An average person has about 60,000 thoughts in a day. Among them, there are many we call ‘intrusive thoughts’, ones which are unwelcome, involuntary. Badass Ravikumar is Himesh Reshammiya’s intrusive thought- and he let it win. (Also read: Loveyapa review: Not much love for this love story featuring Junaid Khan, Khushi Kapoor, which is funny only in parts)
Make no mistake, he is Pathaan, Tara Singh from Gadar and Jawan all rolled into one mean killing machine. Whenever he speaks, there’s an echo. And he ain’t normal like us mortals–he chooses to always rhyme whatever comes out of his mouth.
This film is an assault on not just the villain but our senses too with common sense taking the worst beating. But Himesh makes it clear right at the beginning: logic optional, in capital letters. So one can’t even blame him for the atrocity he has pulled off here. One feels helpless as a movie critic, because he has a comeback ready.
The plot, or the lack of it
There is no story here. Himesh does what Himesh likes. He will use a chainsaw to rip people apart, then jump off a valley after being shot… only to come back again for a 15-minute sequence in the second half where he and Sunny Leone dance to about 5 different songs back to back- the mood starts from ‘Tandoori Days’ then goes to a heartbreak song by Shreya Ghoshal, then again to a peppy number- Himesh doesn’t give you one second to process what’s happening. Oh, there’s also an emotional backstory to why he keeps a pack of cigarettes but never smokes them.
And then there’s the diamond heist sequence which had the theatre in splits, non stop. Is there something Ravi Kumar cannot do?
Himesh is responsible for the music, the lyrics, the story, and of course, producing a film which has him in each and every frame. There’s no escaping his brilliance. ‘I am the son of the soil’, he remarks randomly.
It… works?
To Badass Ravikumar’s credit, not one person got up and left midway- they all stuck around for this brainrot.
Throughout the two-hour runtime, one only comes to their senses when Kirti Kulhari is on screen. What business does an actor of her calibre have here in this film? It’s pretty shocking, the career choice she has had to make, because she feels out of place in a character that only requires her to show skin and have a cigarette in hand constantly.
Overall, Badass Ravikumar is expectedly a cringefest, and the makers made it clear right from the trailer. You get what you are promised. If you’re a Himesh Reshammiya fan, this film is for you. If you’re not a Himesh Reshammiya fan… you are, you just don’t know it yet.
