Bhavesh Joshi Superhero Movie Review: Decent Treatment, Weak Plot

After Harshvardhan Kapoor’s debut period romance Mirzya failed to make an impact at the box-office, he teamed up with Vikramaditya Motwane for an urbane and dark vigilante drama titled Bhavesh Joshi Superhero. But will his second outing prove to be his redemption? Read on…

Set in Mumbai, ‘Bhavesh Joshi Superhero’ revolves around three friends- Sikandar Khanna (Harsh), Rajat (Ashish Verma) and Bhavesh Joshi (Priyanshu Painyuli). Disgusted with the rampant corruption in the city, Sikandar and Bhavesh turn into masked vigilantes to tackle corruption on a local level and use a YouTube page to invite applications for help from citizens.

When Sikandar decides to go to the United States for better employment prospects, Bhavesh decides to carry on being a masked vigilante and starts uncovering the illicit activities of the water mafia headed by corporator Hemant Patil (Pratap Phad) on receiving a complaint by a citizen. When Bhavesh is killed by the bad guys, Sikandar decides to drop his plans for going abroad and takes it upon himself to avenge the death of his pal with the help of a mask and his martial arts training. How Sikandar manages to do this, forms the rest of the plot.

Harsh certainly impresses with his earnest performance, but I feel that he lacks the intensity and powerful screen presence that a lead actor playing a dark vigilante should possess. In fact, Priyanshu, who plays Bhavesh Joshi, seems more impressive than Harsh in a few scenes. Ashish provides decent support while Marathi actor Pratap Phad as corporator Hemant Patil is effectively menacing. Nishikant Kamat, who plays the prime baddie Rana, is something of a disappointment and seems too insipid to be a crime kingpin. The rest of the cast is decent enough.

As for the story, I do admit that I liked the dark treatment as well as the realistic action sequences. Vikramaditya also deserves a pat on his back for exploring a genre, which has by and large been ignored by Bollywood. However, having said that, I must say that the second half seems quite stretched and could have used some crisp editing. Also, Rana’s motive behind planning a major sabotage operation to affect the water supply of the city, seems a bit of an overkill, considering the fact that he could have easily greased a few palms to achieve the desired results. Bhavesh Joshi Superhero could have been much better had the performances and plot been above average.

In conclusion, if you are eager to watch a vigilante/superhero flick, I would suggest buying tickets for Deadpool 2…