Ustaad Bhagat Singh Review: Pawan Kalyan's Action Potboiler is Over-Familiar, Over-Exhausting

Ustaad Bhagat Singh is less a film and more, a lazily constructed vehicle for star worship and political signalling, one that quickly wears out its welcome for anyone outside Pawan Kalyan's core fanbase, observes Sreeju Sudhakaran.

As the title implies, Ustaad Bhagat Singh is the name of our protagonist. He is an orphan who doesn't even have a proper name, so he is christened after his favourite freedom fighter. When asked if he likes Mahatma Gandhi, he says he respects Gandhi but loves Bhagat Singh more.

Of course, the name conveniently allows him to resonate with both right and left-leaning audiences. It also permits him to indulge in wanton violence against villains while sporting a cowboy hat (which, amusingly, is forgotten within minutes). It goes without saying that the usage of the name is purely for hero elevation. On one hand, he claims to be inspired by Bhagat Singh's writings; on the other, he wears an Om pendant and frequently quotes the Bhagavad Gita.

I understand Pawan Kalyan's 'predicament'. He has to appease the majoritarian sentiment of his fanbase, and that cannot exactly happen if he starts quoting from the Communist Manifesto. Nor can he be shown entering a Muslim-majority locality with a red tilak on his forehead while claiming the place is NOT Pakistan.

What Ustaad Bhagat Singh is about

Ustaad Bhagat Singh, directed by Harish Shankar, may not fully grasp the ideals of the man whose name it borrows, but it certainly understands the template required to package Pawan Kalyan's action persona while also giving him ample room to project his political inclinations.

For the 'Power Star' and his fiercely loyal fanbase, it's a win-win. For everyone else, it quickly devolves into a familiar, overlong, and exhausting grind.

The story follows Bhagat Singh (Pawan Kalyan), an orphan raised by a kind-hearted headmaster (K S Ravikumar), who later becomes chief minister. When the CM is grievously attacked, the opportunistic Nalla Nagappa (R Parthiban) takes over as interim CM, with ambitions of making it permanent.

Meanwhile, the CM's hedonistic son lands up in Bhagat Singh's village, putting himself squarely in the protagonist's crosshairs. Soon, we learn that Bhagat Singh has a past -- and that past is deeply intertwined with Nagappa.

Template-Driven Potboiler

Ustaad Bhagat Singh is so template-driven that it offers little in the way of surprise. The hero is introduced with an action set-piece reminiscent of Mohanlal's Malayalam blockbuster Pulimurugan. Once he grows up (into Pawan Kalyan), he gets yet another stylised entry -- again through action, again positioning him as a saviour.

The first half leans on lighthearted sequences where Pawan Kalyan and a bunch of comedians try hard to land jokes, aided by meta commentary and now-tired callbacks to other superstars. Raashii Khanna is present mainly to tick the romantic box and eventually become a damsel in distress. Her significance to the plot is as evident as the lack of political agenda in the film.

Just when patience begins to wear thin, the inevitable flashback arrives. Here, the hero transforms into a trigger-happy cop with yet another (re)introductory action scene that frames him as a 'Hindu' saviour. Since this flashback track dominates almost the entirety of the second half, it introduces another romantic angle through RJ Leela (Sreeleela), whose 'cute' antics feel more grating than charming, often rivalling Parthiban's caricaturish villainy.

There are also the usual padding devices: A couple of needless songs -- one where the heroine chases the hero, and another where Pawan Kalyan breaks into dance to generate whistles from fans. A token dose of amma pasam is thrown in through Gautami's character while also completely wasting her. Female characters are subjected to harassment and assault, largely to justify the hero's violent retaliation.

Unsurprising Twists and Unsubtle Propaganda

Given Pawan Kalyan's current political positioning, there's also a random scene where he chants 'JSR', and another where he forces a group of normal citizens to chant 'Jai Hind' at gunpoint. What is 'patriotism', if not performative and coercive?

To further amplify its 'patriotic' pitch, the film introduces caricatured jihadi antagonists, written and dressed exactly as one would expect in such narratives.

In the climax, the terrorist leader dutifully checks every box from the right-wing playbook to provoke the hero, invoking everything from Operation Sindoor to claims about a rising Muslim population in India driven by alleged Bangladeshi infiltration.

Unfortunately for Ustaad Bhagat Singh, if the film intended to ride the wave of Islamophobia, it gets outdone by its Bollywood rival of the week, Dhurandhar The Revenge, which embraces that space far more unabashedly.

There are some 'shocking' twists and turns where some characters are not who they proclaim to be. If you do not feel your jaw dropping, that's because there is no logical buildup for those reveals.

The action sequences are generic and unimaginative, with no real sense of stakes. But that's expected when the film refuses to place its protagonist in any genuine danger. Instead, he wields dual assault rifles like toys, mowing down hordes of villains while enemy bullets conveniently avoid him, as if they have opted for voluntary retirement. What somewhat works for these scenes is the background score provided by S Thaman who goes into full Anirudh mode here.

Ustaad Bhagat Singh is less a film and more, a lazily constructed vehicle for star worship and political signalling, one that quickly wears out its welcome for anyone outside Pawan Kalyan's core fanbase.

Ustaad Bhagat Singh Review Rediff Rating: