Baby (23 Jan 2015)

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Madhurima Tuli, Rashid Naz, Sushant Singh, Jameel Khan, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Esha Gupta

Director: Neeraj Pandey   Writer: Neeraj Pandey   Choreographer: Vishnu Deva

Music: Meet Bros Anjjan, M.M. Keeravani   Background Music: Sanjoy Chowdhury 

Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee   Production Designer: Sandeep Ravade

Editor: Shree Narayan Singh   Casting: Vicky Sidana

Running Time: 160 minutes

For both its director and lead actor, ‘Baby’ is the third super-sixer in their respective hat-trick of movies. Back to back direction of ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Special 26’ and ‘Baby’, clearly makes the young, dynamic and three films old director, Neeraj Pandey, a pro in terrorist based or equivalent thrillers. Similarly, power packed performance by Akshay Kumar in ‘Special 26’, ‘Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty’ and ‘Baby’ transition him successfully from a ‘romancing, dancing, fighting Punjabi puttar’ to a no-non sense, well trained and ever vigilant intelligence officer. Bye bye leading ladies. This macho man is now past your ‘nakhras and jhatkas’!

Implementing the saying, ‘Precaution is better than cure’, post 26/11 (terror attacks in Mumbai), a Covert Counter Intelligence Unit is crafted, so as to nip the terror attacks in their budding stage, as well as to prevent their execution at any cost. Before making anything permanent or glorified, a five year trial period is granted to this Unit, and hence its termed ‘Baby’. The movie ‘Baby’ showcases the final and fifth year of the Unit ‘Baby’, when only five of its officers are still alive! The Unit is headed by Feroze Ali Khan (Danny Denzongpa) and chiefly enacted by agile and fearless counter espionage agent, Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar), along with his team mates, which include – hulk-like Jai Singh Rathore (Rana Daggubati), comical and brainy computer whiz, Om Prakash Shukla (Anupam Kher), and docile looking but fearsome in fighting, Priya Suryavanshi (Taapsee Pannu).

The movie goes on to show, how these special agents travel far and wide (read Istanbul, Delhi, Mumbai, Kathmandu and Abu Dhabi), following their clues, collecting their targets, and last but not the least, preventing the terror attacks, ranging from bomb explosion in a mall, to that in multiple cities. All throughout, these agents are on their own, without any kind of diplomatic immunity or direct government aid. Their family life is highly unpredictable and their lives are in constant danger of termination as well as gruesome torture. In case of being assassinated, the government will never recognize them. If required, they have to be prepared to leave in lurch, or even kill their own teammate! In spite of knowing all these facts, these unsung heroes readily do, what they need to do, to protect their country and countrymen.

The best thing about the movie is its non-stop pulsating rhythm. From the onset, till the end, it keeps you glued to the screen. Throughout, you are curious to know what happens next. And this is no mean feat to achieve. Neeraj Pandey deserves full points for achieving this. The film does not cater to a new subject, but the screenplay and adaptation is good. Background music, cinematography, production design, editing and casting are apt. Thankfully, the movie has only two soundtracks, each of which appear twice. They are – ‘Beparwah’, which establishes the mood of the movie, and ‘Main tujhse pyar nahin karti’, which is good to hear and see, but could have been avoided. First half of the movie creates the platform, and the second half depicts the execution of the mega counter espionage act. At the end of the movie, rolling credits are shown along with Esha Gupta’s item number.

However, the movie is mostly on the lines of ‘the diary of a counter espionage agent’, meaning to say, that it is made from the perception of an intelligence officer, rather than the perception of a common man. So, it does not cater to the actions-reactions of country men in the event of occurrence or seize of a terror attack. Thus, unless you survive on heavy dosage of international fiction thrillers via books/serials/movies, you will most probably enjoy the vintage wine, simply for its distinct taste and without any realization of its vintage quality!

Akshay Kumar lives and breathes his role, even in the scanty family based scenes. He sleep walks his role sans any glam-sham and kind of carries alone the first half of the movie. Rana Daggubati has a powerful muscular presence. Anupam Kher brings the much needed comic relief. But it is Taapsee Pannu, that totally takes you by surprise in her small but very effective appearance. She beautifully carries off a long hand-to-hand combat scene with the terrorist Waseem Khan (Sushant Singh). Her natural and lethal performance, very much remind you of Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) from the American soap ‘The Americans’. In fact, in this film, Taapsee even resembles a lot like Keri. One cannot say if it is mere coincidence or the basic fact behind her getting this role. Madhurima Tuli as Akshay’s wife shows a lot of resilience in her performance. Kay Kay Menon and Jameel Khan are expectantly good as Bilal Khan, the chief executioner of terror attacks, and Taufeeq, the ISI agent who stays hidden amongst Indian Muslims, respectively. Pakistani actors Rashid Khan as Maulana Mohammed Rehman, the terrorist leader, and Mikaal Zulfiqar as Ashfaq, the Unit’s Abu Dhabi based asset, have also performed well. The former has good control over dialect and the latter can give many a models a run for their money. The actor who plays the role of Abu Dhabi based intelligence officer is pretty charismatic in his persona.

Congratulations to Neeraj Pandey for forming a successful team, which is successfully carving out meaningful and well researched hits.