''Bhagam Bhag'' (') is a 2006 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan Soman Nair (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He has worked primarily in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Hindi cinema, Hindi cinema since 1982, directing over 90 films in multiple Indian languages, ...

and written by

Neeraj Vora Neeraj Vora (22 January 1963 14 December 2017) was an Indian film director, writer, actor and composer from Gujarat. He made a mark in Bollywood with his work as a writer for Ram Gopal Verma's film '' Rangeela'' (1995). His directorial debut ...

. It was produced by

Sunil Shetty Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, and entrepreneur, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, with appearances in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Nicknamed as Anna, Shetty ha ...

and

Dhilin Mehta Dhilin Mehta is an Indian film producer. He served as the chief executive officer of Ashtavinayak Cine Vision. He produced the DD1 serial Aamrapali in 2002. He started his career with small budget films like '' Fun2shh'' and '' Agnipankh'' a ...

. The film stars

Akshay Kumar Akshay Hari Om Bhatia (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia; 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian actor and film producer working in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as "Khiladi Kumar", through his career span ...

Govinda Govinda (, ), also rendered Govind, Gobinda, and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu and his avatars, such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in the ''Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addressed to ...

and

Paresh Rawal Paresh Rawal (born 30 May 1955) is an Indian actor, comedian, film producer and politician known for his works primarily in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has Paresh Rawal filmography, appeared in over 240 films and is the recipient of various L ...

as the three leads alongside

Lara Dutta Lara Dutta Bhupathi ( Dutta; born 16 April 1978) is an Indian actress. She won the Miss Universe 2000, and has since predominantly worked in Hindi films and series. Dutta is a recipient of a Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Award and established hers ...

Rajpal Yadav Rajpal Naurang Yadav (born 16 March 1971) is an Indian actor and comedian. His breakthrough came in Ram Gopal Varma's ''Jungle'' (2000) with a negative role. Although Yadav has gained widespread recognition for his slapstick comic performances ...

Jackie Shroff Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff (born 1 February 1957), known by his screen name Jackie Shroff, is an Indian actor and former model from Mumbai, Maharashtra, who primarily works in the Hindi film industry. In a career spanning over four decades, he ...

Arbaaz Khan Arbaaz Salim Abdul Rashid Khan (born 4 August 1967) is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Bollywood, Hindi cinema, in addition to Telugu cinema, Telugu, Urdu and Malayalam, Malayalam cinema. Since his debut in 1996, he ha ...

Shakti Kapoor Shakti Kapoor (born Sunil Kapoor; 3 September 1952) is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Bollywood films. Known for his villainous and comic roles in Hindi films, he has featured in over 700 films. In the 1980s and 1990s, Kapoor team ...

, Manoj Joshi,

Razak Khan Abdur Razak Khan (28 March 1951 – 1 June 2016) was an Indian actor who has worked in Bollywood films. Khan was noted for supporting and comic roles. He was known for his comic role of Manikchand in the 1999 Abbas–Mustan directed film '' Baa ...

Sharat Saxena Sharat Saxena (born 17 August 1950) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films along with Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in more than 250 Bollywood films. Saxena started his career in the early 1970s and has mainly played ...

and

Asrani Govardhan Asrani (born 1 January 1941), known popularly by mononym Asrani, is an Indian actor and director whose Bollywood career has spanned over five decades. He has acted in over 350 Hindi films. Asrani has played the lead roles, character ...

. The film tells the story of a theatre group which travels to London for a show and need a heroine to complete their play, only to be entangled in a

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

they did not commit, as well as mistakenly becoming the enemies of a drug cartel and a street gang, in the process. The film adapted certain subplots of the Malayalam film ''

Mannar Mathai Speaking ''Mannar Mathai Speaking'' is a 1995 Indian Malayalam-language comedy thriller film produced and directed by Mani C. Kappan and written by Siddique-Lal. The film stars Innocent in the title role, along with Mukesh, Sai Kumar, Biju Menon, Van ...

'' which itself was based on the 1958 film ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

''. The film was remade in Telugu as '' Brahmanandam Drama Company'' (2008). The film was released theatrically on 22 December 2006, during

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

holidays and received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success and became the 9th highest-grossing film of the year.

