Bell Bottom is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Ranjit M Tewari. The film is written by Aseem Arrora and Parveez Sheikh, with production by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh and Nikkhil Advani under their respective banners Pooja Entertainment and Emmay Entertainment. It stars Akshay Kumar as the lead character, with Lara Dutta, Vaani Kapoor and Huma Qureshi in other prominent roles.Bell Bottom is inspired from real life hijacking events in India by Khalistani separatists during the 1980s, such as the Indian Airlines Flight 423, 405 and 421 hijackings.

Principal photography began on 20 August 2020. The film was wrapped up on 30 September in London. The film released in theatres on 19 August 2021 in 3D.

The film was officially announced in November 2019 with release date of Republic Day 2021.Bell Bottom is based on true events and the story is set during the 1980s about some unforgettable heroes of the era.It is Vaani Kapoor s first film to be not produced by Yash Raj Films and became the first Bollywood movie to start shooting amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 during which shootings were stopped in India.The film s theatrical premiere was postponed to 2 April 2021 in January 2020.The cast and crew of the film flew to Glasgow, Scotland in the first week of August 2020. The filming eventually kicked off on 20 August 2020. The film was wrapped up on 30 September in London. The film s release was postponed due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout India.The film finally released theatrically on 19 August 2021 in 3D.

The film score is composed by Daniel B. George while Julius Packiam composed the trailer score. The songs featured in the film are composed by Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi, Shantanu Dutta, Gurnazar and Maninder Buttar while lyrics are written by Rashmi Virag, Tanishk Bagchi, Babbu Maan, Maninder Buttar, Seema Saini and Gurnazar.

The song Sakhiyan2.0 is a remake of the 2018 punjabi song Sakhiyan by Maninder Buttar.

Bell Bottom earned ₹2.75 crore at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected ₹2.60 crore. On the third day, the film collected ₹3 crore. On the fourth day, the film collected ₹4.40 crore taking total opening weekend domestic collection to ₹12.75 crore.

As of 9 September 2021, The film grossed ₹35.02 crore in India and ₹14.12 crore overseas, the film has a worldwide gross collection of ₹49.14 crore.

Suchin Mehrotra writing for Film Companion criticised the screenplay of the movie saying that “in the end, somewhere buried within Bell Bottom are the building blocks of a great thriller. It’s just shrouded in simplistic storytelling and ‘hijacked’ by the pressures of the big Hindi movie formula.”Monika Rawal Kukreja of The Hindustan Times praised the film for being an edge-of-the-seat thriller.

The film was banned in three Gulf countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. The film certification authorities banned it on grounds of tampering with historical facts. It was pointed out that the 1984 incident actually had the United Arab Emirates Defence Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the UAE authorities nabbing the hijackers, while the film portrayed Kumar s character and his team as the real heroes of the mission.

𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐃

𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐃

The story of the film revolves around the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 691 that takes off from Delhi on August 24, 1984. This was fifth Indian Airlines plane hijacking in last seven years and then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi (Lara Dutta) was very angry on this hijacking.

While the Prime Minister Gandhi plans to let the Pakistani government negotiate with the four hijackers (when the plane has landed in Lahore), under-cover RAW agent, Anshul Malhotra (Akshay Kumar), code-named Bell Bottom, has a different plan in his mind. He wants to not only rescue 210 passengers but also arrest the hijackers. The rest of story revolves around this covert mission to save passengers of IC 691 in Dubai.