BELL BOTTOM

Produced by: Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani and Nikkhil Advani.

Directed by: Ranjit M Tewari

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Lara Dutta and Adil Hussain

Written by: Aseem Arrora & Parveez Sheikh

BELL BOTTOM is an espionage thriller, which has been inspired from real life events. The events are based in the 70s and 80s, during the time when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India. There have been 5 hijacks that have happened in the past 7 years. In the past, the flights have landed in Lahore Pakistan, and it is the same this time as well. This time as well the flight had landed in Lahore. The Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi (Lara Dutta), was all set to negotiate with them. But a RAW agent who goes by the code name Bell Bottom (Akshay Kumar) thought otherwise. He told them that the ISI were behind this and they’re the mastermind. They don’t believe him at first but he then gives them the proof. After the events that follow this, ISI sends one of their best men, Daljeet Singh aka Doddy (Zain Khan Durrani) to take over the hijack operation from Lahore. He is someone who Bell Bottom detests a lot and shares a past with him. The film then centers around a dangerous rescue mission undertaken by Bell Bottom. If he is successful or not and what are the consequences, if any, form the rest of the film.

This is the first big theatrical release that we’ve had in god knows how long. I don’t say this because we’ve missed seeing films in the theaters but because the film is genuinely good and it’s refreshing to be welcomed back to the cinemas with such a film. The writing is the key and the strong point in the film, besides the other obvious thing – the performances. The story comes off well researched as well. This is a good mass film, which is going to be loved by audiences as well as critics. Also, Kudos to the whole team to pull this off during a pandemic, and how!

Technically, the film is great. Cinematography by Rajeev Ravi is superb, and he really gets the 70s-80s  feel on the screen with his work. To make sure he is able to capture it so well, the production design team as well as the costume design team have done a fantastic job as well. The writing, from research to keeping the script tight to maintaining the consistency, has been great. The music doesn’t really fit into a film like this, in my opinion, plus, the songs aren’t of the chartbuster variety either. The editing is fine. The background score is splendid. The action is not so much, but it is good.

Performances are brilliant. Akshay Kumar is a man in form. At 53, he can still manage to break hearts of three different generations and that’s the biggest compliment I could possibly give him. He is simply effortless. Lara Dutta has a strong role to play and she does it well. Vaani has a small yet significant role to play and she gives her best. She has a wonderful screen presence as well. Huma Qureshi does well but her character seems poorly etched out. Adil Hussain is good. Zain Khan Durrani is the antagonist and he does fine. Denzil Smith doesn’t have much to do. The rest of the cast offer good support.

Director Ranjit Tewari is superb. He aces the execution and delivers a proper big screen entertainer