Good Bad Ugly

<p>In 2008, in , AK alias “The Red Dragon”, a notorious crime boss, voluntarily surrenders to the authorities so that he could reunite and lead a peaceful life with his wife Ramya, a pacifist, and his son, Vihaan. Eighteen years later, after his release from prison, AK plans to return to Spain to reconcile with his son and family. He plans to visit Vihaan, who lives with Ramya, the chief advisor of the Indian Embassy of Spain, Jayaprakash, her guardian, and Jaeger, her older brother. During their visit, AK faces a group of assassins hired by his enemies, and Ramya warns him to stay away from them. AK summons his associates, including Mastaan Bhai, and warns them to stay away from his family. Tensions rise, and AK warns anyone who threatens his loved ones to face severe consequences. One day, Jaeger informs AK that the police arrested Vihaan. Jaeger says someone else is involved in Vihaan’s arrest, not the Mumbai gang. AK is confronted with a grim reality as he sees Vihaan in handcuffs, facing trial for drug use, and placed in juvenile detention. Ramya blames AK for bringing these dangers into their lives, and she claims it is a form of revenge orchestrated by AK’s old enemies. AK visits Vihaan, who reveals that a gang shot his girlfriend, Nithya and drugged him. AK vows to save Vihaan from prison and find the real culprits. AK, along with his assistant, Tyson, and Jaeger, uncovers that the Dark Wolves gang, led by Babel, is framing Vihaan. They are involved in illegal activities and run a casino and a secure bank vault, which Johnny and Zakaba manage. AK confronts Zakaba and threatens Johnny to leave Vihaan or blow up the entire building. While on a video call, Johnny negotiates with AK to save his casino. However, AK asks him to reveal his younger twin, Jammy, who frames Vihaan in retaliation for Ramya’s past imprisonment for heinous crimes against women. She recorded his confession and handed him over to the police. Jammy’s twin identities are kept secret, but when Jammy targets Ramya and threatens AK, tension escalates. AK blows up the entire bank and takes Zakaba hostage, destroying the casino and vault. AK holds Zakaba at gunpoint to use his influence to invite all the gangsters to a party; however, this turns out to be a trap to lure Johnny and Jammy, as the gangsters get killed, including Zakaba. As AK continues his investigation, the twins learn more about AK’s past from Bhai. They discover that he had fought alongside the Korean gangsters like , had been in New York with , and had while in prison with . Meanwhile, the twins make matters worse by implicating Vihaan in Nithya’s death, complicating the case further. AK learns another startling discovery— Nithya faked her death, is actually Jammy’s girlfriend, who had been part of his plan by pretending to love Vihaan and faking the shooting incident. AK catches Jammy and Nithya and holds them hostage. Johnny toys with AK by setting up gangsters to kill Ramya and Vihaan. Priya, AK’s ex-girlfriend-turned-aide, saves Ramya, while Tyson, Jaeger and one of the convicts from the Mumbai prison save Vihaan. Johnny, Jammy, and Nithya escape, but the twins decide to kill Nithya as her death would strengthen the case against Vihaan. Hence, despite her pleas, they kill Nithya, and injure Ramya during a chase. AK visits Ramya at the hospital, who feels remorseful for misjudging AK and her being the cause of Vihaan’s incarceration all along, and asks AK to finish the twins. AK confronts Johnny and Jammy and overpowers them in a fight. Johnny and Jammy are sentenced to prison for their crimes, while the court acquits Vihaan, and he reunites with his father for the first time, and the family share a happy reunion. Six months later, while being transported to prison, Johnny and Jammy escape en route, but AK arrives with a gun in his hand and kills them. While filming for in early 2019, , who acted in the film, narrated a script to its lead actor , who agreed to act under his direction but both wanted to wait until the producers were finalised before making an announcement. In the meantime, Ajith worked on (2022) and (2023), while Adhik finished and (both 2023). In October 2023, Suresh Chandra, Ajith’s manager, confirmed that Adhik was attached to direct the actor’s 63rd film, . The following month, he dismissed rumours that Adhik had been removed from the project. The project was funded by Naveen Yerneni and Y. Ravi Shankar’s , marking their first Tamil venture. The company made a public announcement on 14 March 2024, with the official title , a reference to the 1966 Italian film . It was also Ajith’s first film since (2002) to have an English title; Adhik revealed that the title was suggested by Ajith himself. The film was made on a reported production budget of up to (US$32 million)– (US$35 million), and Ajith was reported to receive (US$18 million) as his remuneration. The technical crew includes cinematographer , editor Vijay Velukutty, costume designer , and stunt choreographers Supreme Sundar and Kaldian Vodenchardy. Adhik co-wrote the film’s script along with Ravi Kandasamy and Harish Manikandan. The film was presented by and of , as a larger pact of their deal with Mythri Movie