Baby Review Thread

Baby Rarely you come across an Indian movie that doesn’t hit a single false note. BABY is one such film. Writer-Director Neeraj Pandey has made a brilliant film that is not only technically at par with the best in the world, but it’s also a dispassionate non-judgmental take on terrorism that’s completely devoid of jingoism and is extremely gripping. Full marks to Producer Bhushan Kumar for believing in such a landmark film, backed by exceptional marketing especially when it’s devoid of songs.

Firoze Ali Khan (Danny) heads a special operations wing of commandoes called Baby. In a conversation with a senior minister in the beginning of the film, he states that the Government ought to win the confidence of the Muslim community in India, for Pakistan is taking advantage of the community’s sense of alienation within India. In another scene Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar) tells an ISI agent Taufeeq (Mujeeb Khan) how he defended a Muslim family during the Gujarat riots and why he puts ‘Indian’ in the Religion bracket in all forms that he fills. Somehow this sets the tone for the film that terrorists don’t have a religion and no particular community ought to be associated with terrorism.

The screenplay is the hero of BABY. It flows lucidly, taking you on an engrossing journey of thrills, intrigue and surprises. Dialogues are peppered with bullets of dry humor that keep you entertained throughout. The verbal-expletive-laden warfare between Shuklaji (Anupam Kher) and Ajay is a case in point in this regard. Or when Ajay matter-of-factly tells Priya (Taapsee) as they’re on the flight to Kathmandu to “stop being my wife” when she informs him about his snoring. The precarious uncertainty in the life of an Officer involved in covert operations has been portrayed in a subtle but telling manner. Ajay’s wife (MadhurimaTuli) isn’t aware of her husband’s job profile but does tell him now and then, “Bas marna mat.” The scene where Ajay slaps the personal assistant of a minister (on his frivolous remark on the death of his colleagues) will result in an applause from the audience in the theaters.

The narrative of BABY flows like a well-made Hollywood film. Actors filter in only where required and they’re not repeated just because it makes a commercial sense from a typical Bollywood perspective. Taapsee is part of one operation. Anupam Kher and Rana Dagubatti join the team in the scorching climax sequence shot in Abu Dhabi. Sudeep Chatterji’s cinematography deserves a special mention. He has done an exceptional job especially in the chase sequences in Istanbul and the desert escapades in Abu Dhabi.

Akshay Kumar has done an incredibly good job in BABY. He’s razor sharp and there’s never a dull moment whenever he’s on screen. In a scene in an Airport washroom when he bandages himself despite excruciating pain is superbly done. He’s exceptional during all his action scenes as well. The entire supporting cast is excellent. Danny is a picture of precision in giving the right expressions. He doesn’t bullshit nor lets anyone else do the same. Anupam Kher weaves in magic in a cameo. He’s entertaining and he gets the job done. Kay Kay as the dreaded terrorist Bilal makes his striking presence felt. Sushant Singh is effective in bringing in humour in a least expected situation. Rana Dagubatti as the tough officer Jai is competent. Taapsee is a sharp Commando. She shall be proud of this film. Rasheed Naaz as Maulana Mohammad Rahman has an interesting appearance and an even more interesting way of dialogue delivery. Mikal Zulfiqar, another Pakistani actor makes his presence felt in a cameo.

Sanjoy Chowdhury’s background score is the heartbeat of BABY as it instills the necessary emotions at opportune moments in the course of the narrative. Shree Narayan Singh’s editing is exceptional. Even though the duration of the film is over two and a half hours, the taut pace keeps you hooked. The last 45 minutes of the film are simply extraordinary and fast paced.

On the whole, BABY is one of the finest films ever made in the history of Indian cinema. Not only because of its excellent cinematic credentials but also because of the balanced ‘Thought’ behind the film. Neeraj Pandey once again proves that he’s a genius. This time he proves, it’s possible to better Perfection. We say, hey baby, don’t think, just go for BABY. Cinema at its very best!

