Thugs of Hindostan - a saga where the audiences are conned

To write a review for the most awaited Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan starrer “Thugs of Hindostan” that has finally hit the screens, is quite a task actually. So let me start with a simple dialogue of Firangi Mallah (Aamir Khan) “Dhokha swabhav hai mera (To con is my nature).” Yes, this is what the movie is all about. The audience were conned to buy tickets at the 7000 screens worldwide, including 5,000 in India and 2,000 overseas, the widest for any Hindi film. As is the nature of the audiences during any festival time, they book tickets in advance leaving little or no time to even read the reviews or gauge audience reaction. While the distributors and the makers make their way to the bank happy and smiling, it leaves the audience fuming as the film didn’t live up to the hype.

Thugs of Hindostan that was released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu with 3D and IMAX formats, is India’s answer to the desi “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, the film is anything but a stunner. The film’s primary plot revolves around a band of thugs led by Amitabh’s character Khudabaksh whose motive is to gain freedom for India from the British Raj. Add to it Firangi Mallah (Aamir Khan) with Kohl-laden eyes, a nose pin, trickster attitude, and who won't mind betraying for survival. Lace it up with a gyrating Suraiyya aka Katrina Kaif who has nothing to add to the film and the script and a royal heiress Zafira  (Fatima Sana Shaikh) who just gives plain blank expressions.

Essentially, Thugs Of Hindostan fails to deliver and satiate the audiences. Though the first half of the film has mixed proportions of drama, action and humour with visual spectacle playing to the gallery; it fails to hold the audience attention.  Plot-wise, the film keeps on dragging and its 2 hours 44 minutes of running time could have been well edited. There are moments in the film but nothing spectacular or overwhelming. And the songs of the film are forgettable, to say the least. In short, as Khudabaksh aka Amitabh Bachchan delivers a dialogue, “Ab iske pariwar ki zimmedari bhi hamari hai,” if only the producers and the studios could take the onus to return the money to the audiences who felt cheated at the end of the film.