Another one that adds to the extent the assault of Mithun's movies' on human intelligence. By now even the die-hards must have given up hope on the unbearable stuff being dished out with routine regularity by this one-time popular star.
'Billa No. 786' would bring back memories of the super-hit 'Deewar' to many a mind. In that movie, we had Amitabh Bachchan and his 'billa' challenging fate and defying destiny. Somehow, our hero has chanced upon the same 'billa' and is enjoying the same luck. But that is where the similarity ends. This flick by Mithun, which is loosely on the same lines, fails to hold the audiences' attention five minutes into the film. Much unlike the inspiring drama that 'Deewar' is even when seen so many days later.
Mithun as Raja, a 'coolie' at the Mumbai docks sporting the 'billa', has witnessed the death of his family when he was a kid, and likes to hang around busy places to try finding the killer of his family. What he finds instead, in the shape of an overfed Rutika Singh, is a dancing-prancing bimbo becoming the love of his life. Soon, all search for the villains is abandoned. Now enter the friendly neighborhood 'dada' who, it seems, works for the villain played by Mohan Joshi. Lots of dumb drama and much more action follows as our demure 'coolie' miraculously transforms into a mean fighting machine.
The direction is very mediocre and seems like it had only one objective - to show how not to direct a film. The hardly known director Imraan Khalid makes sure that he is at least talked about, though maybe not quite in the tune that he would have preferred. The acting is, as expected, shallow, and hardly worth discussing here or anywhere else. Newcomer Rutika seems like she's been missing her appointments with the dietician for quite sometime now, and it would do her a lot of good if she doesn't come back here in a hurry.
Though the film sports eight songs, there is hardly any real music to speak of.
The 'qawwaali' number could well be given a second chance, but then too if you
really dare. All said, the film does have its moments, like the time when Kader
Khan loses his 'dhoti' and when Mithun makes a complete fool of himself wooing
this damsel young enough to be his daughter. Cheap and not to your tastes? Well,
that would be true for the rest of the movie as well, so let's just let Mithun-da
be, and give this flick a miss!