Rating : 4.5/5

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41 Comments
  1. Baba 10 years ago

    taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 15h 15 hours ago
    Watched #Baby. O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G. Neeraj Pandey proves his prowess yet again. Brilliant cinema!

    taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 15h 15 hours ago
    #Baby is Akshay’s best work. Rana Daggubati, Anupam Kher, Danny, Taapsee, Kay Kay, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Rasheed Naz – each actor is first-rate.

    taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 15h 15 hours ago
    #Baby has engaging 1st half and a superb 2nd. The last 40 minutes are nail-biting with an edge of the seat finale. You just can’t miss it.

  2. Baba 10 years ago

    Bollywood Lover @Tutejajoginder · Jan 19
    Saw #Baby. Awesome entertainer. If you liked Argo then you would love Baby. Fantastic thriller with a pacy 1st half and edge of the seat 2nd

    Bollywood Lover @Tutejajoginder · Jan 19
    . @akshaykumar is in superb form with #Baby. Takes his Holiday act many notches higher. An award winning act and a performance of a lifetime

  3. Baba 10 years ago

    Navjot Gulati ‏@Navjotalive 9h9 hours ago
    Baby is GOOD. Akshay Kumar gives one of his career best performance. Well directed and well cast. Second half is ARGO India style.

    • sputnik 10 years ago

      Now that’s one tweet I can trust and it is good news. I don’t trust others.

      Someone asked him if it is as good as A Wednesday and this is what he tweeted.

      “almost.as a story it is not as riveting n tropical but direction is better.”

      “Somehow Neeraj Pandey brings out the best in @AnupamPkher . 3 on 3. *Claps* #Baby #Superbperformance”

      • Baba 10 years ago

        i am prepared for masand and the ilks to give baby a 2/5 rating and a cold hesitant review that its good but “cpuld have been bettr” kinds . I mean if that chutiya can give omg 2/5 then what is baby?

        • Man With No Name 10 years ago

          I am sure the likes of Mihir Fadnavis will say bad about the movie and bash Akshay Kumar, no matter how good he is. They are so predictable.

  4. Baba 10 years ago

    Faridoon Shahryar ‏@iFaridoon 13h13 hours ago
    Akshay Kumar delivers a splendid performance devoid of any frills.He hits bull’s eye in every frame.His action sequences r incredible #Baby

    • Baba 10 years ago

      “While Akshay’s (who has well earned his stripes as Action Kumar) death defying stunts are a delight, one fight scene between the female agent of the unit Priya (Taapsee Pannu) and Javed (Sushant Singh) is simply unforgettable. A professional woman is treated just the way she should be, in this one. ”

      sounds really interesting

  5. sputnik 10 years ago

    Aniruddha Guha @AniGuha · 1h 1 hour ago

    #BABY is Argo-meets-DDay. Average first half, but it’s great fun post-interval. Neeraj Pandey writes a decent script, then executes. Watch.

    • Baba 10 years ago

      a hesitant priase from an srk fan critic

      • sputnik 10 years ago

        He isn’t a SRK fan.

        • Baba 10 years ago

          check his tweets during HNY

          • sputnik 10 years ago

            He praised HNY? I am surprised because as far as I remember he always use to bash SRK movies. He and Mihir had live tweeted or live blasted Ra.One.

        • cr7 10 years ago

          What about Joginder tuteja ? 😛

  6. sputnik 10 years ago

    Mihir Fadnavis

    “Damn.. ‘Baby’ was surprisingly awesome. Thrilling from start to finish. Also both funny and unintentionally funny. Maza aa gaya.”

