#UstaadBhagatSingh Review

#UstaadBhagatSingh

2026- Telugu

Starring: Pawan Kalyan, R.Parthepan , Raashi Khanna , Sreeleela, Rao Ramesh, K.S.Ravikumar and Gauthami

Directed by Harish Shankar S

Plot : When the Chief Minister of a Telugu state is attacked, a shrewd politician, Nalla Nagappa, steps in as the Acting CM. Meanwhile, his son ventures into the forest to retrieve a stash of seized drugs but is ambushed and taken captive by Ustaad Bhagat Singh a tribal man, who soon declares war on Nagappa.Who is Ustaad Bhagat Singh? What is his connection to Nalla Nagappa? Why is he operating undercover? And can he stop a massive terror attack and save the state forms the rest of the story.

Performance wise , this films completely rests upon Pawan Kalyan's shoulder from the word get go. PK performs decently and by far it is this film where he actually is in free flow . His comedy timing works. R.Parthepan as Nalla Nagappa is very weak and doesn't have much to perform as this stereotypical corporate villain type. Raashi Khanna is wasted completely. Sreeleela gets a little bit better role but her pair with PK looks so awkward. Gauthami in a cameo wasted. K.S.Ravikumar alone gets a decent role and does what is expected. Ramki in a cameo also wasted. Rao Ramesh small role but middling writing makes it as a wasted opportunity.

Technically, the film is middling. Cinematography by Ayanka Bose is very substandard where as Ravi Varaman's Song sequences are somewhat better. Music by DSP is pretty decent wheras BGMs by Thaman are too loud but somewhat elevates the scenes. VFX are very poor at places.

The film opens with an attack in CM House then moves back in time to introduce Ustaad Bhagat Singh's Childhood days and his bonding with his Mentor. Then we move to present and show the life of Bhagat in the Tribal Area and how Shloka played by Raashi comes to the Forest area. All these portions heavily depend on Humour and Pawan Kalyan's Attitude. There is a small block where Pawan trolls himself and his dance steps with reference songs from Indira , Gang Leader and even Guntur Kaaram. These portions decently work but feels forced. Then Collarey Ethara song is visually wonderful and works as a highlight. The Plot actually doesn't even move forward till Pre Interval where flashback revelation that Bhagat is a Policeman happens. While this twist could've been a good one , but since it was all spoilt in the promotional material nothing is shocking or surprising. The Interval Narasimha Swamy fight is fantastic on screen but the Interval block feels very regular.

Onto the Second Half the film kinda picks up the pace and actually tries to tell something like a story. Sreeleela portions feels good due to Toli Prema theme usage but the pair looks very awkward. And again the plot here is very thin and it doesn't move forward largely . The Film is not a remake of THERI but it uses a sequence exactly from THERI that too frame to frame. 

Talking about the Negatives, the core plot itself feels very outdated and doesn't even try to think anything out of the box. While there are some genuine mass moments here and there , the lazy writing before and after it bog it down. Also the force fitting of Political Dialogues and refrences to cater Pawan Kalyan's image felt very disturbing and feels out of place largely. And as i mentioned, a scene from Theri and Master has been copied and pasted literally even without any change. 

Coming to Writer Director Harish Shankar, seems like his only aim was to cater PK fans and seems like he didn't think anything beyond that. Right from plot to dialogues everything feels outdated and was just crafted to satisfy PK fans and doesn't cater try to cater the neutral audience. While there one or two comedy scenes that work for general Audience, largely they feel a disconnect. The film entertains yes but doesn't feel like a complete movie it feels like a compilation of PK fans pleasing mass scenes.

Overall: Ustaad Bhagat Singh is a middling Action drama that has an highly outdated plot and screenplay but feel depends upon PK's Star power to elevate it. That doesn't work largely but the film feels like a proper Gemini Movies Weekend 7PM Watch film.

Rating : 2.5/5

Digital Rights : Netflix 

Satellite Rights : Unsold