Makers. Ajith reportedly lost kilograms of weight for his character and would sport two different looks. was cast as the lead actress, collaborating opposite Ajith for the sixth time after (2005), (2007), (2011), (2015) and (2025). was cast in a supporting role, collaborating with Adhik for the second time after whilst was also cast, after having previously acted with Ajith in (2015). B. S. Avinash was further cast in an important role. In early October, announced his participation. Later the same month, did the same. and were present during the film’s preliminary shooting, confirming their presence in the film. In late January 2025, announced he was part of the cast. was reported to make a cameo appearance in her first film with Ajith since (2000) and fourth film overall. This was confirmed with the trailer launch on 4 April 2025. From the trailer, , , , , and were also confirmed to be part of the cast. was originally offered to play Ajith’s son, but declined due to scheduling conflicts with (2025); the role went to Karthikeya Dev. was initially scheduled to begin in June 2024. However, due to the filming schedule of in late May was scheduled in the , the first schedule instead began on 9 May in . A fight sequence, choreographed by Supreme Sundar, was filmed at first, according to reports. The schedule was completed within a month on 9 June. The team then continued filming for the second schedule in Hyderabad on early August, with Ajith simultaneously participating the shoot of this film and . Although initial plans were to go to for the concurrent schedule, it took place in Spain instead. During this schedule, however, photos and videos of Ajith were leaked to the social media platforms. Toledo House in , which was a principal location in the Spanish TV series , features in the film. In late-November, production moved to the United Kingdom as a part of the major schedule. Filming in mid-December. for the film were provided by Matrix VFX, with Narendra Logisa serving as the . handled the , with Ashwath S as the colourist. On 29 December 2024, Ajith completed dubbing for his portions. The soundtrack is composed by , in his third collaboration with Adhik after (2015) and (2023); second with Ajith after (2007). Prakash replaced the previously announced . The audio rights of the film were acquired by . The first single titled “OG Sambavam” was released on 18 March 2025. The second single titled “God Bless U” was released on 30 March 2025. The third single titled “AK The Tiger” was released on 9 April 2025. The film’s teaser trailer, released on 28 February 2025, received over 32 million views within 24 hours of its release, thus becoming the most viewed Tamil film teaser to that point. The theatrical trailer was released on 4 April 2025, and was noted by critics for its numerous callbacks to Ajith’s previous films, especially those films’ popular dialogues. Adhik later stated that these callbacks were meant as nostalgia for long-time Ajith fans, but could also resonate with general audiences if they enjoy them as “impactful, mass-appeal dialogues” without having prior knowledge of Ajith’s films. was released theatrically on 10 April 2025 in standard and formats. Apart from the original Tamil language, it is also scheduled to release in the , , and languages. The film was released in multiplexes of North India as a part of its Hindi release with a similar 8-week streaming rule followed by (2024). Initially, the film was scheduled to release on 10 January 2025, coinciding with the occasion of . However, after , producers of announced in November 2024 that their film would release during the Pongal weekend, the release of was facing uncertainty as Naveen Yerneni did not confirm or deny any new release window. In December, Adhik confirmed that the film was postponed, but the makers of also soon after announced that their film was postponed, leading to none of the films being released on the occasion, with the April 2025 release window for being announced in early January. was released in 2,400 shows across Tamil Nadu, becoming the largest release for a Tamil film at the state. The film was given a by the with a runtime of 139 minutes and 52 seconds. Romeo Pictures bought the distribution rights of the film in . They initially held the same rights for and as well, but later acquired the Karnataka rights, and Sree Gokulam Movies did so for Kerala. Prathyangira Cinemas acquired the distribution rights for the United States. According to , registered the highest pre-release sales for the opening day in Tamil Nadu, earning (US$930,000) from 2,091 shows in the state, beating (2022) which earned (US$930,000) from fewer than 1,500 shows. The film sold 645+ tickets for its opening day in Norway, surpassing and becoming the highest opening for an Ajith-starrer at the location. As the final advance booking for its opening weekend, it grossed (US$5.6 million) through pre-sales, beating which grossed (US$5.5 million). Whereas (US$3.9 million) were contributed by Tamil Nadu only, it became the highest pre-booking for an Ajith-starrer. The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film were purchased by for ₹95 crore. The film began streaming there from 