    “@thetanmay Watch it.. Mast hai”

  7. Baba 10 years ago

    “Akshay and Neeraj opted for the Glock 17 –the origi nal 9×19 mm Parabellum model with a standard magazine capacity of 17 rounds. Reportedly , several modified versions of the gun have been introduced and are said to be widely used by defense agents across the world.”

    https://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=AKSHAY-USES-AUTHENTIC-WEAPONS-IN-BABY-20012015108005

  8. cr7 10 years ago

    Looks like a solid movie .trailer was good. There is a positive buzz about it .If it is as good as madras cafe or A Wednesday(That would be the standard ,at least for me ) , I’m sure it will sustain well in the box office .

  9. sputnik 10 years ago

    KRK’s tweets for those who care.

    “First half could have been brilliant if Neeraj could have handled 2 scenes brilliantly but still it’s good. #Baby”

    “Show is over n #Baby is not a thriller but a BAAP of all thrillers. Salute to Neeraj Pandey for making such a perfect film.”

  10. sputnik 10 years ago

    First Negative Review of Baby – Indian Express Movie Review by Shubhra Gupta – Rating 2

    Baby: This Akshay Kumar film is as simplistic as its title
    Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Danny Denzongpa, Rana Daggubati, Anupam Kher, Kay Kay, Taapsee Pannu, Sushant Singh, Mikaal Zulfikar
    Director: Neeraj Pandey

    ‘Baby’ is a perfect vehicle for the times we live in: it gives us a home-spun hero who allows himself to be hurt but is invincible, and an enemy who is the easiest to demonise. The film is as simplistic as its title – Us vs Them, and no prizes for guessing who will win. In a messy world, where each action can have an equal and opposite reaction, what is the point of complexity?

    We are given a luxuriously-bearded mullah (based, clearly, upon a couple of real-life types) whose eyeballs have flames in them, and a crowd of followers who look as if they are ready for ‘jihad’. They raise blood-curdling slogans, and talk nasty about `Indiya’. The retaliatory measures undertaken by our hero are justified right in the beginning. Can’t have hate-spewing terrorists who hide out in countries-ringed-by-deserts-and-sand-dunes threatening our sovereign nation, can we?

    So we are meant to cheer when the skilled counter-espionage agent Ajay (Akshay Kumar) breaks bones and smashes faces, while a gruesome interrogation sets the scene. If they can bash our guys, we are allowed to bash right back, no questions asked. Ajay and his band of merry men, the impossibly buff Daggubati, and the sulky computer expert Anupam Kher, cause some amusement as they race around Turkey and Nepal and the Middle East, tracking the baddies. But the whole is familiar and much of it is tedious.

    This is Akshay’s most credible performance in a long time, and reminds us the actor he can be, when he is not up-ending monkeys and dogs in films pretending to be comedies.The supporting cast is handed out a few diverting tics, which includes a nice little turn by Ms Pannu as the girl who can give as good as she gets.

    But the niggling discomfort caused by the pandering to stereotypes ( and the requisite nod to tokenism) colours our viewing. There’s also the fact that though this film looks always to be on the move, it frequently stalls. The result is a sort of frantic business which flatters to deceive : ‘Baby’, fronted by its fleet-footed hero with his brisk moustache and its background-music-overlaid action, feels longer than it should.

    Meanwhile, Bharat Mata Ki Jai.

    • cr7 10 years ago

      Baby Review NDTV
      Rating:**

      SPOILERS ALERT

      A central minister’s smug personal secretary unthinkingly belittles the sacrifices of India’s brave spies.

      As his boss looks on, the protagonist, an undercover agent who revels in playing with danger, gets up from his seat, walks up to the door, shuts it, walks back to the impertinent official and slaps him.

      The act sums up this film’s firm belief that the ‘heroism’ of the violent ‘patriot’ is not to be trifled with.

      But there is no way of telling if this scene is meant to be merely funny, or does it have the greater purpose of eliciting applause for the cool insouciance of the no-nonsense hero?

      Baby, written and directed by Neeraj Pandey, is a tricky film in more ways than one.

      It might have been hailed as just another innocuous, smartly-packaged, competently shot espionage thriller if only the politics at its heart not been so dangerously dodgy.