Plot

Champak Chaturvedi runs a

theatrical troupe Theatrical troupe ( French: ''troupe''), sometimes referred to as an acting company, is a group of theatrical performers working together. They may work in repertory other types of theatres, and may take performances on tour. They are not the sa ...

in India. His two men, Bunty and Babla, are assigned to either play the role of their

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

, or the

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

. Both men end up squabbling with each other, as both want the hero's part. Champak finds out that Bunty has harassed the play's heroine, Anjali, and punishes him. The group gets a contract to stage 30 plays in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

by Ravinder Taneja; however, on the day of the departure, Anjali opts out, leaving Champak no alternative but to travel without a heroine, hoping to recruit one while in Britain. Upon arrival in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Champak declares that whoever brings him a heroine will be given the role of the main hero. Babla sets about to find a suitable heroine from the Indian population. On the advice of Gullu, a

cab driver A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

, he goes to a garden where he is followed by Bunty, and the two agree to take the turns in the role of the hero. While there, Bunty and Babla have their

suitcase A suitcase is a form of baggage. It is a rectangular container with a handle and is typically used to carry one's clothes and other belongings while traveling. The first suitcases appeared in the late 19th century due to the increased popular ...

accidentally switched by two men with one containing

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

, and as a result, both men end up being considered suspects by the

local police Municipal police, city police, or local police are Law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the Municipality, municipal government, where it is the smallest Administ ...

, whose commissioner is J. D. Mehra. The two men who switched the suitcase are revealed to be working under Manubhai Gandhi, a builder and

drug smuggler The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

who is trying to sell drugs to his buyer, Sher Khan. He and his men immediately suspect the trio to be

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

after hearing from Sher Khan that his men had been arrested by the police, and comedy ensues whenever Gandhi and his men bump into them. Gullu takes Bunty to two goons, Guru and Hakka, who know a woman who lives in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, but they insist to drive there with the two along with all of their men. Not wanting to go along with this condition, the two trick all the goons into exiting the car while they escape, though Guru is still inside the car. Bunty eventually recruits a woman named Nisha Chauhan a.k.a. "Munni" who suffers from

suicidal tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice, California, by vocalist Mike Muir. The band has undergone various lineup changes, with Muir as the only remaining original member. Their current lineup includes ...

, after she attempts to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in front of their car, with Guru falling out and breaking his leg in the process. Munni is accepted as the heroine of the play, and through the course of time, both Nisha and Bunty fall in love with each other. Guru and his men find the troupe and chase Bunty to get their revenge, but Bunty escapes, and Hakka accidentally breaks Guru's other leg instead. Nisha's husband, Vikram Chauhan, soon arrives, thanks everyone, and takes his wife back home to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. A few days later, Bunty receives a phone call from a frantic Nisha, who tells him to come over immediately. He, along with Champak and Babla, arrive there to find her body in flames. Later, Bunty briefly sees Nisha on the streets, but no one believes him. The group ultimately decide to enact a play in which there is no need for a heroine. On the night of the play, a frightened Champak also sees Nisha in the restroom. Suddenly, Vikram bumps into the trio with a gun in his hand, and Bunty accidentally presses the trigger of the gun, killing him. They hide Vikram's body and Champak's bloodstained

kurta A ''kurta'' is a loose collarless shirt or tunic worn in many regions of South Asia, (subscription required) Quote: "A loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women." Quote: "Kurta: a loose shirt without a collar, worn by women and men from South ...

in an AC duct to avoid any suspicion. They go on to perform the play, but Vikram's body slides down the vents and falls onto the stage. Mehra, who was present in the audience, investigates the case and finds Champak's kurta and Babla's chain on Vikram's body and has the trio arrested. While the trio is being taken, Gandhi's men throw a grenade in the police car in an attempt to kill them, compelling them to escape. Bunty suggests that they find Nisha to prove their innocence. After breaking into her house, they find out that Nisha has booked a ticket to

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

under the name of Aditi Desai. They call at the number she registered for booking and find out that another girl named Sheetal, who is a friend of Nisha, has brought the ticket for her. Champak accidentally allows himself to get kidnapped by Gandhi's men, and they torture him to get the information that they suspect he knows about their drug smuggling business. Meanwhile, Guru and his men take Gullu's taxi, and won't return it until Gullu brings Bunty to them; he is then captured by his boss, the taxi's owner, who threatens he will imprison Gullu if he doesn't retrieve the taxi. Babla and Bunty follow Sheetal to a train station, where they witness her handing the ticket to Nisha. Bunty catches her and chases her to the top of a clocktower, while Babla calls Mehra about their location. Gullu witnesses this and calls Guru to take Bunty and return the taxi, and the taxi owner to take the taxi back. Gandhi also chooses the clocktower as his destination to complete his deal with Khan and asks him to come there. Nisha reveals to Bunty and Babla that her actual name is Aditi Desai, and she was hired by Vikram Chauhan to act as her real wife, Nisha Chauhan, for sometime, and make everyone believe she had suicidal tendencies in exchange for 20 lakh and a ticket back to India, as she was currently stranded without her

