Batti Gul Meter Chalu: Akshay Kumar's TEPK, Sanjay Dutt's Lage Raho Munna Bhai - 5 Movies Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor's Film Reminded Us of (SPOILER ALERT)

Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor reunite once again after Haider, for Batti Gul Meter Chalu. The social drama is directed by Shree Narayan Singh, who previously made another social drama Toilet Ek Prem Katha, which had Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar in the lead. That movie was a big hit when it came out in 2017. As TEPK deals with the lack of toilet facilities in interiors, BGMC's plot is about the corruption in electricity board which leads to consumers facing shortage in power and many getting exorbitant bills. Shraddha Kapoor’s Style File for Batti Gul Meter Chalu Promotions Was Distinctly Different Than Hers for Stree.

Shree Narayan Singh treats Batti Gul Meter Chalu the same way as he dealt with Toilet Ek Prem Katha. It has heart, of course, and the message it delivers needs to be heard. But Batti Gul Meter Chalu is not a public service announcement; it is a movie. And as a film, it fails to be a good one at that! It also reminds me of other movies, five of which I have mentioned below - (FULL OF SPOILERS!)

Toilet Ek Prem Katha

It is not just that the treatment is the same. Shahid Kapoor's turn as the carefree, unscrupulous guy to a determined righteous lawyer fight for the right, mirrors Akshay Kumar's own arc in TEPK.

Lage Raho Munna Bhai

In Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Sanjay Dutt's character asks his radio listeners to send his nemesis flowers with the message 'Get Well Soon!'. In Batti Gul..., Shahid's SK tells all the disgruntled consumers of electricity board owned by SPTL to send their bulbs to the chairperson, since they don't work anyway!

Sangam/Pearl Harbour

The whole love triangle between SK, Lalita (Shraddha Kapoor) and goody-goody Sunder (Divyendu Sharma) reeks of the Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala-starrer Sangam. While SK is obsessively in love with Lalita, she chooses her other friend Sunder for his clean nature. Later, when Sunder is thought to have committed suicide by jumping in the dam, Lalita and SK come close when they are working on the case only for Sunder to return from the dead. BTW, the Hollywood film Pearl Harbor also had a similar love triangle.

Oh My God

The court scenes where SK battles the electricity board is very similar to Kanjilal (Paresh Rawal)'s own legal battle in OMG. There is also the fact that SK takes the petitions of other unhappy consumers to make his case strong, something even Kanji did in the other film.

Rustom

As Akshay Kumar's character makes women swoon over him in this legal drama, even SK has women fawn over him throughout the whole film. Thankfully, there is no jury in BGMC's court scenes, but still, the defense lawyer, played by Yami Gautam, also ends up in love with Shahid's character.

Agree with our observations? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 21, 2018 07:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).