An official remake of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s “Kaithi,” the Ajay Devgn starrer “Bholaa” follows the titular character, who is on his way to meet his daughter Jyothi. But he’s been wrongfully arrested and taken to the farewell party of IG Jayant Malik. Present at that party is IPS Agent Diana Joseph, who has upended a drug racket and arrested one of the heads of the gang, Nithari. In an attempt to get revenge on Diana and reacquire the drugs and Nithari, Ashwathama uses one of the policemen to poison everyone at the party and attacks the police station, which houses the drugs and Nithari. With no other option left, Diana convinces a reluctant Bholaa and the nervous Kadchi to help her take the incapacitated policemen to the hospital and then get to the police station, which is currently being guarded by Inspector Angad Yadav and four college-going students.
Major Spoilers Ahead
What Is Bholaa’s Backstory?
From the moment Bholaa appears on the screen, we are told by a prisoner that he is dangerous, violent, religious, and more. That’s in stark contrast to his motive for meeting his daughter after getting parole. When Diana asks him to assist her on her mission, he reiterates the simplicity with which he views life. But as soon as the trio hits the streets and Bholaa tackles the various gangs that have been sent their way by Ashwathama, he begins to show his true colors. He can perform all kinds of acrobatics, ride bikes like he’s in a video game, and take out men who are three times his size, all while driving a massive truck. Finally, after arriving at a temple and waiting for the ambulances to arrive to take away the unconscious policemen, Bholaa explains his backstory. Mind you, he doesn’t explain it with his words, which is undoubtedly a weird choice because of all the times the movie had to make sense with exposition, it didn’t. There are visuals, and there’s a song playing over it. And what I’m about to write is my inference only.
Bholaa says that he used to be a gangster. In that process, he saved a bald man who was also a gangster or probably his boss. A woman stayed with this bald man. I thought she was the bald man’s daughter because of the age gap. But it turned out that she was his girlfriend. I am assuming that it wasn’t an incestuous relationship because that would’ve given the already gross situation an additional layer of filthiness. Anyway, Bholaa fell in love with this unnamed girl, played by Amala Paul, who didn’t get a single line of dialogue. He killed the bald guy after realizing that the bald guy was abusing this girl. The girl realized that she had walked out of a relationship with a gangster and entered another one, and she asked Bholaa to leave his life of crime behind. So, Bholaa did this by throwing his gun into the Ganges. Soon after that, he and the girl were attacked by a man with a metal skeleton (later revealed to be a character being played by Abhishek Bachchan), and the girl was taken away from her. She was pregnant with Bholaa’s daughter, and she left the child in an orphanage. And, apparently, everyone from Devraj Subramaniam to Nithari knew Bholaa from his gangster days because they crossed paths 10 years ago. Is Bholaa’s wife dead, though? Probably, yes. Was Bholaa arrested because the police thought he had killed his wife? That’s unsure. Did Nithari and Subramaniam frame Bholaa? That’s possible. At the cost of sounding repetitive, these are my assumptions because “Bholaa” doesn’t choose to explain all this.
What Happens To The Drugs, Ashwathama, and Nithari?
Things start to look positive for Bholaa, Kadchi, Diana, Angad, and those four kids because the comatose police have been sent to the hospital, and Ashwathama has been nabbed, thereby stopping him from freeing Nithari or getting to the drugs. But that’s when one of the kids is killed by Ashwathama’s men. The policeman who was pretending to be one of the good guys literally stabs Bholaa in the back as Ashwathama’s right-hand man, Bhoora, steps into the scene to capture Diana. Abbas Ali, who was Diana’s informant, is nabbed and killed by Bhoora. When Diana is dragged away so that she can be tortured until she spills the details about the drugs, Bholaa remembers that he’s the hero of this film and wakes up. He picks up a trident from the temple and starts hacking up everyone until there’s no one left. Then Bholaa, Diana, and Kadchi conveniently reach the police station. They rescue the children. But before rescuing themselves, Diana sets fire to all the drugs so that Nithari or Ashwathama’s men don’t get any of it, and Bholaa picks up a mini-gun and kills all the men who showed up there to break Nithari out of jail and take the dead Ashwathama.
So, when Nithari recognizes Bholaa, he says that his father is dead, and now Ashwathama is dead, too, and then utters Bholaa’s name. I’m guessing that Nithari and Ashwathama’s enmity with Bholaa stems from the fact that he killed their father. Back in the day, he was clearly a force to be reckoned with, and it’s possible that he killed their dad. Is it a stretch to assume that the bald guy was Nithari and Ashwathama’s father, and the metal-boned man is related to these two, and he snatched Bholaa’s wife away from him as revenge? I don’t think so, but I am not entirely sure this is the case because “Bholaa” isn’t too interested in clarifying all this stuff. As for Subramaniam, he starts to sweat after seeing Bhola’s picture. This means that he has wronged Bholaa in one way or another. So, instead of waiting for Bholaa to come for him, Subramaniam shoots himself. Maybe he was the one who gave the location of Bholaa and his wife to the metal-boned man, and Bholaa knew about it. Is that something that’s clarified by the movie? No, absolutely not, because what’s the point of a plot when the main motive of the film is to be awed by Ajay Devgn?
‘Bholaa’ Ending Explained: Will It Be A Part Of LCU? What Can We Expect From The Sequel?
Probation officer Kiran Dhillon brings Jyothi to the site of the massacre. Bholaa and Jyothi address the fact that they are related to each other, and they hug it out as Diana and Kadchi look on. Going by the change in Bholaa and Jyothi’s attire, I think there’s a time jump, and we see the father-daughter duo traveling in the back of a truck that’s being driven by someone. Kadchi is with them too. What’s going to happen to them? Well, they certainly intend to lead a peaceful life after all this loss and carnage. But it’s clear that that plan is going to be disrupted by the manifestation of death itself, i.e., the metal-boned character being played by Abhishek Bachchan, who is standing on a massive boat loaded with all kinds of missiles and guns. I keep referring to him as the metal-boned character because neither his name is revealed nor do we get to know the mystery behind the metal bones. It’s possible that Bholaa is responsible for this man’s condition, and he has been waiting to teach him a lesson for 10 years. So, if “Bholaa 2,” which depends on the box office success of Bholaa, happens, then we are going to see Bachchan’s character go after Bholaa and Jyothi.
That said, the biggest mystery of the day is the connection between “Bholaa” and the Lokesh cinematic universe (LCU). When “Kaithi” came out, it seemed to be a stand-alone movie by Lokesh Kanagaraj. When “Vikram” was released, it seemed like a stand-alone movie as well. But as soon as the scorpion symbols on the drug packets started to stand out and then Inspector Bejoy (from “Kaithi”) showed up out of nowhere, it became apparent that “Vikram” was a secret sequel to “Kaithi.” Towards the end of “Vikram,” even Anbu and Adaikalam (characters from “Kaithi”) showed up to introduce the big bad of the cinematic universe, Rolex (played by Surya). And we got a brief glimpse of Dilli and Amudha residing in Uttar Pradesh. So, since “Bholaa” is set in Uttar Pradesh, people assumed that Dilli was going to show up, thereby bringing Bholaa into the Lokesh Cinematic Universe. Thankfully, nothing like that happened. Instead, Ajay Devgn has jumped the shark and introduced a Rolex-like character, i.e., Abhishek Bachchan’s metal-boned man. That is why I think the “Bholaa” movies are going to be set in their own cinematic universe, while Kanagaraj continues to do his own thing with “Kaithi 2” and (possibly) “Leo,” untainted by whatever Ajay Devgn has in store for us.
