Bholaa

Bholaa is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language neo noir action thriller film directed by Ajay Devgn and jointly produced by Ajay Devgn FFilms, Reliance Entertainment, T-Series Films and Dream Warrior Pictures. It is a remake of the 2019 Tamil film Kaithi and stars Devgn in the title role alongside Tabu, Deepak Dobriyal, Sanjay Mishra, Gajraj Rao and Vineet Kumar.

Principal photography took place from January 2022 to January 2023 in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Varanasi. The film score and soundtrack album are composed by Ravi Basrur, with cinematography by Aseem Bajaj and editing by Dharmendra Sharma.

Bholaa was released on 30 March 2023 and received mixed reviews from critics. The film has grossed inr 1110000000 worldwide.

Plot
SP Diana Joseph captures members of the Sikka Gang and confiscates a haul of cocaine worth 1,000 crores. An undercover officer Abbas Ali, known as Raunak, has joined Ashwathama alias Ashu, who is co-leader of the Sikka Gang. Raunak gives information about Ashu to Diana, while Ashu seeks help from corrupt NCB officer Devraj Subramaniam, who instructs another officer Deep Singh to add rohypnol to drinks made for police officers at the farewell party of IG Jayant Malik. Diana does not partake due to medication, but everyone else falls unconscious.

A prisoner named Bholaa has been released from prison and Joseph tries to convince him to drive a truck taking the sedated officers to the hospital then on to Laalganj police station. Although reluctant at first, Bholaa agrees. Meanwhile, Ashu hires a bounty on Joseph and the rest of her police force. As Joseph, Bholaa and sidekick Kadchi drive they are attacked by various gangs. Deep Singh, who has hidden with the sedated officers, provides them with the location updates. A cat-and-mouse game ensues in which Bholaa kills all the goons. Ashu also sends his gang to attack the police station and to free his brother Nithari, who was caught with the cocaine.

Constable Angad Yadav, who was recently transferred to Laalganj, gets assigned by Joseph to defend the police station. When Ashu arrives with his gang, they try to breach the police station which is barricaded by Yadav and some students. Joseph is nearly tricked into ordering the release of the prisoners, but she realizes that it was a trap set by Nithari. Ashu manages to get inside the police station, but Yadav and the students manage to arrest him. One of the student Chetan gets strangled to death by Ashu's gang and Yadav, fuming with rage, kills Ashu. Joseph contacts medics to provide an emergency ambulance at a temple of Lord Shiva.

As they wait, Bholaa narrates his past in which he was a notorious gangster in Uttar Pradesh and fell in love with a doctor Swara, who reciprocated his love after he saved her from being assaulted. Before their marriage, Bholaa gave up his gangster life, but Swara was killed by a ruthless gang leader known as Chomu Singh. Before dying, Swara gave birth to their daughter Jyoti, but Bholaa got separated from her after receiving a long-term prison sentence. Joseph shares her story about how she lost her unborn child when she was pregnant. An ambulance finally arrives and takes the sedated officers to hospital. After this, Ashu's henchman Bhoora also arrives. Before Bholaa is able to fight, Deep Singh stabs him and Bholaa is brutally injured.

While Joseph and Kadchi are taken away, Abbas is killed when he is discovered as the mole. Bholaa later regains consciousness and single-handedly kills the whole gang, including Deep Singh, using the Trident of Lord Shiva. After this, Bholaa chases after Bhoraa, rescuing Joseph. After driving all night, Bholaa, Kadchi and Diana arrive in the police station using a secret passage and help the students along with Yadav to escape safely. Joseph burns the cocaine and after Ashu's reinforced gang finally breaches station, Bholaa destroys them all using a M134 Minigun. Shortly after, Nithari dies of shock after learning about Bholaa and Devraj Subramaniam shoots himself after knowing that Bholaa was behind everything. Bholaa is reunited with Jyoti and they drive off happily in the truck with Kadchi and a puppy.

In the mid-credits scene, Chomu Singh learns about Bholaa's release and sets out to hunt him down.

Production
Principal photography for the film commenced on 13 January 2022. Filming took place in Hyderabad, Madh Island, Kharghar, Mumbai and Varanasi. The entire filming for Bholaa was wrapped up on 6 January 2023.

Soundtrack
The music of the film is composed by Ravi Basrur while lyrics are written by Irshad Kamil. The first single titled "Nazar Lag Jayegi" was released on 20 February 2023. The second single titled "Aadha Main Aadhi Vo" was released on 15 March 2023. The third single titled "Paan Dukaniya" was released on 20 March 2023. The fourth single titled "Dil Hai Bholaa" was released on 24 March 2023. The fifth single titled "Aaraaro Aararo" was released on 6 April 2023.

Theatrical
Bholaa was released theatrically on 30 March 2023 in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, 4DX and ICE 3D formats worldwide.

Home media
The digital streaming rights of Bholaa were acquired by Amazon Prime Video in ₹30–40 crores. The film was premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 25 May 2023.

Distribution
It was distributed worldwide by Panorama Studios and PVR Pictures.

Critical response
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Bholaa is a mass-appealing film with scale, grandeur, breathtaking action, and Ajay Devgn and Tabu's mind-blowing performances as its USP". Harshada Rege of The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Bholaa packs in quite a punch with his strength, grit and charisma".

Roktim Rajpal of India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Bholaa is a treat for Ajay Devgn’s fans. It has everything, right from action scenes to punch dialogues, that one would expect from a big-screen spectacle meant for the mass audience". Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Ajay Devgn-Tabu's all-out action film is not for the faint-hearted but it is bang for your buck". Rishil Jogani of Pinkvilla gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Bholaa primarily rides on well-designed action scenes directed tactfully by Ajay Devgn and his team".

Monika Rawal Kukreja of the Hindustan Times wrote "Bholaa can sure be touted to be that typical mass entertainer with action that is totally paisa vasool, but again, we need to see something beyond just the heroic deeds". Udita Jhunjhunwala of Mint wrote "‘Bholaa’ is a 3D-reimagining of the heavy-duty action film, ‘Kaithi’, with low-grade computer graphics and a breathless body count. The finale has tonal and action design references that give a World War Z meets Mad Max: Fury Road feel".

Box office
The film grossed ₹11.20 crore on its first day. On the second day the film collected only ₹6 crore. While Day 3 and Day 4 collections were ₹11 crore and ₹12.20 crore respectively. The film grossed ₹54.80 in its first week of release. As of 4 May 2023 it has grossed ₹111.64 crore worldwide.

Sequel
A sequel titled Bholaa 2 has been confirmed by Devgn with Abhishek Bachchan playing Bholaa's rival Chomu Singh, as shown in the film's mid-credits scene.