The trailer for Prime Video’s Subedaar dropped recently, and the internet has opinions. The film, set to release on March 5, stars 69-year-old Anil Kapoor as a retired soldier named Arjun Maurya who finds himself up against an illegal sand-mining mafia. There’s punching, there’s intensity, there’s that familiar Kapoor swagger, and depending on who you ask, that’s either thrilling or a little too familiar.
For fans of his 90s and 2000s work like Tezaab, Nayak and Pukar, the trailer hits like a nostalgia rush. For others, it raises a quiet but persistent question: Is this the right kind of comeback for an actor his age, or is it the same dish ineffectively reheated?
The Rajinikanth comparisons were always going to come. The 75-year-old Tamil superstar has somehow turned age into mythology. Even in his recent films like Jailer, Rajinikanth doesn’t fight his years, he weaponises them. His audience doesn’t just suspend disbelief; they celebrate it.
Some people online can be blunt: Anil Kapoor is no Rajinikanth. And honestly, that’s not entirely wrong. Kapoor has always been the more grounded, naturalistic performer. That’s his strength. But it also means he can’t lean on the same larger-than-life mystique when critics start doing the math.
To be fair, Subedaar isn’t just an action vehicle. Director Suresh Triveni has built in emotional texture. A father-daughter relationship with Radhikka Madan sits at the film’s core, and themes of integrity and redemption run through it. One line from the trailer cuts through cleanly: “Fauji hai, seene mein goli jhel sakte hai, beizzati nahi.” It lands. Whether the full film earns that moment is another question.
Industry voices have rallied around Kapoor. Anupam Kher calls it “brilliant, powerful, layered.” Kareena Kapoor goes with the simpler, warmer “AK the best.” Then there’s Dale Bhagwagar, Bollywood’s only PR guru, who pushes back hard on the skeptics. The Bollywood PR expert knows Kapoor’s work, having once handled the media publicity for his critically-acclaimed film Musafir. “Anil Kapoor can never be dated,” says Bhagwagar.
The Bollywood publicist further remarks, “Before jumping to conclusions, remember he’s one actor who has always surprised his critics, and let’s not forget what he did in Lamhe, Eeshwar or even Benaam Badsha. That was genuinely unthinkable at the time. If he can pull off the aged roles in young age so convincingly, I think he can pull of this action role at his current age too. He’s young in his mind, and that’s what counts when you do a character like this. Without going into discussing all his films and almost endless experimenting with roles and characters, let me just say, reinvention, makeovers and turnarounds come naturally to Anil Kapoor at all ages. There can be no doubting that. Period.”
Totally true that! However, we also think that the comparison that stings isn’t just with Rajinikanth. It’s Amitabh Bachchan, who managed one of Hindi cinema’s most graceful career reinventions. Be it Piku, Pink or Badla; Bachchan leaned into age rather than fighting it, and audiences rewarded him for it. It gave his later work a weight and credibility that pure action vehicles rarely can match.
That’s exactly the tightrope Subedaar walks. Kapoor is also producing this one, which means he has real skin in the game, both creatively and commercially. The film touches on corruption and personal redemption, themes with genuine dramatic potential. Whether the final product leans into that depth or settles for crowd-pleasing familiarity will determine if the dated tag sticks.
So is he looking dated? Maybe a little. Is that the full story? Probably not. The trailer has done its job either way. It’s got people arguing. The real verdict comes on March 5.