Set in the backdrop of medieval India from 1975, showcasing the rise of British empire and freedom fight of some Hindustani rulers and kings who are firmly against the British rule. The one man who is behind this great thought is Mirza (Ronit Roy) who refuses to bow down to the Britishers. Mirza ends up losing his life in a fight with Clive (Lloyd Owen) and his men. The only member of his family who manages to escape from the clutches of the Britishers is Zafira, Mirza's daughter who grows up to become a warrior wielding a bow and fighting the Britishers along with rebel Khudabaksh's (Amitabh Bachchan) group of fighters. Firangi Malla (Aamir Khan) is a small-time thug whom the British assign the task of getting hold of Khudabaksh and his troupe.
Unfortunately 'Thugs Of Hindostan' is made on such a huge scale but has no logic to the scenes and situations, neither appealing nor entertaining and the person to blame is Vijay Krishna Acharya, who has also written the film. The culprit who even caricatured Jack Sparrow as Aamir Khan and Captain Barbosa as Amitabh Bachchan two strong character references from the Pirates of the Caribbean. He tries hard to introduce the audience to a world they have never visited before but fails miserably on the course of a tragic dull screenplay that follows a predictable route and does not offer the audience at any moment. Humongous convincing sets are wasted and these action sequences are too forced as well. The script lacked spark and freshness.
It seems Aamir Khan had a ball playing the colourful character of Firangi Malla. His performance was unimpressive for the first time ever. It was surprising to see Mr. Amitabh Bachchan sportingly enacting those action sequences although the character development was clearly not up to the mark. In fact, his character is not properly sketched out and its his onscreen name which is the only thing you remember. Katrina Kaif has not much to play still looks ravishing in the two songs she appears in. She barely has two-three scenes in the entire film. Fatima Sana Shaikh is the leading lady here; though she gets enough screen time, her character, just like that of Bachchan's, does not have a proper arc. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub gets a few scenes to shine as an actor. Lloyd Owen plays the stereotypical character of the evil British general one has seen in several films in the past.
The songs of the film are tiring and not a great deal as well. Suraiyya and Manzoor-e-Khuda have the sizzling hot Katrina to look forward but both of these songs don't have much to offer. Two mega stars Aamir and Amitabh foot tapping on 'Vashmalle' didn't entwine us either. Ajay-Atul's music was enticing but the picturization and rhythm were absolutely spasmodic.
What on earth made director Victor spend big bucks on such caricatured characters especially Captain Barbosa as Amitabh is replicated exactly through its attire and the flying Eagle was not missed as well. At some places, Aamir seems to play the badass guy but he has well replicated Jack Sparrow as well except his drinking habit.
Such a grand scale film was weak on VFX and we wonder why. Cinematography by Manush Nandan was mediocre and not a visual spectacle as we expected it to be. At some places the makers even replicated Pirates of Carribean's background score, god knows what on earth made them do that.
Overall, these Thugs are here to loot your ticket money over a horrible flick so avoid it.