Unlimited badass entertainment – Beyond Bollywood

Himesh Reshammiya and director Keith Gomes’ musical action comedy transports you back to the 80s, but rather surprisingly, it isn’t quite over the top. In Bollywood’s prolonged struggle phase, this is an ideal family entertainer.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ( 4 / 5 )

By Mayur Lookhar

Last week, at the Amazon MX Player content line-up announcement, veteran ad filmmaker and director Piyush Pandey made an important point during a panel discussion. ‘It’s important to look at data on your devices, but never forget to have your head up and look at the real world around. How corporate studios and marketing geniuses have served Hindi cinema over the years is reflected in Bollywood’s prolonged low phase.

How often do we find ourselves repeating that if you can’t give new-age, real cinema, then it’s better to go back to school? Go back to telling your rom-coms, your formulaic films, which were a mark of the 80s, and mid-90s. These films often had a revenge plot, but it was packed with the right dose of romance, action, drama, comedy, and music. Before the plot, even the mere names of characters, especially villains, struck a chord with the masses. Even Sholay (1975), considered Bollywood’s biggest blockbuster, had this mix.

In 2025, Himesh Reshammiya proudly returns to the 80s as Ravi Kumar, a character he played in the serious thriller The Xpose (2014). Reshammiya has now expanded the Xpose universe with a musical action comedy in Badass Ravi Kumar, helmed by Keith Gomes. Without any trailer launch event or aggressive PR, the trailer of Badass Ravi Kumar received much love. We liked how Reshammiya was, in some way, spoofing Ravi Kumar. An accomplished singer and musician, Reshammiya’s earlier attempts at acting mostly boomeranged. But with Badass Ravi Kumar, one got the feeling that the actor was no longer taking himself seriously. Take that burden off your shoulders, and that is when an artiste is most likely to express himself freely.

The character name is the same, but the world is different. Firstly, Reshammiya’s Ravi Kumar is now a badass cop who is suspended following his suspicious involvement in the murder of a rapist. Suspended he may be, but his boss Awasthi (Saurabh Sachdeva) utilises his services for covert operations. Set in the late 80s, badass cop Ravi Kumar is assigned a mission to track down wanted criminal Jagavar Chaudhary (Rajesh Kumar) and his son in Oman. India’s diplomatic relations with the Gulf region weren’t as robust then as they are now. Chaudhary has the backing of a fake godman, Beriya (Anil George), and the all-powerful international don, Carlos Pedro Panther (Prabhu Deva). As the story unravels, this mission gets more personal for Ravi Kumar.

A simple story, but writer Kushal Ved Bakshi and co-writer Reshammiya have created fascinating characters, riveting drama, and even some likable melodrama. The USP of this film, though, is the great punch dialogues by Bunty Rathore. The trailer had nearly half a dozen, but the film—phew—a viewer is delightfully gazumped in a storm of dialoguebaazi. 

Phew, where do we begin? ‘Kundali mein shani, ghee mein honey, aur Ravi Kumar se dushmani, teenon sehat ke liye hanikarak hai.’

‘Jin toofanon mein tumhare jhopde ujadh jaate hain, hum usmein apne kapde sukhate hain.’

(Jeez, we don’t want to spoil the fun by giving English translations. Google it, please.)

Our best, though, is ‘I hate negativity, and you are all negative people.” Phew, before guns, one is trounced under the weight of these punch dialogues. Ravi Kumar’s boss, Awasthi, grills him on why he mutters these dialogues so frequently. ‘Because before every super hit action, there is a super hit dialogue,’ pat comes the reply. Take a bow, Lord Himesh.

The viewer is laughing, but Reshammiya is a picture of intensity while delivering the punch dialogues. Himesh has an inimitable style and swag, but this badass Ravi Kumar is also a tribute to the mass action heroes of the 80s. Like we said before, Reshammiya has lightened up for this film, and this reflects in what is inarguably his finest performance.

