Starring Akshay Kumar and Trisha Krishnan. In Hindi with English subtitles. Rated PG.

The title of Priyadarshan’s film, Khatta Meetha, translates as “sour and sweet”. Presumably this is a comment on the vagaries of the human condition, which are at times sweet, and at other times, not so much. The film attempts to capture this with a story that is part pratfall comedy and part serious drama. The result is a stupefying mess that is both tedious and offensive.

Sachin Tichkule (Akshay Kumar) is the youngest son in a large family who all view him as a failure and a public embarrassment. While his older brother and brothers-in-law are major contractors who keep their engineering business prosperous with plenty of corruption, he goes after small petty contracts with the city and can’t even keep his workers fed. It is not so much that he is less corrupt than them; he is just bad at it.

Things get even worse for Sachin when the new municipal commissioner turns out to be his ex-girlfriend, Gehna Gampule (Trisha Krishnan). She is determined to wipe out bribery and corruption in her department—starting with him. In college, they were in love. It is unclear whether their relationship ended with his suspension from college or due to his tendency to end an argument with a slap.

This is a convoluted story with many subplots and comic interludes interspersed with a morality play about corruption and national progress. The dramatic portion of the film includes tragedy and graphic violence that do not seem to have any weight on the plot. Scenes of murder and violence against women are quickly followed by some inane slapstick routine or a song sequence that is entirely disconnected from the narrative.

This is not just a bad film; it is two bad films for the price of one.