Babita Singh Reporting Review:
“Baby tu best hain” Nimisha Sajayan’s junior cop Babita often gets this consolation-prize of a compliment whenever she keeps her own needs aside to fulfill the wishes of others in Babita Singh Reporting. The character, written by Amita Vyas for a film directed by Ambiecka Pandit, is meek and unobtrusive. She was employed in the police force on compassionate grounds after her father died on duty. It’s a job she feels she didn’t earn and she moves around as if she is reminding herself that every day.
Cast: Nimisha Sajayan, Anshuman Pushkar and Barun Sobti
Directed by: Ambiecka Pandit
Written by: Amita Vyas
Streaming on: Prime Video
It would be reductive to call Babita Singh Reporting a “feminist investigative-thriller.” For sure it takes elements of the genre but it’s commendable how it tries to flip things. Babita is not an alcoholic or a depressed cop running away from her past (male-detective attributes which are often superimposed on even woman investigators). She doesn’t get suspended because she ruffled some feathers while trying to get to the bottom of a case. She, in fact, seeks the suspension letter because that’s the only way she can get a long leave. In this little detail, Babita Singh… zooms out of the individual and makes you ponder upon the restrictive systems in which they operate.
Babita hasn’t taken the leave for a personal break but to help out at her in-laws. Her sister-in-law’s godh-bharai ceremony is incoming and she hasn’t visited them in years. When she lands at the railway station of her hometown Rewa, she meets her childhood friend Bansi (Barun Sobti), the town artist. He crafts the Raavan effigies for Dussehra every year. He looks haggard and perturbed, a little more than these artistic ones usually are. He asks if she could meet him in the evening, he has something to talk about. She agrees but doesn’t go because of family obligations. They never meet again. Bansi is found dead in a park, a bloody gash on his arm. Cops say he was killed by the local drug addicts during a robbery gone wrong.
Like every good whodunnit, the film isn’t only concerned with finding who the killer is. It has Paatal Lok and Kohrra creator Sudip Sharma credited as executive producer, so that should give you some idea about the motivations of the narrative. It’s an exploration, a coming-of-age story of its titular character. The making of Babita from Baby. Director Ambiecka Pandit, who marks her feature debut with the film, gives a very Sudip Sharmaesque story a necessary female gaze. I admired how she portrayed the relationship between Babita and her husband Sharad, played with a subtle brilliance by Anshuman Pushkar. It’s not your run-of-the-mill controlling husband, submissive wife dynamic. Sharad loves Babita but the jury’s out on whether he has respect for her or not. He is the good guy who needs a pat on the back for being the good guy. After a fight, he starts sobbing, compelling Babita to comfort him. A classic red flag.
Seeing Nimisha slog off in the kitchen, I couldn’t help but be reminded of The Great Indian Kitchen (2021). The actor wears the same, soaking insults like a sponge, simmering like a pressure cooker expression on her face. She emotes exemplarily through her piercing gaze, her pauses, her down and out demeanour. The cinematography by Sunil Borkar (Jugnuma, 2024) reflects the sterile, washed away mood of the people inhabiting this tier-2 town where women’s demolished desires and burnt dreams is the foundation.