The makers of “Baaghi” kept denying it but ten minutes into the movie, you realise that this is an urbanised remake of the Telugu blockbuster “Varsham” which came over a decade back. “Varsham” itself is a modern adaptation of Ramayana where a boy falls in love with a girl who also ensnares the villain with her innocence.
The story in “Baaghi” has all the punctuation marks of “Varsham” minus the intensity and depth in characterisation. Instead of using the village setting, the director uses martial arts as a backdrop with Tiger Shroff and Sudheer Babu as the hero-villain vying for the cute girl Shraddha Kapoor. For the first 25 minutes, the story crawls with meaningful scenes and picks tempo in flashback. That’s what drains the energy in the film compared with the original which had a rustic appeal and a raw energy that engulfs you. The scenes of the rain acting as a Cupid to the lovers are well-established and the characterisation of the lead pair and the Guru who trains students in the ancient martial art of Kalaripayattu stand out. One of the best scenes in the film is when the hero questions the utility of Indian martial arts vis-a-vis Shaolin-trained martial arts and the guru gives a mouthful on how Bodhidharma created Shaolin temple. Of course, the scenes between Tiger Shroff and Sudheer Babu create some moments of magic but leave you tired just when the climax starts.
The problem is not knowing where to end the obsession with martial arts. If you take the movies which adorn the hall of fame in this genre, the best-in-breed directors usually vector the script with sharpness while building up the drama with just two or three scenes. You don’t need to depict thirty minutes of fight scenes and embellish a weak love story with four songs. Thats where the film falters: while the villain is shown as a suave and cold-blooded, the hero’s characterisation lacks substance and consistency. He is mostly flying in the air or kick-boxing the bad guys into submission with scenes straight-lifted from cheap Thai flicks. Despite a length of 139 minutes, the film wears you out in the end because the slickness is not commensurate with the emotions packed in each scene. Director Sabbin Khan relies too much on the narrative of “Varsham” and padding it with an over-dose of fights creating a big void in expectations. By relying too much on the original story, Khan forgot that sensibilities of a father trying to “sell” his daughter and a villain who loves the girl trying to “kill” her are outdated.
Music by Meet Brothers has a zany feel with the BGM the only saving grace of the film. There is a strain of Chinese melody in crucial scenes even if the martial arts are set in Kerala. Performances-wise, Shraddha Kapoor sizzles with her demure looks and drop-dead gorgeousness but she has to decide if she is content with roles like this which are not egging her to perform outside the comfort zone. Tiger Shroff trained like an acrobat for this film and the effort shows but he is a far cry from acting with competence – it is either over-acting or under-scting. A huge film and set-up has gone to make him look good but this alone cannot sustain stardom; he needs to emote basic emotions. Sudheer Babu is the surprise package in the film and he pulls out quite a show with tough looks and cunning that deceives. He actually has a better screen presence than the hero in most frames and gives up only in the climactic fight. The subdued presentation helped in keeping him under leash throughout the film.
Rating: 2.25/5