      Early in the film, the unstoppable spy hisses: “I can do anything.” A little later, the terror mastermind he is up against declares: “India cannot do anything”.

      So, in this all-out everything-or-nothing battle, the onus falls squarely on the invincible hero to prove the enemies of the nation wrong.

      In the bargain, the courageous man of action, under official but covert orders, scythes down everything and everyone that comes in his way.

      The point that Baby seems to make is that it isn’t just trained killing machines, but also the nation as a whole, that can, and should, do ‘anything’, collateral damage be damned.

      The hero barges into minority localities, uses extra-legal methods to extract confessions and leads from suspects, and eliminates anybody who is remotely troublesome.

      Baby unabashedly reinforces the mainstream media’s worst stereotypes and constantly plays on the collective fears of a populace that is only too willing to find and hang scapegoats for the troubles of our contentious times.

      What makes Baby doubly problematic is that it presents the story as a reflection of reality, and not just as a piece of fiction.

      There are umpteen references to 26/11, the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, and to other actual figures and incidents that have made the headlines in recent times.

      When the film opens, a crack team of 12 secret agents is down to just four, and Operation Baby – the name stems from the fact that the counter-terrorism mission is meant to run for only five years – is now on its last legs.

      Maulana Mohammed Rehman (Rasheed Naz), modelled on the real-life Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is planning a big terror strike in India.

      Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar), right hand man of counter-terrorism strategist Feroz Ali Khan (Danny Denzongpa), traverses the globe to thwart the conspiracy.

      In the bargain, he has to contend with enemies without and rivals within the ranks.
      Baby has actors of the calibre of Kay Kay Menon, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa and Sushant Singh in the cast. Thrown together into a tedious storyline, they can do little to make it work.

      Baby is a dreary drama that meanders from one action sequence to another without making the audience any wiser.

      The only scene that is mildly surprising involves a female agent (Taapsee Pannu) giving a terror suspect a taste of her fighting prowess.

      It becomes amply clear where Baby is headed when, right at the outset, Indian spy Rakesh is mercilessly pummeled in Istanbul by rogue agent Jamal and his accomplices.

      But even as our man Ajay sends the Taufiqs, Bilals and Javeds of the world scurrying for cover, there is that token patriotic Indian Muslim hovering in the background – the hero’s unwavering superior who calls the shots from Delhi.

      And there is, for good measure, a contrite Muslim, too. A young engineer, after a stint in a terrorist training camp, has a change of heart and decides to help the cause of the undercover agents.

      Baby also has one blazing confrontation scene that might particularly thrill the new saffron-tinged censor board.

      A terrorist tells the hero that in the religion column of government forms he writes MUSLIM in bold and capital letters.

      The agent responds with a story about how he fought for 24 hours to save a Muslim family during the Gujarat riots.

      He then goes on to stress that on government forms he writes INDIAN, in bold and capital letters.
      One can only cringe. Baby is a superficial cinematic condensation of the shrill television images, newspaper headlines and communally-charged political posturing that we are subjected to day in and day out. Who needs more?

      https://movies.ndtv.com/movie-reviews/baby-movie-review-1081

      • AAP 10 years ago

        “Baby is a superficial cinematic condensation of the shrill television images, newspaper headlines and communally-charged political posturing that we are subjected to day in and day out.”

        Akshay told in a TV interview yesterday than Neeraj always reads newspapers 3-4 hours a day and when Akshay asked Neeraj – he told “scripts newspaper me hoti hai”. The effect of today’s journalism might have reflected in film also. Above two reviews confirm what I felt from promos – simplistic and stereotype and trying too hard.

