Bell Bottom Movie Review: Akshay Kumar’s Screen Presence Somewhat Rescues This Middling Hostage-Crisis Thriller (LatestLY Exclusive)

Bell Bottom Movie Review: Akshay Kumar's Bell Bottom has been a darling for the trade analysts and the exhibitors after the movie 'dared' to open in theatres following a prolonged lockdown. Thanks to lockdown persisting in Mumbai, I missed it watching the movie in theatres like many others and now that it has arrived on Amazon Prime Video, I can offer my two rupee thoughts on it.With the time period Bell Bottom is set in, those two rupees might have more value with the reduced inflation. Bell Bottom: After Theatrical Release, Akshay Kumar’s Film to Now Release on Amazon Prime Video on September 16!

Sorry, let me ditch the silly economics jokes, and get into nationalism mode. The poster boy of nationalist cinema - I am officially making it a genre - Akshay Kumar is once again on a blast doing what he is doing best. There is a certain kind of expectations that you have when you go to watch a film like Bell Bottom. There will be rousing dialogues, there is Akshay dominating over everything else, including the plot, and somewhere the national anthem will be played, before the show is over.

Movies like Bell Bottom deserve to be watched in theatres. The playing of National Anthem at the start of every show would have worked in the favour of the film, setting up the mood right, before Akshay Kumar takes over.

Here, he plays a suave RAW agent called Anshul, whose protocol dictates that people in the administration only know him by code name -  Bell Bottom. He is so committed to his code-name, that he is the only character to stick to wearing bell bottoms. He has a wife Radhika (Vaani Kapoor), who is seemingly oblivious of his double life.

I know you will keep saying Baby in your mind, but hey, there is a twist here. In Bell Bottom, Anshul has a personal stake in the crisis, that is inspired by the spate of passenger plane hijackings that plagued the aviation industry in the late '70s and '80s. There is a tragic backstory involving his mother (Dolly Ahluwalia), that gives Anshul an edge as to why he should lead the rescue operation for the latest hijacking.

Watch the Trailer:

The first half of Bell Bottom, while introducing us to the main plot crisis, also delves into how RAW found Anshul and turned him into Bell Bottom. While the scenes explore the character further, it mostly does is give a cliched purpose to the protagonist. At the same time, it also feels that Akshay is a misfit in these portions. We learn that he is an expert linguist, a doting and emotional son, a romantic partner and an fine chess player. Nothing wrong in seeing him fit those aspects. But then RAW keeps downing him for his fitness levels, and there is this training montage that is supposed to transform him into something physically fitter - only that we don't see any of that. Because just like in Brothers, here's an Akshay who always looks fit and therefore goes against what his character demanded at the moments. Bell Bottom Trailer: Lara Dutta as Former Indian PM Indira Gandhi Stuns Netizens With Her Transformation!

Bell Bottom fares slightly better in the second half, as the hero goes to Dubai to handle the hostage crisis, while also tackling the narrow-minded Indian bureaucrats accompanying him and the rigid Dubai officials seeking a more peaceful negotiation process. The climax involves a fight scene involving a sandstorm, which is perhaps the best sequence of the whole movie, unless your mind doesn't want to keep going to Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

Bell Bottom is totally an Akshay Kumar show, with the supporting cast to the narrative often taking a backseat. From mouthing sentimental cliches to patriotic zingers, it is a cake walk for the actor, who can take on such roles in his sleep by now. Among the supporting cast, Adil Hussain get to shine with a few crowd-pleasing lines. Lara Dutta's performance as India's Iron Lady gets drowned under her impressive but distracting prosthetics. Vaani Kapoor and Huma Qureshi just fill their parts, getting not much scope to extract much out of their sketchily written characters. Both their arcs have twists coming at the end, but they hardly make you gasp at how they came about.

Yay!

- The Second Half

Nay!

- A Thriller is Effective in Patches

Final Thoughts

There is a reason why Baby is still being hailed as Akshay Kumar's best thriller. It was smart, it was funny when needed, and it was effectively and restrainedly  bombastic, while giving supporting characters room to breathe. Bell Bottom tries to be that but just comes several feet short of making any sort of such impact. The movie is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 16, 2021 02:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).