A remake of the 2014 Tamil film Jigarthanda, Bachchan Paandey is one of those safe, mass-entertaining masala films that suffer from being quirky but never tapping fully into the ridiculousness of its over-the-top premise. Star Akshay Kumar seems to be having a blast playing the menacing, stone-eyed gangster, but the film is let down by a cookie-cutter plot that never taps into its full potential.
Assistant director Myra (Kriti Sanon) decides to make a film about a dangerous gangster named Bachchan Paandey (Akshay Kumar) to make her directorial debut. She convinces her friend (and out-of-work actor) Vishu (Arshad Warsi) to take her to Baghwa, where Paandey reigns supreme as its crimelord. Always traveling in his stylish 1930s convertible, Paandey takes a surprising interest in Myra and Vishu’s enterprise when they reveal that they are making a film based on his life.
Bachchan Paandey initially seems to be a dark comedy, but those elements disappear once Paandey starts helping Myra with her film. The film does try to flesh out Paandey’s gang of goons, but they are, of course, as two-dimensional as you would expect them to be in a masala film like this.
While the film starts off on an interesting note, a generic gangster plot, and later, a generic romantic backstory holds it back.
There are a handful of interesting side characters, such as the stuttering Bufferia Chacha (Sanjay Mishra), and the entertaining acting teacher Bhaves Bhoplo (Pankaj Tripathi). They aren’t entirely wasted, but the film doesn’t capitalize on them either.
In fact, the meandering pace and direction of the film is its chief culprit. And there’s the fact that Jacqueline Fernandez’s character is only there to be a saintly love interest whose suffering fuels the revenge plot of the main character. This backstory, and Paandey’s relationship with his mother, are forced attempts to evoke sympathy for his character, and they don’t entirely work. There are two twists at the end that make the film slightly interesting for a minute, but then Paandey has a predictable change of heart and decides to change his life for the better.
This is certainly not the worst masala film of the year. In fact, it’s like any cheeseburger from a major fast-food chain: it goes down easy, but you forget it soon after leaving the joint. It’s better than the recent Akshay Kumar starrer, Sooryavanshi, but that’s not a high bar to clear.
This is one of Kumar’s more interesting roles in recent years, and Kriti Sanon portrays her role with confidence and aplomb.
Arshad Warsi is also good, as expected, even though his character doesn’t usually get to spread his wings.
As a direct-to-streaming Bollywood film, Bachchan Paandey lands squarely on the average side. If you’re looking for a chance to sit back and see Kumar have fun and Pankaj Tripathi play a stereotypical Gujraati, then you can’t go wrong with this film.