K.C Bokadia's Lal Baadshah was my favorite Amitabh Bachchan film when I was a kid. However, it was nothing short of a distasteful disaster as saw the film again as an adult. Amitabh was facing a massive debt during the late 1990s so he signed some films without showing any concern for the script. This explains why he did awful craps like Mrityudaata(1997) and Lal Baadshah(1999). Unfortunately, even this typical flick couldn't succeed as even the masses lost interest after a period of time.
Lal Baadshah's biggest snag is the fact that the screenplay is poorly written with ample scope for illogical scenes. For instance, Amrish Puri has purchased some munitions and is transported them to Bombay. Amitabh somehow gets this news and destroys the truck. Another major nonsensical sequence is the atrocious climax. Lal Singh is tied up and shot but he sings a song to stop his father from accepting defeat. He is given time to sing a forced song and this makes the film even more vacuous. Another illogical aspect is the fact that Manisha Koirala's character disappears from the film too early and is conveniently dragged into the film for the climax. In addition, Amitabh's pairing with Manisha Koirala was corny and the chemistry was completely missing. Some additional jarring issues were the illogical action scenes. For instance, some hooligans randomly disappear and Amitabh jumping from the ground floor of a building to it's roof is just utterly preposterous. In short, the action is jaded and despicable.
K.C Bokadia may have been a successful producer but he is an exasperating director. The man has helmed hogwash like Aaj Ka Arjun (1990) which surprisingly was a hit during Amitabh's dull phase. His Lal Baadshah makes Aaj Ka Arjun look like a masterpiece. Bokadia has not handled the film properly because this entire garbage feels completely disjointed. After a tolerable star, the entire film is composed of poorly editing scenes which are randomly forced together. Sometimes, the transitioning is completely disastrous. I understand that you cannot expect logic from many 1990s films but Lal Baadshah has some aforementioned content which is just impossible to digest. Basically, K.C Bokadia and his team have tried to make a typical masala film but even if you go by the 1990s yardstick, you know that this is unacceptable.
The film has typical unsound music with only Dhanno Ki Ankh being a saving grace. Every other song including I like your eyes baby (Koi Hai Dil Dene Wala) is just disappointing. Some of the songs are not even used in the film. The worst song has to be Tala Kholan Chabhi Se which states the obvious. In other words, this is one of the late Aadesh Srivastava's weakest compositions.
Amitabh Bachchan faces an uphill task and he tries his best to revive this garbage. However, this really is a Herculean task because the script is a complete letdown. The film is crippled but if anyone makes this nightmare bearable, it is Amitabh Bachchan. He is amazing with the Bihari accent and his comic timing is brilliant. Amitabh has portrayed such roles countless times so it isn't exactly a challenge for him. The heroines, Manisha Koirala and Shilpa Shetty, are good in their parts but they don't have much of a scope to show their acting abilities. Amrish Puri was typecast as the villain and Mukesh Rishi was once again playing the same supporting villain successfully. Raghuvaran with a poorly dubbed voice was nothing great, he cuts a sorry picture. In fact, his dubbing is completely off in some scenes. The south actress, Radhika Sarathkumar, played Bachchan's sister in Aaj Ka Arjun. In this imbroglio, she plays Bachchan's mother which is again another example of horrendously poor casting. She performs decently but she was better in Aaj Ka Arjun. Shakti Kapoor has a small role and he provides some decent laughs. Jack Gaud tries to appear menacing but he is killed early in the film so he couldn't create much of an impact. The rest of the cast provide decent support.
On the whole, Lal Baadshah is a despicably absurd show all the way. This is one film only die hard Amitabh Bachchan fans wouldn't mind watching. This disaster's only saving grace is one aforementioned song and Amitabh Bachchan's entertaining performance as a Bihari hero.
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