Baby John Review: A Revisit of Theri, Lacking Impact – 2 Stars
Baby John Review: Over-the-Top Action, Weak Execution
Varun Dhawan is trying to take an overambitious stride to prove his high-energy action potential in Baby John, but the movie goes downhill rather fast. It cannot keep the balls of its high-flying dramatics afloat due to the absence of ground that would give such extravagances the support needed.
While Dhawan’s zeal is palpable, the weak script does not complement his efforts. The film, a remake of the 2016 Tamil hit Theri, is an uneven and poorly structured attempt that misses the mark. Instead of giving a fresh take, Baby John recycles old tropes and suffers from a disjointed narrative.
One such step out of the comedy comfort zone is by Rajpal Yadav as a serious police officer, who remarks at one point that “comedy is serious business.” So, by extension, so is action. Baby John unfortunately does not balance it out. Dhawan’s charming persona is not really in tandem with the rugged, tough-guy portrayal.
The movie, anchored around a vengeful villain, a heroic cop, and a precocious child, offers little new to audiences. Directed by Kalees and produced by Atlee, Baby John borrows heavily from its predecessor without capturing the original’s mass appeal. The action sequences feel dated, and the romantic subplots unnecessarily slow down the pace.
Keerthy Suresh, with Meera being her Hindi film debut, is the doctor who loves the protagonist, and despite so much potential in her, the writing reduces her to stereotypical roles, wherein her profession is overshadowed by domestic clichés and dialogues about feeling “complete” because of her family only highlights the dated gender dynamics.
The film tries to be a tribute to fatherhood, framing its conflict on the lines of “good dad” and “bad dad”. However, the predictable story and over-the-top execution fails to leave a mark in the memory. Jackie Shroff, as Nanaji, the villain is menacing but predictable, with the rest of the actors failing to go beyond the scintilla of the script given to them.
The most cringe-worthy sequence, however, involves the hero Dhawan promising to defeat a gang with a single song’s duration, followed by, of course. All these over-the-top moments, which are actually taken for the hero’s confidence and bravery, actually are highlighting the lack of novel material in the film itself.
The flashback-heavy narrative, spread over two cities-Mumbai and Kerala-is unwieldy and plodding. Even the much-needed infusion of a fresh character in Tara, played by Wamiqa Gabbi, cannot inject much interestingness in the proceedings when the narrative loops back into the present.
It almost creates a cinematic universe of undercover cops but lays little ground to be built on that endeavor. The surprise appearance by a Bollywood superstar in the last scene does add a dash of flavor but can never make amends with this film.
At last, behind the all that glittering action and all that festive cheer, Baby John fails to arouse excitement. The film turns out to be a rather bland and flatly trite rehash of what came before, neither entertaining nor involving.
