The anticipation for Himesh Reshammiya’s upcoming movie Badass Ravikumar is reaching fever pitch. What may have begun as ironic enthusiasm for a ‘cringe’ film has now turned into curiosity and fervour. Its only challenge is Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, which is getting re-released on the same day—7 February. But, Nolan and his Interstellar will not even see what hit them.
Ever since the trailer of the movie came out on 4 January, social media has been abuzz with reshares of its clips, and memes. Reshammiya, whose last movie, Happy Hardy and Heer, was released in 2020, has always been a favorite of millennials—be it for his music, his nasal tone or his catchphrase ‘Jai Mata Di, Lets Rock!’, which also became the war cry of the team he mentored on Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge nearly two decades ago.
To add to the ‘badass’ dialogues, Reshammiya also released the new version of his own hit Tandoori Nights from Karzzzz (2008). You might hate the song, but we have all played tak tana nana tandoori nights at house parties, and even pubs. It is pure cringe nostalgia. You can run or hide, but you cannot escape crooning tak tana nana all day, the moment you listen to the song. It is a millennial curse. And in all likelihood, people will turn up to watch Badass Ravikumar because we all love badass Reshammiya.
Also read: Paatal Lok season 2 gets Nagaland right. Doesn’t spoon-feed Northeast to Hindi viewers
Cringe, but confident
Reshammiya is a cringe incarnate. But somewhere along the line, the cringe has become his defining identity, and he owns it, and that’s what makes him cool. The confidence he has about his skills is something we all should aspire too. He is different from Urvashi Rautela who really does not know when to stop, and who makes everything about her, including the recent attack on Saif Ali Khan. She could only continue talking about the money her film Daaku Maharaaj (2025) made, or the diamond bracelet she was gifted by her parents.
The Aashiq Banaya Aapne singer–composer has long left his music behind and owns his cringe identity. Over a decade of dissing his acting hasn’t deterred his confidence. No one can switch off his ‘mann ka radio’.
Reshammiya recently dropped a dialogue promo for Badass Ravikumar, which features an intense verbal face-off between him and a villain.
In the promo, we see the villain aggressively say, “Jaanta nahi tu kiske saamne khada hai! (You don’t know who you’re messing with)”.
To this, Ravi Kumar (Himesh Reshammiya) calmly replies, “Bhagwan tum ho nahi sakte, insaan tum lagte nahi, aur shaitaan se main nahi darta (You can’t be god, you do not look human either, and I am not scared of the devil).”
“I don’t need any more convincing. Take my money,” wrote a Reddit user. While another said, “Himesh Reshammiya has better screen presence than many new actors.”
“Has the pre-release booking started?? Can’t wait for Himesh to eat up bollywood”, was the enthusiastic response of one user.
There are bangers only Reshammiya can drop, and we are here to cheer wildly, and croon along.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)