Badass Ravikumar review: When every dialogue is a punchline

Himesh Reshammiya’s latest “masterpiece”, Badass Ravikumar sets expectations of cheesy romance and logic-defying stunts right from the beginning. Pics/Youtube

3.05/5

A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon an Instagram reel featuring a seemingly wise, wizard-like cat who declared, "Sundays are for brain rot." Never has a 30-second reel resonated with me more. I'm productive from Monday to Saturday, but Sunday? That's my sacred day for mindless indulgence - content that gives my brain a break. So last Sunday, my friend and I decided to take that indulgence outside the house. We headed to Gaiety Galaxy in Bandra West to experience some pure cinematic brain rot. Our film of choice? Himesh Reshammiya's latest "masterpiece", Badass Ravikumar.

Badass Ravikumar, directed by Keith Gomes and produced by Reshammiya himself, hit theatres on February 7. A spin-off from the 2014 film The Xposé and the second installment in The Xposé Universe, the film brought back Reshammiya as the iconic police officer Ravi Kumar. Joining him were Prabhu Deva, Kirti Kulhari, Simona J, Saurabh Sachdeva, Sunny Leone, Sanjay Mishra, and Johnny Lever in supporting roles. Surprisingly, the film managed to rake in R7.76 crore in its first week - a respectable figure for what many predicted would be a box office disaster.

Now, you might be questioning my sanity for willingly spending Rs 200 on a film that screams flop. But that was the point. We were chasing the ultimate Bollywood masala brain rot - the kind of film so bad it loops back around to being good. If you're a cinephile looking for logic or coherent storytelling, Badass Ravikumar isn't for you. But if you're ready to surrender yourself to pure, chaos, you're exactly where you need to be.

Before I left, my family members declared I was wasting my precious time and insisted that the theatre would be empty, except for my friend and I. They couldn't have been more wrong. The place was packed, mostly with Gen Z - teens and 20-somethings - all there for the same reason: to revel in absurdity.

Through the movie, the audience was fully immersed - hooting, laughing, and clapping at every over-the-top scene. It was clear that the seemingly flop movie had found its audience in the youth who crave content that sets expectations of cheesy romance and logic-defying stunts right from the beginning.

The dialogues were, without a doubt, my favourite part of the film. It became clear to me why the production team of the film felt the need to add "badass" as a prefix to Ravikumar. Every line delivered by Reshammiya was absurdly impactful, to the point of being unintentionally genius. "Kundali mein Shani, ghee ke saath honey, aur Ravi Kumar se dushmani, sehat ke liye hanikarak ho sakti hai," and "Sudhar ja nahi toh gujar jayega" were most definitely my personal favourites. Every dialogue was a punchline, perfect for the film's over-the-top vibe.

What made the entire experience even better was the audience itself. People were laughing out loud, making snarky comments, clapping at the absurd action scenes, singing along to the film's iconic songs and dancing to their hook-steps. After a point, it wasn't just about watching the film - it was about sharing its ethos and chaos with a room full of strangers who were all there to let go of logic and enjoy what some may call a cringe-fest.

Reshammiya's music was, hands down, one of the film's highlights. Tandoori Days, a sequel to his iconic Tandoori Nights, was a massive hit, with over 60 million views on YouTube. There are viral videos of fans dancing to it on social media. Another hit, Dil Ke Taj Mahal Mein, had a similar effect.

One reason for the movie's success is its brain rot charm. When the film first premiered, Instagram was flooded with reels of friends pranking each other - convincing them they were going to watch the re-release of Interstellar, only to end up at a screening of Badass Ravikumar.

The film's confidence is its charm. It doesn't pretend to be deep or thought-provoking - it's here to entertain in the most ridiculous way possible. In an era where so many films struggle to pull audiences to theatres, this one managed to pack the house making people laugh and reminded them that sometimes, it's okay to not take life (or cinema) so seriously.

1/5
Yuck
2/5
Whatver
3/5
Good
4/5
Super
5/5
Awesome