  11. cr7 10 years ago

    Baby review: Akshay Kumar’s film is fast, entertaining but has a stupid plot

    Director Neeraj Pandey’s films are a mixture of old school Bollywood formula, slick modern execution and bouts of intense suspense with some bombastic, social commentary. His films don’t have clueless idiots with walkie talkies pretending to be commandoes. They have reasonably realistic depiction of police work and ludicrous ‘holy cow that was awesome’ thrills.
    His latest venture Baby is another perfectly outlandish and white-knuckled action thriller – a seemingly intelligent but mindless piece of well-oiled escapism that delivers several crowd-pleasing moments of action mayhem. And Pandey does it in such style and a breakneck pace that one can’t help but enjoy the ride. Sure, most of the plot points in Baby come dangerously close to the utter stupidity found in films like Holiday, but it’s very entertaining. It’s also a rare piece of event cinema – because how many Akshay Kumar movies turn out to be anything besides awful?
    Baby is supposedly based on real life missions and characters, but the disclaimer before the movie mentions that all characters and events in the film are fictitious. This is probably Pandey pulling the prank that the Coen brothers did in Fargo, but more on that later.
    We’re brought up to speed with the help of a grave and grim voiceover by Danny Denzongpa who plays Feroze Ali Khan, the chief of a super-secret-undercover-counter-intelligence-rapid-action-surveillance-savvy-first encounter-assault recon-I-spy-antiterrorist unit named Baby. Feroze tells us that Baby has been the most successful force against Pakistan-based terrorism, and since 2008, has dismantled several terrorist attacks in India. The film chronicles Baby’s final mission, starring Akshay Kumar as Ajay who’s hunting down Kay Kay Menon’s Bilal Khan, an escaped terrorist. Ajay’s hunt for Bilal takes him (and us) through seedy streets in Bombay, the bylanes of Turkey, the mountains of Nepal, and the desert sands of Saudi Arabia. Also in the mix is a nutty, India-bashing, hate-spewing Mullah Maulana Mohammad (played by Pakistani actor Rasheed Naz), a not so subtle derivation of LeT’s Zaki ur Rehman Lakhwi.
    Akshay Kumar in Baby.Akshay Kumar in Baby.
    Baby ups the body count and delivers the goods when it comes to gritty action, non-stop thrills, mood and style. What mainly works here is the sense of urgency. Our hero sticks to the mission instead of veering out for item numbers and even though he’s larger than life, he remains in a fairly realistic mode. This is a mainstream film, but there is no slow-mo bullet time rubbish. There’s some interesting hand-to-hand combat, and Pandey somehow manages to balance the grittiness and realism balance the masala of commercial films. It’s quite refreshing to see a film that caters to its target audience and at least tries to not insult it.
    There’s not a dull moment here, save for one hopelessly horrible song in an equally awful love track (Pandey did the same in Special 26 as well). Thankfully, it’s short and quickly abandoned, so we’re thrown right back into a cocktail of chase scenes, intrigue and espionage.
    To fill the rather large 159-minute runtime, there are catchy sequences, but also the unintentional hilarity of head-scratchingly stupid moments that stretch the material beyond the realm of plausibility. For example, Bilal escapes from a police van in broad daylight, in the middle of a completely deserted Marine Drive in south Mumbai, after leisurely shooting three cops and walking away. Anyone who’s been to Mumbai knows that the only time you’d find a deserted main road is during the Rapture.
    There’s also a scene where Feroze explains to the minister he reports to how Pakistani terror organisations are breeding homegrown terrorists in India, much to the minister’s shock. One would imagine any minister would be well aware of the most basic security threat to the country.
    Akshay Kumar deserves credit for choosing such a project and making it work. He’s got his usual cocksure swagger, his impressive athletic prowess but he manages to restrain himself during the dramatic beats. He even hurls a few one-liners in hilariously passive ways. If only he’d stopped himself from giving into his desire to display his jumping abilities.
    Adding some much-welcome layer to a very standard sidekick, Taapsee Pannu is fun as Ajay’s team member. Her violent encounter with a shady businessman (Sushant Singh) makes, very crowd pleasingly, an excellent case for women not needing men to fight for them. Kudos also to Pandey for delivering action scenes that are visually slick, cohesive and don’t give in to the lazy cuts.
    A rewatchable thriller can spark conversations about how unexpected some scenes were, but most of the conversations following Baby will consist of how true the film actually is. One one hand, we’re expected to simply take everything at face value, assume the anti terrorist unit and the mission in the film are real, but also simultaneously digest the vast amounts of obvious creative liberty. A similar self-contradictory narrative also plagued D Day and Madras Café.
    So no matter whether you like the film or not, it’s hard to deem Pandey a thought provoking filmmaker because Baby seems a lot sillier a few hours after you see it. Pandey is a smart, commercial filmmaker though, because Baby basically exists for the singular purpose of filling three hours of your life with slickly-crafted and frequently outlandish thrills. Just like Ajay himself, the movie doesn’t stop until its mission is complete. Just plug some cotton in your ears though, the music is loud enough to wake up the dead.

