoic expressions trying hard to instigate moments of comedy. Sanjeeda Shaikh as Yojana is inconsistent with the pitch of her comedy, eventually that makes her performance less impressive. Arshad Warsi is well Arshad Warsi here in his typical brand of humour that is hard to differentiate over his plethora of comedies. As Jeevan and Bheema, he does enough to differentiate between the character traits, but the pitch of comedy is the same as his other comedy outings over the past couple of years. And that basically meant that the humour landed in a few moments, but also didn’t in the others.
Conclusion
Jeevan Ya Bheema Con squanders a promising premise by delivering a low-level crime-comedy that struggles with uninspired gags and an inability to sustain comedic momentum. As the narrative progresses, the pacing drags significantly, causing the story to taper off abruptly into a staged and unsatisfying conclusion, making it a con job for the viewers. Available in a theatre near you.