8 May 2025 in Tamil and dubbed versions in Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam languages. received mixed reviews from critics, who noted that the film struggled to balance homage and storytelling. Ganesh Aaglave of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “On the whole, is a big-ticket entertainer and a visual treat for Thala Ajith fans.” M Suganth of gave 3/5 stars and wrote “It is cinema of maximalism, often breaking the third wall, peppered with throwbacks, and with only one goal – to deliver a high every few minutes. More than mass masala, it’s max masala!” Avinash Ramachandran of gave 3/5 stars and wrote “Even if the writing is shallow, and most of the performances, except an Ajith showreel for the ages, are functional, the film is gloriously engaging.” Sudhir Srinivasan of gave 3/5 stars and wrote “Adhik Ravichandran turns Good Bad Ugly into a chaotic shrine to nostalgia and heroism. It’s a party you can dance through, if you’re in the mood.” Bhawana Tanmayi of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “The film completely lacks its main core, which is its storytelling point of view, the lack of emotional core and why we should root for the hero, and, obviously, the film consists of the never-ending slow-motion walks and gunfires. Anusha Sundar of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “GBU is a fanboy cinema, and has its right theatre moments and , if that’s all you want to enjoy a film. GBU takes slow to find a pace in its writing. At times, it fumbles too evidently.” Janani K of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote ” is what you call a ‘fanboy sambavam’. If you are an ardent Ajith Kumar fan, this will be a treat for you. But, if you are expecting even a little bit of a story, you’d be in for disappointment. It’s all over-the-top. Be it dialogues or the staging.” Raisa Nasreen of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “Over all, Adhik deliver what they promised fans – a film which is a treat for fans but is a masterclass on good storytelling?” Goutham S of wrote ” is deep in style and swag but does not tap much into the emotions of family relations, which is surely meant to favour the film for its fun nature. Additionally, the film did not present an outstanding story or profound which is apt for the rational runtime the film has.” Latha Srinivasan of wrote ” ultimately plays out as a fanboy tribute from Adhik Ravichandran to Ajith Kumar—packed with style, action, and star power, even if it falls short on storytelling.” Vishal Menon of wrote, “One is unsure if it’s even ethical to call a feature film. From a safe distance, one can argue that it’s the length of a regular movie and it also features a major movie star in the lead. If you want to push it, one may even argue that it has a something resembling a plot and a screenplay that holds characters and plot points in place.” Gopinath Rajendran of wrote “Adhik has taken his biggest shot, and it could possibly be the best Tamil cinema has ever seen. Even when it’s far from perfect and feels like a brass-knuckle punch to our senses, Good Bad Ugly is loving work of nostalgia.” grossed (US$18 million) in Tamil Nadu, and (US$11 million) in other territories (rest of India and overseas) for a worldwide total of (US$29 million). grossed (US$5.9 million)– (US$6.0 million) worldwide on its opening day, with over (US$4.0 million) from India, becoming the highest first-day gross for the actor, surpassing (2022), which grossed (US$5.6 million). It had the third biggest opening for an Indian film in 2025, behind and . The film grossed 96,000 ( 131,506.85) in the United Kingdom, surpassing , which grossed 86,000 ( 117,808.22), and became the highest first-day grosser for the actor in the country. The film added another (US$2.8 million) on its second day, raising the total collection to (US$9.5 million) worldwide. It crossed the 100 crore mark within three days, becoming the fastest film of the actor to do so. The film grossed 152 crore worldwide in its first four-day weekend. It also became the first film of the actor to enter the global weekend chart of emerging as the number four film of the global box-office weekend. The film made a total collection of (US$24 million) within nine days, surpassing (2023) and becoming Ajith’s highest-grossing film. emerged as the , , and . Ahead of the release of the film, a group of Ajith’s fans from Tirunelveli attempted to install a 250-ft cutout of the actor at PSS multiplex. The structure collapsed during installation, but no injuries were reported. A video of the incident went viral online. Post release, music composer sent a notice to the makers for using and altering his compositions “Ilamai Idho Idho” from (1982), “En Jodi Manja Kuruvi” from (1986) and “Oththa Roova” from (1996) in the film without his permission. Accusing them of violating , he sought (US$590,000) for “unpaid royalties, damages, and legal costs”, and also demanded the removal of the altered songs from wherever they were published. Y. Ravi Shankar decried these allegations, saying they had followed protocol by obtaining approval from the record labels of the songs since they are the rights holders.</p>