And it isn’t just as an actor—Reshammiya, the rockstar, returns to form with joyful music. Tere Pyaar Mein and Dil Ke Taj Mahal Mein are fun tracks, but Himesh gives a fine spin-off to his earlier modern classics, such as Hookah Bar, with Hookstep Hookah Bar, while Tandoori Nights turn into Tandoori Days. The former is a sizzling, groovy track.  Formulaic films often feature a dance track or a medley before the mayhem begins. Reshammiya delivers a fine medley in the pre-climactic action. Himesh Reshammiya’s music is simply out of this world.

If there is music, then how can Prabhu Deva be far behind? Dancing villains are a rare species. If Ravi Kumar is fire, then Carlos Pedro is more ice-like. He enjoys having fun on the dance floor and even grooves while gunning down people—some of them his own. The dancing is all fine, but this film merited an intense, intimidating villain, which is hard to expect from the usually soft-spoken Prabhu Deva. The dancing, however, is necessary in the penultimate action scene as the rubber man of India dodges a couple of bullets.

Pedro has a tragic love story, where he himself killed his girlfriend, Meena, in the most bizarre way. Panther gets his girl to confess, then does a hard brake on his bike, causing pillion rider Meena to fall off a cliff. He still misses her and visits the cliff every day to pay his respects.  Carlos isn’t intimidating but Prabhu Deva does fine as the dancing villain.

There is a backstory too, where years ago, we see Carlos in a traditional kurta and lungi. Well, haven’t we seen South Indian villains before in Hindi films? The South never forgets to return the favour by having evil North Indian villains. That’s cultural exchange.

Among the other villains, Anil George is hilarious as the fake godman. Manish Wadhwa is fast becoming the quintessential rogue Pakistani general/agent in Bollywood. The bald Wadhwa, however, is impressive once again. Though evil, Rajesh Sharma is funny as Jagavar Chaudhary.

Formulaic films are incomplete without the finest comedian of the era. Badass Ravi Kumar features the legend Johnny Lever and a modern great in Sanjay Mishra. The duo play Raja Babu and Rana, respectively. They can’t see eye to eye, having both fallen for the same girl, Marjena, yet both remain single. If not smart, they offer quirky support to Ravi Kumar.

Women tend to have academic roles in formulaic films, often required to romance the hero and then be rescued by him in the crisis hour. We see the same here too, but director Keith Gomes has cared for his leading female characters, giving them their own conflicts. 

Laila (Kirti Kulhari) and Madhubala (Simona J) are siblings, both falling for Ravi Kumar. However, our hero has given his heart to Madhubala, naturally upsetting the elder sister, Laila. Then, like in a good old masala film, Ravi Kumar’s mother (played by Navneet Nishan) and even Ravi grandmother (Sulbha Arya) are dragged into the conflict. The women don’t just sit back and wait to be rescued—some of them pack a punch too. Throw in Sunny Leone as the double agent Nisha, and the ladies put up quite a show.

And then there are the women in Pedro’s team—white women dressed in sarees, guarding their boss. The saree is a better option than watching the late Libyan dictator Muammar Ali Gaddafi’s all-female bodyguards.

While director Keith Gomes has harped on this film having a badass logic and reminded viewers that logic is optional, Badass Ravi Kumar is no mindless entertainer. The makers have taken care to explain the logic behind certain actions, especially how Ravi Kumar survived gunshots and a fall from the cliff. The action, too, is not overly exaggerated. This is a comedy film, so don’t expect Reshammiya to turn into Vidyut Jammwal or Tiger Shroff.

We repeat, this film is all about the punch dialogues. The film’s opening visual takes us back to the 80s, mentioning the affordable ticket rates of that era. Was it around four rupees? We paid 112 for the first day, first show in 2025. Compared to today’s average ticket prices (250-300), at this price, Badass Ravi Kumar is a paisa vasool film.

For such an entertaining film, an ideal family entertainer, it came as shock that there wasn’t any press show. What would be the logic behind this no show? Maybe, the makers felt that an honest cop Ravi Kumar wouldn’t approve of ‘paid reviews’, rating charts.  Be rest assured, though this musical comedy had us in splits.  This is pure entertainment, entertainment, entertainment.

Watch the video review below.