Ashdoc's movie review---Baby

by ashdoc Sun Jan 25, 2015 12:28 am

It's a gripping and tense and taut thriller that gets tauter and tauter as it gets going....

And it keeps you on the edge of the seat at the climax approaches....

It shows hard muscled men delivering crunching blows and battle trained women matching them punch for punch....

And it shows men who deserve to die being killed without any ado....

No long dialogues and spoken or said....But instead , dedicated men and women are ready to lay their lives in the line of duty without any theatrics....

It's not a film for the softies and the liberals....for the neighboring country is openly shown harboring those who wish ill for our nation....

And it's not a film for the pseudosecularists either....

.....For it's a film on terrorism....

And all the terrorists---they are shown belonging to only one religion....

No filmy explanations are given to prove that the religion to which the terrorists belong does not support terrorism ; but instead , that message is conveyed to us by the quiet dignity with which some right minded people who belong to the same religion as the terrorists do their duty towards the country without question and acquit themselves with honour....

Director Neeraj Pandey comes back after the hard hitting film 'A wednesday' with another film that tackles the theme of terrorism ; and he proves that he is no one film wonder by making a film that sends out the same loud and clear message as the earlier film---that there can be no softness while dealing with terrorists , and no liberalism while dealing with traitors....

And unfortunately , traitors do exist among us....as Ajay Singh Rajput ( played by Akshay Kumar ) finds out....

They are being used as pawns by those sit in our neighboring country hatching plans to kill us , and Ajay learns of terrorist plots being planned during interrogation of one of these traitors ( an Indian who belongs to the same religion as our neighbour ).....

This leads to an ISI agent ( an Indian really , but again---belonging to the same religion as the ISI )....

The scene in which Ajay barges into the house of the ISI agent who lives smack in the middle of a locality of his coreligionists and forces him to confess his crimes ( inspite of his coreligionists raising hell outside ) is dramatic , and sets the tone for the rest of the film .

But the terror masterminds are not quiet either , and bring the plan to free one of their men ( Bilal---played by Kay Kay Menon ) to a successful conclusion....

So the task before Ajay and his team ( a group of dedicated individuals who agree to be disowned by their own country if they are caught ) is to bring Bilal back from foreign shores , so that further attacks are stopped....

But will the attacks stop ?---especially if the terror mastermind who hatched the plot of freeing Bilal is still openly giving hate filled speeches in our neighboring country calling for holy war....

When will the mastermind be caught ??

Watch the movie for the answers....

The action moves from Mumbai to Nepal to Saudi Arabia , and the lens of the photographer gives a rare beauty to both Nepal and Saudi Arabia---the cinematographer has obviously not shown the grimmer aspects of the two societies , like poverty and unrest in Nepal and the harsh religious laws and trampling of women's rights in Saudi Arabia....instead , we are shown shots of Nepal's beautiful tourist places and the superb roads and bridges and desert resorts of Saudi Arabia....

There are no songs in the movie , and no songs means no romance---I told you this film is not for the softies ,and it's not for the romantics either....

Post interval the second half is truly gripping ; it is a no frills thriller which concentrates on one subject only---that of terrorism.....

Akshay Kumar has realized his own limitations as an actor , and tried to act within those limitations ; and his effort has paid off....

However the film becomes too high tech as it moves towards the climax , and it's use of technology may prove too much for the illiterate masses.....

But the classes will appreciate it's use of technology....

The main sticking point is the massive use of cinematic liberty to overcome many hurdles in the film , and this overuse of cinematic liberty did rankle me....

But the overuse of cinematic liberty did not come in the way of the entertainment which the film offers us , but rather I daresay that it helped the film to entertain us....

And entertain us it did....

Way to go , Baby !! ( Now that was a silly name for a terror movie )....

Verdict---Baby delivers big time !!
Four star rating .