    https://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/baby-review-akshay-kumars-film-is-fast-entertaining-but-has-a-stupid-plot-2060481.html

  12. sputnik 10 years ago

    Tweets by Bobby Talks Cinema and he hasn’t liked it much and he seems to have liked Neeraj Pandey’s previous two films a lot.

    “BABY – A well shot ARGO inspired espionage thriller that surprisingly has its director coming into form post 100 min.

    BABY – Keeping in mind the final hour of the film it looks like that the basic idea has been taken from the well made ARGO.

    BABY – Neeraj seems to be coming into form post 130 minutes…….thankfully but too late as it seems.

    BABY – The unnecessary length always makes ways to unexciting finishes. I hope the film proves as an exception.

    BABY – At last some excitement is here post 2 hours.

    BABY – How can one waste an asset like KK in a film??????? Shocking

    BABY – Has many long well shot but unexciting sequences 🙁

    BABY -Anupam enter after more than 100 min into the film.

    BABY – Missing KK since he is given only few scenes till now.

    BABY – Tapsee simply nails it with her SUPERB action sequence. Bravo Girl!!!

    BABY – Tapsee enter post interval and thankfully we have had only a short unplugged kind of song till now.

    BABY -At interval Its nothing like earlier two exciting films by Neeraj.

    BABY – A completely filmy flaw at interval……even police doesnt arrest a terrorist like that leaving such a big margin of error.

    BABY – Can ATS leave such clear agent of terrorism just like that??????

    BABY – Comes up with its first great scene post 50 min.

    BABY – After 45 min it offers just action and usual stuff but nothing path breaking yet like Neeraj’s last two hits.

    BABY – The Pak actor also impresses in his first major scene.

    BABY – First 20 min has typical action and then KK comes in to impress right away.

    BABY – Begins with a typical filmy action hero sequence thats too long killing the excitement. First 12-15 min gone.

    BABY – Neeraj always excite me & so does his new BABY.

    BABY – As heard frm Neeraj its abt govt. spies who r roped in on a clause dat if caught den govt wil disown them. Sounds intrstng. LETS See.”

  13. Ranjit Kumar 10 years ago

    Lol All pro paki media is giving Baby 2 stars ..expected ….
    ye wo media hai jo indian soldier ke sar katne ka dosh bhi indian ko hi de rahe the aur terror boat inhe aman ka asha dikhayi de raha tha 😛
    whatever baby is rocking public platform…..
    Watch interview of Akshay and Neeraj on NDTV…The journo was so excited and she was so much praising the movie but boss ka pressure aya toh wo bechari kya kare 😛

    • AAP 10 years ago

      So those who dont like Baby should go to Pakistan – correct?

