'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan': Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff off to capture most dangerous villain, don't forget about Sonakshi Sinha

Director Ali Abbas Zafar's large-scale in-camera action-packed Akshay Khanna and Tiger Shroff-starrer Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, whose trailer released today, is not a sequel to the 1998 comedy film of the same name starring Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda. Beyond the film's title and some buddy comedy elements, there are few similarities between the two films.

Famous for helming movies like Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011), Gunday (2014), Sultan (2016), and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), Ali Abbas Zafar's latest feature has grandiose action set pieces, far-flung locales, and glitzy dance scenes.

The new movie, which is scheduled for an Eid release one day before Ajay Devgn's Maidaan, is an action-packed global tour with Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff as elite troops on a mission to thwart a psychopath and spiteful villain who wants to use artificial intelligence (AI) to destroy India. The antagonist is none other than Prithviraj Sukumaran, a well-known actor from Kerala who will soon be featured in the highly anticipated movie Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life). Sukumaran made his Bollywood debut in the film Aiyyaa (2012), starring Rani Mukherjee.

The 3-minute trailer opens with the villain (Sukumaran), who introduces himself as ‘pralay (apocalypse)’. Seen in an ornate mask, the long-haired villain, who's stolen the “most powerful and dangerous weapon” from the Indian armed forces, wields a massive machine gun. The Army chief (Ronit Roy) then summons the only two people — Army officers played by the duo Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff — who can retrieve the said weapon. The two heroes perform high-stakes stunts, and engage in gunfights and car chases, explosions, combat sequences and even turn against each other, “Hum dono ek dusre ke liye jaan de sakte hain, par ek dusre ki jaan le bhi sakte hain (We can sacrifice our lives for our friendship and even take each other's lives if required),” they say.

Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, which was produced by Pooja Entertainment and AAZ Films and was reportedly made on a budget of more than Rs 300 crore, was released following Akshay Kumar's public backlash for using visual effects during the studio filming of some of his recent movies. Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar are well-known for their martial arts prowess, which they have shown hints of in earlier movies.

For the actors in it, the film's success will be crucial. Over the past three years, Akshay Kumar has had a difficult time with a series of unsuccessful films that finished with OMG 2 last year. Manushi Chillar, Alaya F, and even Tiger Shroff are coming off big failures.

Manushi Chillar and Alaya F play an IT specialist and an undercover asset, respectively, who work with Akshay and Tiger on the challenging task. Alaya is working with Tiger and Akshay for the first time. In Samrat Prithviraj (2022), Manushi Chillar has previously appeared opposite Akshay Kumar. In Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Sonakshi Sinha plays an official in the Army.