Neeraj Pandey in little time has demanded an exclusive space for himself as a storyteller. He is more of a Hollywood filmmaker in terms of sensibility. His films smell of immense nationalistic significance in a true-to-life setting, without exactly being so. No long drawn shots. No flowery dialogue. Intelligence over emotion, wit over gut. A whole lot of moustached men dominating the scene and women who silently lend support. Baby too doesn't take a drastic U turn, (well almost) being an extremely loyal and a favorable third extension to his brand that took an extremely interesting turn with Special 26.
Baby as a film is a memorable assemblage of Pandey's key strengths, logic, action and comedy. He controls his exploits and uses them sparingly. The beautiful low-key humour is artfully preserved to enhance the intensity. The punch lines bring about the smiles, but it's the silent moments that are a scream.
The characters in Baby are assigned like that of a top-notch corporate setup. No back stories. An intelligence team has a task-man in the form of an extremely well-cast Akshay Kumar who's backed by Anupam Kher and Rana, happening to be stereotypes of the smart and the stunt man respectively. They talk only what's needed. Their personal lives make no news. Tolerate a half-baked thread of Akshay Kumar's, which is only made memorable with the line 'Marke Mat Aana' as a dangerous dig at his profession. Work is only what they are good at and they mean business. The surprise is not the men, but a ravishing Taapsee, given the impact she brings in spite of a screen time that could have reduced her to a colourful special appearance.
Most of the sketches except for Akshay Kumar in fact have a lesser screen time here. But, the honours are really even. There could have been hopes to see more of capable actors like Anupam Kher, Kay Kay Menon contributing to the plot. However, the director doesn't give in to the temptation. They are just devices and nothing more.
Going back to the lady, who just had to please estrogen-starved souls in Chashme Baddoor, Neeraj Pandey extracts an unparalleled body language and a fitting screen-presence from her. The crowd in response too didn't think twice to erupt when she turns on her action avatar. Why? Precisely for a reason that they were surprised. Just a little re-imagination and there you go, no complaints! The smaller cares like these are the icings in a better film more than a story.
The film in addition has a crisp feel for the medium. An assistant to the PM here makes a reckless statement about the Intelligence Bureau. Akshay Kumar is angry. He closes the door, plants him a tight slap and again opens it. The man is shocked. The world moves on normally again. A blink and the message is delivered. (Meaning Shut Up and get back to business)
Baby is aesthetically structured with precision. There are barely any lags. Akshay Kumar is wise enough to keep his starry ideas under check. There's not a single Punjabi song reference. There's no Yo Yo Honey Singh mash-up to boost the party-goers. You can complain that most of Pandey's are touched like individual episodes and lack emotion. But when so many things go right in a strong film, does anything matter more? Bring it on Baby!
Three and a half stars Review by Srivathsan N. First published in Cinegoer.netOther Related Posts
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