      • Ranjit Kumar 10 years ago

        na bhai..ye sab alag kisam ke insaan hote hai…pak me jayenge toh fir kanhi aur ka chamacha giri suru karenge..they cant be termed as patriotic 😛
        bye see u later

      • cr7 10 years ago

        LOL

    • Baba 10 years ago

      not just pro pak, bcos the film stars akshay some critics will give it nothing more than 2/5 even if they like it. that is the case with all the so-called negative reviews. if the same film had a khan, it would have got minimum 3.5/5

  14. Ranjit Kumar 10 years ago

    Hadd toh tab paar hoti hai jab kuch bike huye media DKD ko 2.5star deti hai aur Baby ko 2 😉 😉

  15. cr7 10 years ago

    Review: Watch Baby for Akshay-Kher-Danny troika

    Rating:**1/2

    Rakesh, an Indian counter-intelligence officer, has been double crossed, and is captured by terrorists, somewhere in Istanbul. A bunch of six or seven toughies take turns to slap him, punch him in the face. They torture him. There is lot of blood on his face. His eyes are swollen. But when he spits, there is no trace of blood.

    One wonders, how a director like Neeraj Pandey could have overlooked such technicality. Remember Special 26 and A Wednesday?

    There are lots of instances when you wonder if Pandey is actually the director of Baby.

    Can you imagine special agent Akshay Kumar and his boss Danny Denzongpa getting down from a car at South Block (Ministry of External Affairs), entering its hallowed precincts and suddenly find themselves inside a tall, glitzy building, with a glass-covered facade? When did MEA undergo this makeover, Pandeyji?

    Can you imagine a scene where a dreaded terrorist, who claims he has killed more than Kasab (Mohd Ajmal), being ferried out to the court and back in a convoy that is just a little bigger than those that take undertrials with theft charges to courts?

    Can you imagine, that in peak Mumbai hours, there is hardly any traffic on the roads, and this more-dreaded-than-Kasab terrorist succeeds in escaping after a bang-bang encounter with a bunch of cops?

    And yes, Akshay Kumar needs to tell his make-up guys to not dye his hair so shiny black. It hits you in the eye, especially when you spot a little strand of grey close to his ears.

    Pandeyji, please note that the background score is supposed to compliment a thriller, not overwhelm the proceedings on screen.

    Coming back to the film, Rakesh is obviously in great pain, but is not showing it. Perhaps, he is half dead. But he has not lost hope.

    He drags on through the proceedings.

    The first half of Baby makes you feel you are Rakesh.

    But when you make it till the film ends, you will feel happy that you sat through the torture in the first half.

    Pandey makes up for all the inconsistencies in one fine stroke: By not letting Rana Daggubati talk much, that is, whenever he makes his presence felt. That, in itself will save the audience many blushes.

    Taapsee Pannu, as Kumar’s partner-in-crime in Nepal, shows lot of promise, both in the looks and acting department. She plays a cameo, but an impressive one.

    Baby picks up only in the second half. The film shows you never-seen-before, picturesque Kathmandu and Saudi Arabia, as we go in search of Bilal Khan (Kay Kay Menon), an Indian Mujahideen top gun, who escaped from Mumbai in broad daylight and is planning an attack on Mumbai or Delhi.

    And then enters Anupam Kher, Bollywood’s answer to Hollywood’s Vingh Rhames helping our desi Tom Cruise achieve his Mission Impossible!, by hacking cameras and shutting power circuits.

    With Anupam Kher entering the scene, the plot thickens. You begin to enjoy the movie. You feel, you are in the midst of a spy thriller. Add to it, Akki and Kher repartee-ing, pulling punches at each other, and it gets better.

    While the plot in the second half holds itself nicely, Akki-Danny Denzongpa-Kher (Daggubati is just an add-on here too) offer their best to play it as real as it gets.

    The second-half, especially the climax is where the film has scored well and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

    Pandey’s Baby, one must say, wouldn’t have been as interesting without the lead troika.

    https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-watch-baby-for-akshay-kher-danny-troika/20150123.htm

  16. Baba 10 years ago

    so far whatever so-called negative reviews i have seen are either nitpickings or those who have a pro-terrorism sentiment and have a problem with the politcs of the film. I mean the ones who love films like haider!

