Quick take: Ustaad Bhagat Singh is a dated masala potboiler salvaged only by Pawan Kalyan’s charisma.
Can a star’s charisma overshadow mediocre writing? At times it does. But on most occasions, that creative gamble doesn’t deliver and Pawan Kalyan fans will realise this when thy watch Ustaad Bhagat Singh in theatres this weekend.
The film begins with an assassination attempt on the Chief Minister of Telangana, played by KS Ravikumar. As political chaos grips the state, the story cuts to a flashback involving a brave tribal boy who grew up to be a feared policeman named Bhagat Singh (Pawan Kalyan). The rest of the film is about how the CM and the cop are related, why the villainous CM aspirant Chadala Marri Nalla Nagappa (R. Parthiban) locks horns with the protagonist, and how a Radio Jockey named Leela (Sreeleela) is thrown into the mix.
Director Harish Shankar attempts to deliver a mix of Tollywood-style masala entertainment mixed with Bollywood-style ‘Ghar me ghus ke marenge’ plot. The latter is underdeveloped as expected. What is a complete shocker is that the cross-border terror angle is so half-baked that the trivialized geopolitical plot in Nandamuri Balakrishna’s Akhanda 2 comes across as relatively more serious in its intent. Granted that Ustaad Bhagat Singh doesn’t want to be a serious-minded action drama where logic matters; the story doesn’t involve the NIA, after all; rather, it places a daredevil ACP at the centre of the state’s security and political turbulence. However, considering that this is 2026 and the era of raw, big-scale spectacles, the film needed to take itself more seriously.
Typically, Telugu movies have stopped deploying the ‘one beauty for the first half, another damsel for the second half’ template. So, when Raashi Khanna is introduced in the first half and Sreeleela’s track is reserved for the second half, you start sensing the film’s jaded, inevitable destiny. In the last five years, action thrillers/gritty dramas have replaced action entertainers (with some not-so-significant exceptions here and there). Ustaad Bhagat Singh tries to bring back the formula to life (stated as much by its director in his pre-release interviews). In one scene, there is turmoil. In the next, the rom-com track remixes Ye Manase from Toli Prema (1998). Ye Mera Jahaan from Kushi and an Ilaiyaraaja song from the 1980s are deployed in a mimicry of the Jailer template popularized by Kollywood director Nelson Dhilpkumar.
Pawan Kalyan’s Bhagat Singh is a celebrity cop who is looked upon as the most eligible bachelor in the city. He gets asked when he plans to get married on a radio show. The heroine drools as she listens to him. Meanwhile, the villains, instead of hitting the floor running, brainstorm doomed-to-fail ideas while sipping whisky before hitting the bed. Usually, films try the rape sub-plot after running out of all ideas. This film gets straight to it without trying any ideas. The core makes the film look like a formula-driven action drama that delivers a few fan-pleasing moments.
In the second half, things go further and further South as the film’s sole concern lies in heightening the emotions by showing women as victims. The hero is a ‘Jawans are dying, so be patriotic’ cop. All that he does when being threatened by the incumbent CM is this: pull out his pistol and shoot down everyone in sight. For a cop story, the film strings together unremarkable action blocks involving the charismatic police offer. The ways of the heroic cop are one-note: just shoot them down and be done with it. The fights are barely inventive.
Apart from tow-three good action blocks, the one-liners worked well in the film’s favour and instantly resonated with fans. Pawan Kalyan is the film’s saving grace. He brings some style to the table. Thaman’s background score feels like a repeat of the kind of soundscape he has used for Balakrishna’s movies. Devi Sri Prasad’s songs remain underutilized. R Parthiban is routine as an evil, power-hungry politician. Rao Ramesh plays a forest-dweller who enables a getaway for the CM’s spoilt son.
On the whole, Ustaad Bhagat Singh feels like a relic of a bygone era, desperately trying to thrive in the 2026 landscape of gritty, high-stakes spectacles.
Also Read: Ustaad Bhagat Singh: Pawan Kalyan’s Speech Is Full of Grace, Emotion and BO Indifference
