MOVIE REVIEW: Bell Bottoms (2021)

Bell Bottom is a great movie that we can look back in time to see where the mood of our nation was in this current time. It doesn't do anything new with the formula of movies in this style, but what it does, it does well.

The story follows the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 691 (421 in real life), and how the RAW, and their undercover agent Anshul Malhotra (real identity is unknown) rescue the passengers and arrest the highjackers.

The movie is a light hearted watch, with a lot of liberties taken, especially with the protagonist's personal life (and the degree of help from the Saudi government). It's talking points on ISI and Pakistan ring true.

(SPOILERS) I do want to talk about one very problematic bit towards the end. When the mission succeeds and Akshay Kumar says "we are not just the country of Gandhi, but of Bose too", not only was it extremely on the nose, but ignorant of the non-violent success of the mission. If there were zero casualties and none of the terrorists were killed but captured, that is a SUCCESSFUL NON-VIOLENT mission. It is still in line with Gandhi. There was no reason whatsoever to bring up Bose, that too in a context that undermines Gandhi, in any way whatsoever. This is part of a very problematic trend that aims to undermine the roots of our country. It was the biting of a laung or kaali mirch in a biryani at the last bite, leaving a bad taste in an otherwise great movie (/SPOILERS)

Overall it was a great movie, despite the slow start in the first scene, and is definitely worth watching with friends or family at the hall.

Another very innovative thing this movie did was releasing the movie on both Amazon Prime and physical cinema at the exact same time. This strategy is definitely forward thinking and worth noting.

I rate this movie a strong 5.5/10 ✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️🛬/🏜️🏜️🏜️🏜️🏜️🏜️🏜️🏜️🏜️🏜️