BOTTOM LINE
Unnecessary Theri
RATING
2/5
CENSOR
U/A, 2h 44m
What Is the Film About?
John, a father to a school going daughter Khushi, leads a happy life in a quaint town in Kerala along with a friend Jackie. The daughter’s teacher Tara develops a liking for John, until a dramatic episode forces him to reveal fragments of his past as a cop and his bitter rivalry with a gangster Babbar Sher. Will John return to his good ol’ ways to teach him a lesson?
Performances
Varun Dhawan, who’s displayed great enthusiasm for the action genre across his promotional interviews, is truly the lifeline of Baby John. He carries the film on his shoulders with an enjoyable lightness and has a lively screen presence. Keerthy Suresh gets a safe, tailor-made role for a Bollywood debut, with a perfect package of romance, the dance song routine and drama, and she expectedly delivers the goods.
In one of her first appearances in a Hindi mainstream film, Wamiqa Gabbi makes her presence felt with a solid performance in a crucial role. The supporting cast – comprising Rajpal Yadav, Sheeba Chadha – add strength to the film with their likeable, assured portrayals. In the shoes of a uni dimensional villain Babbar Sher, Jackie Shroff doesn’t get to utilise his experience much.
Salman Khan’s special appearance is underwhelming and adds little significance to the narrative, to put mildly, but the star can’t exactly be blamed here.
Analysis
It’s never going to be easy to remake a popular film that has been vastly consumed by audiences across multiple languages in recent years and still give it a new spin. Kalees, Atlee’s former associate, who makes his directorial debut with Baby John has his task cut out – in retaining the magic of the original and also reimagining it in a new setting.
The trajectory of the story remains similar, but Kalees amplifies the scale and its masala topping with conviction. The storytelling is racier and much like Theri, it naturally capitalises on the strengths of its male lead. Given Varun Dhawan’s age and image, the saviour side to the hero is underplayed and the film instead uses his agile body language, ease with comedy better.
Those familiar with Jawaan, the screenplay (written by Atlee and Kalees) follows a similar strategy – giving what the audience wants and delivering on the broad, familiar emotional beats with new, slicker packaging. The director makes a sincere effort to preserve the funky energy and appeal of the original – alternating between humour, action and the romance segments.
Baby John, even while staying loyal to its source material, has more life to it than an average action fare. Like how Theri proved it in the past, you don’t need anything breathtakingly new to deliver a fun, masala potboiler. For those unaware, the original itself was a liberal mishmash of Vijayakanth’s Chatriyan (written by Mani Ratnam) and Rajinikanth’s Baasha. Despite its limitations, you don’t mind the paisa vasool entertainment.
The major improvement in Baby John over its original – is its use of a personal incident to tackle a pertinent social issue and how it integrates the school teacher Tara’s role into the core plot (unlike Theri, where she was just eye candy). On the contrary, the attempt to lend a larger than life aura to an ageing, rustic yet menacing villain Babbar Sher, the father of a wayward politician Ashwin, doesn’t work fully. The romance and the family drama segments, while entertaining, appear rushed and proceed rather mechanically.
The primary issue with the film is that it comes alive only in spurts – and is too conscious of replicating a success formula. After a lively first hour, the film is mired in predictability and makes little effort to surprise the viewer later. The loud, melodramatic tone, especially as it deals with the trafficking subplots, is jarring and unnecessary. Those who’ve watched Theri are unlikely to enjoy the film after a while.
Given how times have changed from Theri to Baby John, it’s slightly tiring to watch a flamboyant male cop time and again take pride in saving women, avenging the injustice meted out to them and his family, dealing with the system in broad strokes. The character is selectively vulnerable and no conflict really affects him – at least, it doesn’t show on the screen.
Additionally, was it really necessary to make a cop ride a horse to prove his masculinity? And for the second time in as many months, a film fails to capitalise on a superstar’s cameo effectively. If it all something works in the climax – the women finally get to do the honours and vanquish the bad guy.
Baby John might work in parts for those who haven’t seen Theri yet. It feels outdated and unnecessary at this point, with a few moments that work, but overall, it comes across as an unwarranted adaptation.
Music and Other Departments?
Thaman, on a high after a series of hits, dishes out a foot-tapping album packed with multiple chartbusters. His experience with larger than life, mass cinema helps the score but it tries to overpower the scenes and those familiar with his work in Telugu cinema may not get to experience anything new. Needless to say, this is a glossy adaptation, to which the cinematographer Kiran Koushik provides a great visual flourish. The screenplay could have been sharper in the latter half – especially when the story trajectory is straightforward and predictable.
Highlights?
Varun Dhawan’s lively performance, humour
The subplot on female trafficking
Thaman’s songs
Drawbacks?
Characterisation of the villain
Lacks emotional impact
Dull second half
Did I Enjoy It?
Few parts
Will You Recommend It?
Only haven’t watched the original
Baby John Movie Review by M9
