Directed by Ranjit Tiwari, Bell Bottom has been one of the biggest releases since the COVID-19 pandemic. The spy thriller is fast-paced, engaging, and keeps the audience on the hook with its screenplay.

The main protagonist of the film, played by Akshay Kumar, is a RAW intelligence officer who is emotionally and personally attached to the Hijacking case, making it his life mission to apprehend the antagonist Daljeet Singh, played by Zain Khan Durrani. The raw officer played by Akshay, who is in charge of rescuing the 210 hostages from hijackers, is relentless in his pursuit of mission success. Following multiple failures in his plans and backup plans, the rescue team makes a desperate attempt to complete the mission on time, making for an entertaining thriller to watch.

Despite a strong cast, the film is dominated by Akshay Kumar, whose character has the most screen time. Vani Kapoor plays the protagonist’s wife, who has a minor role in the story. While Lara Dutta’s performance as Indira Gandhi has good dialogue, her makeup and acting could have been better. Adil does a good job portraying his character.

There are issues in the story. Akshay, a new officer, trying to explain to the IB chief, who has no idea who is behind the previous hijackings(i.e. Pakistan is behind the previous plane hijackings in India) in which India had to release terrorists in exchange for the hostages. Also, set in 1984, the IB chief character played in the film, believes that Pakistan has helped India in previous hijacks and has no enmity towards India (even after the 1948, 1965 & 1971 wars). The writers needed a dumb IB officer against the antagonist of the movie.

Other untidy scenes include Akshay identifying the mole in the rescue team in Dubai without much doubt and using sand storm warning as the final backup for the rescue without any prior reference, making the screenplay incoherent.

Bell Bottom, a concise and fast-paced thriller, is worth a watch despite its lack of logic.