BellBottom | Bollywood Movie Review by Movie Insert | Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta | MOVIE INSERT

On screen at least, there is nothingthat Akshay Kumar can’t do. In film after film, he is in savior mode,rescuing migrants, women, trans people. With an upright posture and determined gaze, the characters he plays uphold ideasof honor, sacrifice and the motherland. He is, above all, a patriot who in ways bigand small, helps the tricolor to fly high. Bell Bottom is no different. Here, Akshay is a RAW analyst, AnshulMalhotra, who among other things, is a National-level chess playerwho speaks German and French and is also skilled enoughin music to give lessons. Little of this is organically used in the narrative.It's exposition meant to impress. But the truth is I was sold when Anshul is introduced,feet first, striding into the Prime Minister’s office. He’s wearing bellbottoms, fittingbecause that is also his code name. Rousing background scoreamplifies his presence. It’s a sort of instantly sexy entrance,that can birth a franchise. Bell Bottom, inspired by true events,is set in the 1980's, described as a time whenhijacking had become rampant. A voiceover informs us that military action, diplomacy and intelligence agencies,everything has failed. There've been seven instances in five years. When one more aircraft is taken,Bell Bottom is called in. What makes him an expert?Personal stakes, his family has suffered. This probably isn’t how crisismanagement at the PMO works, but director Ranjit M. Tewarikeeps the action humming. If you don’t ask too manyquestions, the plot moves despite the flashback to Anshul’s personaltragedy and the unnecessary romantic interludes,Vaani Kapoor plays Anshul’s wife. Though Akshay is 54 years old,we are told that Anshul is 32, which is perhaps what the makers used to justify casting a much youngeractress as his wife. In any case, Vaani is merely decoration. The real leading lady here is LaraDutta playing Indira Gandhi. Make-up artist Vikram Gaikwad hasdone stellar work with the actor. You might not recognize her untilyou hear the familiar voice. Lara summons this imperious statesmanshipand is strong as a woman who is smarter and tougher than the men who serve her. Despite the loopholes in logic, the firsthalf of Bell Bottom holds itself together. The narrative also benefitsfrom the lively presence of Dolly Ahluwalia who playsAnshul’s feisty mother, it’s every energetic Punjabi matriarch clichérolled into a character, but Dolly makes it fun. Then there’s Adil Hussain, who somehow adds alayer of intelligence to even the most banal scenes. And keep an eye out for Zain KhanDurrani as the baddie Doddy. He has a compelling menace. Bell Bottom propels itself forward on a certaincaper-style energy, slickness and scale. But in the second half, thestorytelling starts to unglue. The plot becomes so outlandish thatit’s difficult to stay invested. The latter half of the film focuses on arescue operation led by Anshul in Dubai. He lays it out for us, saying: 210 hostages,7 hours, 4 hijackers. The odds are against us,but to hell with the odds. A countdown builds a sense ofurgency, but the screenplay, written by Aseem Arrora and ParveezShaikh, starts wobbling precariously. It doesn’t help that the villainizing of thePakistani characters becomes shriller and the desh bhakti is laid on thick, Anshul says: Iss baarHindustan nahi jhukega. Iss baar unki haar, which soundssuspiciously like an election slogan. The final straw is an act of nature,rendered in dodgy CGI, which is used by Anshul and hiscrack team to foil the hijackers. Even the heavens are on India’s side. This isn’t a spoiler, we’ve seen enough AkshayKumar movies to know that he doesn’t lose. The film ends with a twist, which is fun, but tacked on rather thandeveloped through the story. After watching this film andBhuj: The Pride of India, I have to ask, exactly how easyis it to get a job with RAW? In that film we are told that a character named Pagi, India aa gayeaur RAW join kar liya. In this film, we are told that RAW has talent spotters, does that mean that ourpremier intelligence outfit basically functionslike a modelling agency? Still, I think that Bell Bottom has afew more adventures in him. If we do get a sequel, I hopethat the makers will give us a pure spy story, rather than also tryingto bung in romance, and maa ka pyaar andon-the-nose patriotism. You can watch Bell Bottomon Amazon Prime Video.