Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Writers: Ali Abbas Zafar, Aditya Basu, Suraj Gianani
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manushi Chhillar, Alaya F, Sonakshi Sinha
Duration: 164 mins
Available in: Theatres
I’ve always had a soft spot for Ali Abbas Zafar, a prolific director with some very watchable Bollywood titles (Bloody Daddy, Jogi (2022), Sultan (2016), Bharat (2019), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and Tandav (2021)) to his credit. Narrative flaws aside, his action choreography has been slick and entertaining, only a tier below peak-Siddharth Anand or peak-Kabir Khan. Let’s just say Zafar has been on the brink of making a good film. At long last, he breaks that “almost” streak with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan.
Unfortunately, the 164-minute slog suggests he was also on the brink of making a bad film. Because this one is bad in all the Big Dumb Action Movie ways – there’s not an original idea, shot, stunt, word, character and twist. Inspirations range from War (2019) and Pathaan (2023) to The Dark Knight (2008), The Italian Job (2003) and Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) (don’t ask). Worse, the action is dull enough to make a guy two rows ahead scroll through Hinge on his phone while a bike collides with a helicopter in the film. He swiped right on the wrong screen.