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

. But when her work was done, she witnessed Vikram killing her real wife to extort money from her, and tried to save Nisha but failed to do so; it was the real Nisha who got burnt and died. On the play night, Aditi had come to tell the truth to Bunty and the others, but she was seen by Vikram, who was also there and wanted to kill Aditi for being the only witness in his wife's murder. However, Mehra, in a shocking turn of events, appeared and shot him; he was already wounded when he encountered the trio. Mehra then arrives and tells his side of the story—that he killed Vikram to avenge Nisha, who he reveals was his sister; Vikram drugged her in order to gain control of her wealth

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

. Mehra tries to kill Aditi for helping Vikram and being the only witness in his murder, but Gandhi, Khan, and their men (with Champak as their prisoner), Guru and his men (who have kidnapped Taneja as they believe he is Bunty's boss who told him to deceive them), Gullu, and the taxi owner and his men simultaneously arrive, and the convergence causes chaos. In the confusion, Gandhi, who believes everyone present is undercover police, accidentally shoots a hive of bees, who attack and chase everyone (apart from Mehra, who escapes) outside onto the clock on the top floor. A

fire brigade A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and ...

team tries to rescue them, but the mechanical ladder malfunctions from their combined weight and begins to fall apart, sending everyone flying off the ladder and getting injured (except Aditi) as they fall and land in different places. All of them are admitted to the hospital, where Mehra visits Champak's team and Aditi, returns their passports, and surrenders himself to the police.

Cast

Production

Shooting took place in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, United Kingdom in July–August 2006, filming at several

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

landmarks. The film borrows core plot from the Malayalam film ''

'' with certain comedy sub-plot borrowed from '' Nadodikattu''..The plot twist in the climax was borrowed from the 1999 Marathi thriller ''

Bindhaast ''Bindhast'' () is a 1999 Indian Marathi-language thriller film directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni and produced by Matchindra Chate. The film is known for its all-women cast. The film was remade in Tamil as ''Snegithiye'' and in Malayalam as '' Ra ...

'' which Priyadarshan had earlier remade in Tamil as ''

Snegithiye ''Snegithiye'' () is a 2000 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language mystery film, mystery thriller film directed by Priyadarshan. The film notably features only female characters, played by Tabu (actress), Tabu, Jyothika, Sharbani Mukherjee and Is ...

'' and Malayalam as '' Raakilipattu''.The climax comedy sequence was adapted from the 1963 classic ''

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American Technicolor epic comedy film in Ultra Panavision 70 produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by William and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all ...

''.

Soundtrack

Note: the Soundtrack also contains "Aa Khushi Se Khud Kushi Kar Le", which is the Solo Version Sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, which was not used in the movie, it was Later Remade with Shaan and included in the 2007 film "Darling". The music for "Afreen" is taken from " Heaven on Their Minds" from the

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ''Jesus C ...

musical, ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

''.

Release

The film was worldwide released on 22 December 2006. The distribution rights of the movie were sold to UTV Motion Pictures. The DVD of the movie was released by T-Series Home Entertainment. The film has been made streaming available on

JioCinema JioCinema was an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Viacom18. The service was merged with Disney+ Hotstar on 14 February 2025, to form JioHotstar. In April 2022, the service was brought under Relianc ...

Zee5 ZEE5 or Z5 is an Indian subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on We ...

MX Player Amazon MX Player, formerly known as MX Player is an Indian video on demand and Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service, owned by Amazon (company), Amazon India. The platform currently operates on an Online a ...

and

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

since 2020.

Reception

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated, "The actors try hard, but the script and the dialogues let them down. Even the situations aren't funny enough, except for a few. Case in point, watch Paresh trying to chew a grenade and Govinda asking for a bite too. Funny!"

Taran Adarsh Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media, as well as his reviews for Bollywood Hungama. Career Taran Adarsh started his journ ...

of ''

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is an Indian entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides n ...

'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated, "''Bhagam Bhag'' will be loved for its comedy in the first hour, but the whodunit in the second hour tapers the impact." Gullu Singh of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated, "The real hero of the film is Kumar. He outshines everyone and has some of the best dialogues in the film. He is a treat to watch." Indu Mirani of ''

DNA India The ''Daily News and Analysis'', abbreviated as ''DNA'', is a Hindi-language news program on Zee news that was earlier an English-language newspaper with multiple local city editions across India. ''DNA'' was first launched as a broadsheet newspa ...

'' gave the film 0.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "Ever since Priyadarshan made '' Hera Pheri'' in 2000, he has been continually repeating the formula. When he doesn't do so, as with ''

Kyon Ki ''Kyon Ki'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written and directed by Priyadarshan and produced by Sunil Manchanda and Mukesh Talreja. It is a remake of Priyadarshan's own 1986 Malayalam film ''Thalavattam'' (1986) which in t ...

'' (2005), he fails miserably."

Sequel

In November 2024, it was reported that

has acquired the rights to ''Bhagam Bhag'' from Shemaroo and is working on the development of ''Bhagam Bhag 2''.

References

External links

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