“Mere Jaise Bahaut Aye Honge.. Par Main, Pehli Baar Aya Hu”
Warning – this will be full of spoilers. Avoid reading if you haven’t watched it yet. Dekh aao fir padhna. Aur agar sirf verdict chahiye toh you can skip directly to the last paragraph. Kyuki, ‘Comedy Is A Serious Business.’
Acting
Varun Dhawan – Varun has definitely improved in acting but I still feel it is not enough. He is good in comedy and delivers almost every scene but that’s it. He falters a bit in emotional scenes. We never see him exploring something more in his character. Felt it in both Citadel and Baby John.
Keerthy Suresh – If you have seen Mahanati, you would know she is a very good actor. She delivers well in Baby John but her writing did not allow her much to show her acting skills.
Wamiqa Gabbi – Hugely under-utlized in my opinion.
Zara Zyanna (Child Actor) – Very cute. Did all her scenes very well.
Jackie Shroff – Great villain but writing did not do justice to him. Aage baat karenge.
Rajpal Yadav – Phod dala sirji. Emotional, Comedy and Action, sab!
The Remake Factor
At the core, it is Theri only, but I liked the fact that it was not a scene by scene remake, even though a lot of scenes were as it is. They changed many aspects of story, the shooting style, and even some characters. But still it felt like watching the same story, not a different one. So many people will roast it for being a remake and many will avoid watching, but I guess the makers knew about this and they moved forward anyway. So they should not complain when people critisise.
But at the same time, for the ones who have not watched Theri, Baby is enjoyable and a good masala film. There are films that you regret wasting your time and money on, this is not one of those.
The Surprise Elements
Wamiqa Gabbi, the school teacher, Baby John’s second love, turns out to be a cop. That was a nice twist. But it does not lead anywhere. They did not explore it enough, or at all I would say. Bas kuch alag ke naam pe dal diya.
Rajpal Yadav in an action scene? Kisne socha tha? I know many of you know he has done serious roles and he is a very good actor, but his image is that of a comedian and he has done most of this roles that way, especially the ones with Varun. Waha se mass action scene mein dekh jo maza aya, O bhai. Mera theatre kaafi dull tha, main akela hi chillaya. But I can imagine single screens would have erupted. That swag and the dialogue, “Comedy is a serious business.”
Villain Waste Nahi Karne Ka Bhidu
When Jackie Shroff’s glimpse had released I was very pumped up. But in the film, there was not much depth into his character. Apart from how he was presented, his look, his demeanour, his character was quite hollow. A villain should be someone who makes not just the hero but even the audience feel threatened. Stakes itne high hone chahiye ki hero jab unko overcome kare toh waha bhi character development ho. Apart from the threat to his daughter, kuch tha hi nahi. Ye toh 30-40 saal pehle bhi hota tha ki villain ne hero ki family ko kidnap kar liya, hero bachane pahauch gaya, villain se usko peeta, fir hero ne sabko peet ke sabko bacha liya. You can follow the same template par beech mein kuch toh naya karo. Why so simple?
Pushpa 2 Reminder
There is one scene, at the docks, where Jackie Shroff mentions “Lakdi” (wood) and Varun is hanging upside down with a rope on one leg. Pushpa 2 ki opening yaad aa gayi.
Action
The action was no doubt top notch, no complaints there. You will like all action scenes. But I would have loved if somebody on the evil side challenged Varun enough, was at par with his skills and strength and we saw a good hand to hand combat. Sirf bahaut sare gundo ko pelna is not enough, thoda hollow feel hota hai.
Bhai Ka Cameo
I will give it to Atlee that he made a much better cameo with Salman Khan that what we saw in Singham Again. I liked the jokes he cracked with Varun Dhawan. But that’s it. It was a very forced cameo, with no logic and no need. It felt like they just did it to get one more fanbase buy the tickets and because Atlee wanted to work with Salman Khan before doing a full-fledged film with him. It may have made Bhaijaan’s fans happy but it definitely did not impress the fans.
Writing Mess
The screenplay was all over the place. Ingredients were sprinkled all over but it did not come out as a well-cooked dish. Kuch bhi ho raha tha. Jackie Shroff went to jail by choice, aag laga di, police ko peet diya jail ke andar hi. Zakir Hussain ko marne wala sequence, the entire Satya Ka Bhoot wala narrative, the girls pushed and toppled over such a big metal container, that kid eating chocolate. Ek ke baad ek events ho rahe the, it dd not feel like well connected story.
I would have preferred seeing Varun Dhawan in his long hair look till the end as Baby John, but pata nahi kyu wo firse short hair look mein aa gaya. Bas isliye ki Satya Ka Bhoot wala angle dikhana tha?
It felt like the whole film solely relied on (even marketed as) showing Varun Dhawan in a never seen avatar. That’s it.
Music
The BGM was great. It really added to the impact of the scenes. The songs were too many and everytime they felt like they were breaking the narrative and taking us to another place. Apart from Nain Matakka (because I had to review), I deliberately did not watch or hear any songs. So for me, it was still better to watch them for the first time on screen.
Pikley Pom was great, it showed us the relation of Baby John and his daughter. Hazaar bar also nice, because they showed his life with his wife, the footage was actually taking the story forward. Bandobast, Nain Matakka and that one during baby shower were all not needed. Also they had brought Diljit Dosanjh for Nain Matakka, it all felt like they were done just to sell music rights.
One might say Indian audience wants songs, but aisa nahi hai. Aisa tha and sabko lagta hai aisa aaj bhi hai. We need either very epic songs which add a theatrical value, with good lyrics, good choreography, something that shows efforts, like the ones done by Farah Khan, or background ones that move along with the story like Sandeep Reddy Vanga did in Animal. Because in all the songs I saw people take out their phone or take a susu break. Andhere theatre mein phone ki lights bahaut easily dikh jati hain.
Verdict/Recommendation
If you have watched Theri, then it is your choice. But if you haven’t then Baby John will definitely not bore you. It is a fun masala film and you will not regret a theatrical watch, whether you go alone, with friends, or with family. Whatever problems I have discussed above is from a critic’s perspective. Watch the teaser, watch the trailer and decide for yourself. But if you choose to go, you will have a good time.
OCD Rating – ⭐⭐⭐
Author – Ishan Jain
Also check out: Kalki 2898 AD Phone Wallpapers
Stay tuned to OCD Times for more updates. Do check out our other social accounts on Instagram, Facebook Twitter and Youtube.
Leave a Reply