Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was theatrically released on 11 April 2024, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr. The film received negative reviews from critics and became a box-office bomb.
Plot
A masked perpetrator attacks an Indian convoy, containing a weapon, and tells the Indian Army that they will have to race-against-time to prevent the destruction of India. Captain Misha faces off against a masked attacker in Shanghai, where she impales him, but the attacker's wounds inexplicably heal instantly and he escapes. Misha reports the incident to Col. Azad, who instructs her to enlist court-martialed soldiers Firoz "Freddy" and Rakesh "Rocky" for the mission, but only Rocky only agrees to help.
Misha and Rocky arrive in London and meet Parminder Pam, an IT specialist assigned to assist them. In London, Azad gets shot by the masked perpetrator. The team infiltrates the London tube to retrieve the stolen package. Freddy arrives to help them fight the masked men. Pam unlocks the vault, revealing that the package is actually Captain Priya Dixit, Freddy's ex-girlfriend. Since the hard drives were at the risk of being hacked, the codes to Karan Kavach, a highly advanced defence system, were encrypted inside Priya's brain. The masked perpetrator and his army take Priya hostage and the perpetrator reveals himself as Kabir, a scientist and Freddy and Rocky's former friend.
In the past, Kabir intends to help the Indian Army with his latest invention: a cloning program where clones based on Freddy and Rocky's DNA could be programmed with orders and win wars without being killed. When Kabir reveals his intentions to conquer the world using this invention, Azad orders him to shut it down since it would go against ethics. Kabir switches sides and sells the invention to India's enemies. Priya reveals this information to Azad, where Freddy and Rocky are given orders to capture Kabir alive, but they end up killing Kabir and are court-martialed for not following orders, after which Freddy breaks up with Priya without any reasons.
In the present, Kabir reveals that he survived because the person, who died due to Rocky and Freddy, was actually his clone Eklavya. Eklavya's death left him vengeful as he loved the clone like a son. The masked men were actually Freddy and Rocky's clones. Kabir reveals that he has also cloned Azad and killed the real one. Kabir kidnaps Priya and leaves Freddy and Rocky to die, but they kill Kabir's henchmen and reveals to the team that Kabir plans to turn Pakistan and China against India by deactivating the Karan Kavach and launching airstrikes against the two countries, which would cause India's reputation to be globally tarnished.
Freddy, Rocky, Misha and Pam infiltrate Kabir's base, where Kabir decrypts the password from Priya's brain. Freddy and Rocky eventually face off against their own clones, who keep rejuvenating due to an internal power source. The duo kills the clones by luring them into a power grid, causing them to explode. Kabir launches the airstrikes before Freddy and Rocky kill him. Priya reveals that Eklavya is the password. The Karan Kavach is reactivated, averting the airstrike and a potential war.
In a post-credits scene, the team leaves the base, while Kabir survives, hinting at a sequel.
Principal photography began on 17 January 2023 at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai.[16] The first schedule included an action scene shot in a set of Bunker before it moved to Film City where other action scenes were shot. On 19 February 2023, Zafar confirmed the first schedule wrap.[17]
On 28 February 2023, the second schedule took place in the United Kingdom in which a major chunk of the film was shot in Scotland, London and Luton before it ended on 12 April 2023. Some high-octane action sequences were filmed featuring cars, bikes, helicopters and tanks.[18] An action scene was shot at night in Paisley where a street was recreated as Shanghai.[19] Kumar also got injured while shooting a bike chase sequence.[20]
On 16 April 2023, last schedule began in Abu Dhabi with the shooting of few portions of the title track at Emirates Palace.[21] Action scenes featuring Cars, Bikes, Tanks, Horses, Dune Buggies, Plane, and Chinook helicopter were shot.[22] A set of Indian Army Airstrip was recreated at Liwa Dessert. Filming wrapped on 9 May 2023 except patchwork.[23]
On 21 January 2024, the filming for four final songs choreographed by Bosco-Caesar kicked off in Jordan with Kumar, and Shroff which took place for 12 days. Firstly the title track was shot at Roman Theatre and other locations of Jerash. Filming then moved to the Dead Sea where a romantic track with Kumar, Shroff, Sinha, Chhillar and Alaya F and a party track which also includes Prithviraj and Roy were shot. Last song shoot took place at Wadi Rum where an Arabic style song was shot.[24][25][26] On 1 February 2024, Kumar confirmed the schedule wrap.[27]
The music of the film is composed by Vishal Mishra and lyrics are written by Irshad Kamil while the background score is composed by Julius Packiam. The first single titled "Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (Title Track)" was released on 19 February 2024.[30] The second single titled "Mast Malang Jhoom" was released on 28 February 2024.[31] The third single titled "Wallah Habibi" was released on 13 March 2024. The original Title Track from the original film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan sung by Udit Narayan and Sudesh Bhosale was used during a scene in the film.[32]
On 26 February 2024, a promotional event for the film was held in Lucknow, where Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff performed live stunts and interacted with the crowd.[33] The film was promoted at India Today Conclave 2024 in Delhi.[34] On 22 March 2024, Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff performed live at the 2024 Indian Premier League opening ceremony.[35] The trailer of the film was launched at an event in Mumbai on 26 March 2024.[36]
Release
Theatrical
In February 2022, the release date of the film was announced as 22 December 2023 (in the week of Christmas).[37] However, in May 2023, a new release date of Eid 2024 was announced by Pooja Entertainment.[38][39]
Ronsk Kotecha of The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Bade Miyan Chote Miyan goes out all guns blazing to make for an entertaining potboiler with heart-pounding action, cheeky humour and barely a dull moment."[50] Titas Chowdhury of News18 gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff's fun banters are pure gold. Prithviraj Sukumaran's evil act keeps you on the edge."[51]
Bollywood Hungama gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "BMCM suffers due to a weak script and poor dialogues, however, it is a decent watch for the fans of Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, and those who patronize action movies."[52] Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Bade Miyan Chote Miyan doesn't, however, rely on portraying its heroes with the same ol’ hypermasculinity – these heroes like to have fun instead.[53]
Zinia Bandyopadhyay of India Today gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "Ali Abbas Zafar is an OG director when it comes to action. However, here it turns out to be a disappointment."[54]Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 1/5 stars and wrote "Bade Miyan Chote Miyan offers not a single shred that could considered a saving grace. The story is astonishingly hollow."[55]
Anuj Kumar of The Hindu wrote "Writer-director Ali Abbas Zafar's attempt to give the soul of Bollywood tropes an AI finish appeals in parts."[56] Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times wrote "For those with a penchant for action films, good, bad or ugly, BMCM will definitely make for a one-time watch."[57]
