Batti Gul Meter Chalu movie review: Critics' verdict and rating of Shahid Kapoor-Shraddha Kapoor film

Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor starrer Batti Gul Meter Chalu (Batti Gul Metre Chalu) is the latest big Bollywood release and a few critics have already come up with the reviews of the movie.

The movie Batti Gul Meter Chalu is based on the issue of lack of power supply and inflated electricity bills in rural India. Directed by Shree Narayan Singh, whose last directorial was Toilet Ek Prem Katha, Batti Gul Meter Chalu apparently has not impressed the critics much, as far as initial reviews are concerned.

Although the film has a mix of humour, romance, emotion and courtroom drama, Batti Gul Meter Chalu apparently fails to engage with the audience. The film also features Divyendu Sharma and Yami Gautam.

Initial reviews suggest that Batti Gul Meter Chalu has a good storyline, but it is an opportunity wasted due to the Bollywood treatment by involving unnecessary songs and melodrama. It is being said that the movie highlights a serious issue, but fails to make it entertaining enough.

Here are critics reviews and ratings for Batti Gul Meter Chalu:

Gulf News: While the film gives you an idea about the gravity of the power-supply problems in Indian small towns, it doesn't stoke the activist in you or make you enraged on behalf of the common man. You remain a mute spectator and that makes this film a lost opportunity. (3/5)

Khaleej Times: Shahid forcefully delivers a high-voltage performance that come across as gimmicky with an anti-establishment monologue thrown in, talking about the trials and tribulations of the common man, that falls flat. The courtroom drama also snowballs into a revolution of sorts at a national level that is too superficial for a film like Batti Gul Meter Chalu. Director Shree Narayan Singh, who gave us Toilet-Ek Prem Katha, fails to deliver here. You won't miss a thing, if you give this movie a pass. (1.5/5)

Movified.com: Batti Gul Meter Chalu ends up being a confused, bumbling, and ultimately uninspiring take on a pertinent subject, with too few redeeming factors to warrant wading through its daunting runtime. (2/5)

Times Of India: With a tighter runtime and more focus on the crux of the story, this social drama had the potential to shine bright. The cinematography by Anshuman Mahaley manages to capture the beauty of Uttarakhand's hills very well. The movie also has a parallel track of two characters named Vikas and Kalyan, narrating the story, but the metaphor doesn't quite click. BGMC loses power under the load of its heavy-duty screenplay. (3/5)

DNA: Watch BGMC because it throws light on the issue of electricity, which is a fundamental human right. If we sit like frogs in a well, we may never learn what ails the real India. Jaago guys, jaago. (3.5/5)

The Indian Express: Two things mar the movie. Some of the humour made me distinctly uncomfortable: sexist lines inserted for cheap laughs, and a judge made too comic, is not something we expect in a film with good intentions. The other is its inordinate length. It's run-time is almost three hours: the meter should have stopped at two and a half. (2.5/5)