1 week Ago By Sanyukta Thakare
Baby John led by Varun Dhawan is an adaptation of Vijay Thalapathy’s Theri, but adaptation to the 20th century is only restricted to the action and background score. The film unfortunately as most South films do focus on the virtue of women being stolen. Though a serious topic, the film doesn’t take it too seriously as it is merely used to elevate the hero’s role.
Vijay's charm is missed amid, VD's commercial cocky performance in the old timeline. While trying to turn him into Arjun Reddy and Ranbir Kapoor from Animal, they missed out on the cool and clam composure the character was supoosed to have as a cop. A post shared by Jio Studios (@officialjiostudios) The film begins with Khushi asking her father aka Baby aka John to drop her to school at the right time, but he fails to do it day after day.
During a meeting with Khushi’s teacher, they interact with a bunch of goons, and it puts John on the radar of the police and the gangster he is hiding from. It ends up with John’s identity being exposed leading to dire consequences. From having to deal with cops, corrupt cops, goons, an entire gang to saving his family as well as others around him, John has to take a lot on, but the film focuses on turning him into a hero in the eyes of the public in the film and the audience.
On the other hand, the screenplay follows the original film as much as possible, from the shots to some dialogue have hardly been changed despite the major change to Wamiqa’s character. The makers could have taken the chance to elevate the story with Varun Dhawan as the lead but, the trailer seems to have all the scenes already. The first half of the film has haphazard editing with unruly cuts and audio syncing issues.
The difference in performance and tone from happy and serious for both characters seems intentional but it breaks audiences’s connection with VD’s character. SEE ALSO: Did We Miss Out On Wicked? Here's Why Everyone Is Raving About It A post shared by VarunDhawan (@varundvn) On the other hand, the second half attempts to do better than the original. The dialogues should have made more changes like Jackie Shroff and Wamiqa’s character had.
The action and background music take the most weight of the film but the direction doesn’t do it justice. Several scenes in the film calling Varun's John aka Satya a god and a warrior feel more comic than character introduction. It may have worked in south films, but the same fan following does not exist in other states and it feels like a disservice to the actor and the character.
The film does have some great changes including making Jackie Shroff more menacing while giving the second female lead Wamiqa a stronger character turning her into a cop. However, the best thing about the film is Rajpal Yadav’s character going through a major change turning a new leaf for the actor too. Overall, Baby John is a fun watch only for fans of action without substance.
Varun, Wamiqa and others deserved a better screenplay and chance to show off their skills. Rajpal Yadav and Jackie Shroff are lucky enough to be able to do that, and its unmissable. SEE ALSO: Best Of 2024: Laapataa Ladies, Wicked, Maharaja And More Movies On Our Top 10 Of The Year List A post shared by VarunDhawan (@varundvn) Cover artwork by Patrick Gawande/Mashable India.