  17. sputnik 10 years ago

    Baby Review by Anupama Chopra

  18. sputnik 10 years ago

    Baby Movie Review by Rajeev Masand

    Rating: 3

    January 23, 2015

    Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kay Kay Menon, Anupam Kher, Rana Dagubatti, Sushant Singh, Tapsee Pannu, Danny Denzongpa

    Director: Neeraj Pandey

    Borrowing its structure from Zero Dark Thirty, its climax from Argo, its intention from Nikhil Advani’s D-Day, and its occasionally jingoistic tone from your standard Bollywood B-movie, Baby, directed by Neeraj Pandey, is a khichdi of influences, and an uneven film as a result. Pandey, who made a big impression with the provocative and controversial vigilante thriller A Wednesday, applied the same sense of urgency and tension to Special Chabbis, giving us a smart con film that involved an elaborate cat-and-mouse chase between cops and thieves. With Baby, his treatment is more escapist than realistic.

    Akshay Kumar is Ajay, a highly skilled agent in an undercover counter-intelligence unit dubbed Baby that’s tasked with foiling terror attacks on the country. When Bilaal (Kay Kay Menon), a terrorist facing trial in India, escapes from prison, and it becomes clear that a major attack is being hatched by Pakistan’s Lashkar group, it’s up to Ajay and his team to save the nation. This mission sends Ajay racing between Turkey, Mumbai, New Delhi, Nepal, and the Middle East, where he more or less single-handedly flushes out rogue agents, dismantles terror plans, and vanquishes the bad guys in well-executed action scenes. He is both the brains and the muscle in the unit.

    Unfortunately however Pandey gives us a first half that is loose, and one that serves little purpose other than to act as a set-up, and to introduce us to the main players. Danny Denzongpa is Ajay’s boss Feroze Ali Khan, who paces down corridors and stares grimly into open spaces, leaving his star officer to do all the heavy lifting. There’s also a hate-spewing, India-bashing mullah (Pakistani actor Rasheed Naz) who, in one of the film’s crucial scenes, echoes an oft-repeated (and controversial) sentiment pertaining to India’s typical response to terror attacks.

    The pace picks up considerably post intermission, when Pandey gives us some terrific moments of breathless action and genuine tension. In a rare scene that allows another agent besides Ajay to flex their chops, Tapsee Pannu gets her big moment to shine in a Kathmandu hotel room. However implausible, another break-in scene at a desert resort is riveting, edge-of-the-seat stuff. The film’s last hour in fact is so crisply done you’re even willing to forgive Pandey the messiness of the first act and the routine lapses of logic in the screenplay, like Bilaal’s escape in broad daylight on Mumbai’s busy Marine Drive.

    To be fair, the film is an engaging enough thriller sprinkled with witty lines and crowd-pleasing moments that Akshay Kumar performs with a deadpan expression to great effect. An example of that is a superb scene in which he calmly responds to an apathetic offhand remark made by a minister’s PA. Akshay, in fact, is in very good form, giving us a glimpse of the solid actor he can be when he isn’t cashing his paycheck making low-brow comedies. He’s ably supported, in the film’s final act, by a buff Rana Dagubatti, and particularly by Anupam Kher as fellow agents on a daredevil mission.

    I was rankled by the film’s simplistic arguments, its all-too-convenient solutions to complex issues, and Pandey’s tokenism when it came to portraying a few ‘good Muslims’. Also, wouldn’t it have been great to get a protagonist that felt vulnerable instead of a superhero? Well, perhaps in another film.

    I’m going with three out of five for Baby. Enjoy it for the brisk action thriller that it is, and try not to think about how much better it could’ve been.

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    • Baba 10 years ago

      this is a negative review with 3 stars. masand lives upto his bigoted name

    • Baba 10 years ago

      now i am sure baby is as good as a wdnesday. if he gave it 2/5 it wud hv meant baby is as good as holiday

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