Harish Shankar’s Mr. Bachchan, that was recently released on Netflix, is an official remake Ajay Devgn starrer action film, Raid. While I liked the Bollywood version very much, Ravi Teja’s film was utterly disappointing and I doubt how entertained you’ll actually be, because truth be told, I found myself just waiting for it to end as the plot gets repetitive quickly—same story, same conflicts. Here’s the gist: Mr. Bachchan, an income tax officer, is after a powerful politician and industrialist, Muthyam Jaghayya, to uncover Jaghayya’s hidden assets. And like all villains, Jaghayya gives him a hard time, and Mr. Bachchan’s personal life gets complicated, as he’s also set to marry his love Jikki soon. How does he manage all this? That’s what the movie tries to show.
Spoilers Ahead
Who is Mr. Bacchan?
Mr. Bachchan wasn’t always Mr. Bachchan. As a child, his real name was Anand. But in August 1947, when Sholay was released, his father, being a huge Amitabh Bachchan fan, changed his son’s name from Anand to Amitabh after seeing the blockbuster. Not just his son’s name—he changed the entire family’s names to show his admiration for Amitabh. From that point on, Mr. Bachchan had one goal: to fight against all the “Gabbar Singhs” of society and seek justice. Mr. Bachchan was an income tax officer. At the start of the movie, there was a politician named Bava. Mr. Bachchan pretended to help him take down his enemies. Impressed by his bravery, Bava’s assistant thought Bachchan would make the perfect son-in-law for their wealthy family. But little did they know, Mr. Bachchan was hiding his true identity, and agreed to meet Bava’s daughter as part of his plan. He brought his income tax colleagues with him and demanded a hefty bribe from Bava, even joking that because Bava’s daughter was overweight, the dowry should match her weight in gold. Bava couldn’t sense the trap and he agreed as he did not want to miss the opportunity to marry his daughter off to such an honorable man. He thus piled up gold, ornaments, and crores of hidden black money on the weighing machine to show that he was willing to pay a dowry of equal weight to his daughter. And just like that Bava fell into Bachchan’s trap and Bachchan and his team busted him right there and got him arrested. Of course, Bava didn’t take this lightly, and complained about Bachchan and even humiliated him by asking him to lick his shoes. But Bachchan refused to back down as he knew that he did not commit any crime, Bava did, and to show who was the boss, Bacchan literally slapped Bava with his own shoes to prove he wouldn’t bow to such a villain. For that, Mr. Bachchan was suspended from his job, but he never once regretted his actions.
What was found in Muthyam Jaghayya’s house?
Muthyam Jaghayya was a notorious businessman and industrialist, from politicians to common people, everyone was afraid of his power and dominance. Many income tax officers had tried to bust him before, but they were either killed, beaten down, or humiliated so badly that they never dared to stand against him again. Muthyam even threatened to kill the chief minister if he didn’t secure an MLA ticket for his brother, but the government knew that if Muthyam and his brother came into power, they would destroy the peace of society, so they sought Mr. Bachchan’s help. Rumor had it that Bachchan was a man of principle who was not swayed by bribes or threats. Thus, his suspension was lifted, and he was given the task of raiding Muthyam’s house to uncover his hidden wealth. When they began searching the house, Muthyam acted calm and cooperative at first and pretended he followed the law and paid his taxes. But as the search intensified, a gunfight started, and in the middle of it, a bullet hit the ceiling and money literally started raining from the sky—more than they had ever imagined. Bachchan knew there was more, so he expanded the search to dig through every corner of the house. Muthyam was naturally enraged and decided to ruin Bachchan personally. So, He sent men to Jikki’s house, Bachchan’s fiancée in the hope of scaring him. Jikki’s father, who had once tried to bust Muthyam and failed, was also targeted in this fight. But this didn’t intimidate Bachchan.
Even when Muthyam tried to bribe him with tons of money, Bachchan refused, although his colleagues were tempted. Bachchan seized large amounts of money from Muthyam’s house by breaking down the walls and uncovering hidden treasures. Muthyam tried to be cunning and stage a fake robbery by planting dacoits in his house to make it seem like his wealth had been stolen. But Bachchan was always one step ahead, so he managed to capture the dacoits and secure the money. At one point, Muthyam tried to stop the search, using his sick mother as an excuse by claiming it was bad luck to raid the house while she was ill. But her health improved, and the search continued, which uncovered even more wealth. Realizing the only way to stop Bachchan was by hurting Jikki, Muthyam’s men attacked Bachchan’s family and Jikki’s family during the marriage preparations. Bachchan knew he couldn’t leave his mission to save them, and called his best friend, “Veeru,” Youth Yuvaraj, another income tax officer, to help. Veeru fought off the enemies and secured Bachchan’s family and Jikki. Things escalated to the point that Muthyam had to involve the chief minister, and even the prime minister to get rid of Bachchan. But Bachchan didn’t hesitate and with all the money and wealth he secured from Muthyam’s house, Bachchan went straight to form a case and get Muthyam arrested.
By now, you already know that Muthyam wasn’t going to sit quietly and let them take away his hidden gems. He tried hard to stop Bachchan by attacking the trucks that were loaded with all his wealth. But like I said, Bachchan was always one step ahead. He’d switched the trucks filled with the gems before, and Muthyam’s plan failed miserably. Therefore, in the end, Muthyam was sent to prison, and victorious and honest, Bachchan finally came home and got married!
