Ustaad Bhagat Singh Review – Pawan Kalyan Carries a Familiar but Flawed Cop Drama
What Is the Ustaad Bhagat Singh Film About
Chandrasekhar Rao, a schoolteacher in the Nallamala forest region, takes a rebellious orphan boy under his wing and gives him the name Ustaad Bhagat Singh, inspired by the legendary freedom fighter. Years later, that same teacher becomes the Chief Minister of Telangana. When a ruthless and power-hungry politician named Nalla Nagappa, played menacingly by R. Parthiban, begins orchestrating assassinations to clear his path to the CM chair, Ustaad Bhagat Singh steps out of his quiet forest life and takes on the entire system on his own terms.
Story and Screenplay
The biggest problem with Ustaad Bhagat Singh is that it feels frozen in time. Harish Shankar is clearly working from a template he is comfortable with and that comfort shows as a weakness here. The first thirty minutes move in a rushed, disconnected manner that never gives the emotional beats enough room to breathe. The child episode that sets up Bhagat Singh’s character is well intentioned but the execution feels hurried, which means the emotional payoff it should deliver simply does not arrive.
The first half introduces subplots, romance tracks, and action sequences but none of them connect meaningfully. Raashii Khanna’s character is particularly problematic as her role adds almost nothing to the central story and feels inserted rather than organic. The interval block had real potential to land as a strong emotional moment but the writing fails to make the most of it.
The second half is a genuine improvement. Once Sreeleela enters and the narrative finds a clearer direction, the film settles into a more watchable rhythm. The emotional core in the second half works better and Pawan Kalyan is given the kind of screen space that actually suits him. However, the third act falls back into a predictable assembly of clichés that Tollywood audiences have seen dozens of times before. A sexual assault subplot in the climax section is handled carelessly and adds nothing of value.
Performances
Pawan Kalyan is the only reason this film stays watchable. He brings his natural charisma, solid comic timing, and emotional weight to a role that the writing does not fully deserve. When he is on screen and the material is working with him, you see flashes of what this film could have been. His action sequences are crowd pleasing and his comedy moments get genuine laughs.
Sreeleela is energetic and entertaining in her portions and her chemistry with Pawan Kalyan works better than expected. R. Parthiban makes for a genuinely menacing antagonist and is one of the better written characters in the film. Raashii Khanna on the other hand is wasted. Her character exists without purpose and the film would not lose anything if her track had been removed entirely.
Music and Technical Aspects
Devi Sri Prasad handles the songs while Thaman S takes care of the background score. The BGM is aggressive and loud, sometimes drowning out scenes that needed subtlety instead of noise. The songs are decent enough but none of them match the quality Devi Sri Prasad delivered in Gabbar Singh. Ayananka Bose’s cinematography is clean and polished with some genuinely good visuals in the forest sequences. The editing needed tighter work especially in the first half where the pacing suffers the most.
Harish Shankar’s Direction
Harish Shankar is a talented director who understands mass Telugu cinema well. But Ustaad Bhagat Singh exposes a serious blind spot. He is attempting to make the kind of film that worked in 2012 without updating the language, the sensibility, or the storytelling for a 2026 audience. Gabbar Singh worked because it was fresh and energetic. This film borrows heavily from its own legacy and from Atlee’s Tamil hit Theri without bringing anything new to the table. The result is a film that feels dated rather than nostalgic.
Final Verdict
Ustaad Bhagat Singh is a film that had all the ingredients to be a major blockbuster but squanders most of them. Pawan Kalyan gives it everything he has and Sreeleela adds spark wherever she appears, but the writing and direction let them down. If you are a die hard Pawan Kalyan fan, you will find enough to enjoy and celebrate. For the general audience, this is a routine commercial outing that delivers far less than what the hype promised.
Worth Watching: For fans only Best For: Pawan Kalyan fans, mass action lovers Verdict in One Line: Pawan Kalyan is the film. Everything else is just noise.
