Baby movie review

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Let us just say that I am not someone who holds his breath until Akshay Kumar releases his movies. So when I saw the posters announcing the release of Baby, I just yawned and clicked my thumb and looked the other way.But this film is not about Akshay Kumar. It is a film directed by Neeraj Pandey. That is why I went to see the film. I love the storytelling style of Neeraj P who is now scheduled to direct the biopic of MS Dhoni.He made me sit up with his debut movie A Wednesday in 2008 <read more here>. The film A Wednesday was contextually rich. The year had seen a series of bomb blasts across the country. So the story of a sleuth foiling the terrorists resonated with the audience.Neeraj Pandey’s second film was Special 26 (Special Chhabbis) <read more here>. That was a story of a daring heist pulled off by conmen who use fake uniforms and papers to con the unsuspecting and corrupt. Akshay Kumar matched the fabulous performances of Anupam Kher and Manoj Bajpayi blow by blow. Maybe I should say in Special 26, Akshay Kumar matched facial twitch for facial twitch and histrionic for histrionic.Terror, bomb blasts, counter-terrorism once again blend together to create a compelling screenplay in Baby. Why is it called “Baby”? Oh that is the name of the counter-terrorist setup that is led by Danny Denzongpa. They are like the Mossad of Israel.Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher and Tapsee Pannoo are a part of this team. But the film’s title is as irrelevant to the story as Rana Daggubati’s character. Rana D gets to show off his muscles like a proud son to his doting mother – and that’s it. He gets to speak no intelligible words (grunts don’t count). It is hard being an actor without any lines.The guy who deserves a special mention is the Pakistani actor Rasheed Naz. You will remember him from his previous performance in Khuda Ke Liye. He plays the villain and sends a shiver down the spine despite a rather fake looking beard. While Tapsee Pannoo has a brief appearance, she does get noticed when she has a field day kicking the bazookas out of the bad guys. And you have Kay KayI really felt sorry for Madhurima Tuli who gets to play Akshay Kumar’s wife. Akshay Kumar looks way too old to pass off as her husband – but hey, who am I to judge? Madhurima has only one great line in the film when she looks at her hubby all teary eyed and tells him that he can do anything as long as he does not die. That’s the kind of recipe for a happy marriage. See the film and you will believe me.The film juggles scenes shot in India, Nepal, Turkey and the Middle East. It is scenes shot in Istanbul that stay with you even after the film is over. The second half of the story could have been trimmed by 15 minutes and the screenplay would have been crisper.Should you watch the film?Yehi hai right choice Baby!----------Join me on twitter @AbhijitBhaduri