Rating: 1.5/5
A vague mash-up of Telugu movie VARSHAM and the Indonesian path-breaking action thriller THE RAID: REDEMPTION; BAAGHI solely rests upon the all muscular, flexible and flashy shoulders of Tiger Shroff. Though limited in his talents on/for the screen, Tiger is the only best thing happened to the film, apart from some of the magical visuals from southern India captured by ace cinematographer Binod Pradhan.
Change is constant but not for Indian Railways. In 1955, Sunil Dutt starrer RAILWAY PLATFORM became an eyewitness to passengers of every kind being stranded at a deserted railway station for 24 hours when their train gets delayed due to some natural calamity. Decades later, it strikes again. This time, in Sabbir Khan’s BAAGHI! The train stops at a local station and declines to move ahead before the girl meets the boy, both show off their moves in a rain-dance, the villain gets introduced and even the lovebirds get separated then and there to wrap up the chapter. All I can say is that things if not moving really hurt; be it the Indian railways or an emotionless story. BAAGHI is a romantic action entertainer that irritates you more with regular romance, repetitive action, and regrettable comedy track.
BAAGHI has its own share of futility in romance and action both. Ronny [Tiger Shroff] falls in love with Siya [Shraddha Kapoor] instantly after watching her in a one-sided conversation with clouds. She loves rain, you know. And apparently whenever they meet, it starts raining. Who would not fall for such a phenomenal guy at such times when people in the nation are dying while waiting for the rain? God must be really romantic, and carelessly crazy. Meanwhile, the villain also seems to have an eye for the girl loving rain. Raghav [Sudheer Babu] does everything in the villain’s textbook to get the girl, from killing his own father to kidnapping the girl and making various attempts to eliminate the boy.
Sabbir Khan makes an interesting and quite effective addition to the film in form of Kalaripayattu– a traditional martial art from Kerala. Till the time the film revolves around the institution Ronny has been placed in to learn the art, it never actually sees a dull moment but soon, Sabbir runs out of ideas and starts focusing on the tiring traditional concept of romance with all the dialogue baazi and action. You can imagine the maker’s vision behind making this film when the opening credit roll reads ‘Chartered Accountant’ & ‘Financial Advisor’ slides way before the creative minds could get a mention.
Tiger gives it all when it comes to using his muscular strength, balance and willpower much-needed for some brilliantly choreographed action sequences but his trouble in moving facial muscles takes out all the empathy the boy earns for himself. Shraddha Kapoor too gets a few ass-kicking action scenes on her part to impress. Sudheer Babu despite his effortless martial art moves, looks more like a slightly better version of Sachiin Joshi [Who?? Exactly]. Sunil Grover and Sanjai Mishra are a complete waste of talents. Sunil though gives you some quick chills as a scheming father to Shraddha’s character. Kalaripayattu GuruGrandmaster Shifu Shaurya Bhardwaj makes a fiery appearance on screen.
To sum up, BAAGHI comes out as a stale reproduction of 80’s/90’s idea of romance. A leech and lewd father ready to exploit his own daughter for financial profits, a powerful villain who stops at nothing and an obviously emotional hero who manages to rise up from the dust and hits back when the villain pushes him hard emotionally by disclosing the last hidden secret, “I killed him, you fool”! Good luck to you, if it suits your idea of entertainment!
Written By- Gaurav Rai
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