Baby John Movie Review: Varun Dhawan puts on the southern swag in a film desperate for mass appeal

The Kalees directorial can be best described as Theri on steroids
Baby John Movie Review: Varun Dhawan puts on the southern swag in a film desperate for mass appeal
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Baby John(2 / 5)

Be careful what you wish for. Two months ago, during the promotions for his series debut Citadel: Honey Bunny, Varun Dhawan vented about the time Aditya Chopra refused to cast him in an action film. “He told me, ‘You're not at that place where I can give you such a big budget,’” said the actor, recollecting a meeting with the YRF honcho. At a reported budget of over ₹150 crore, Baby John, an almost scene-by-scene remake of Atlee Kumar’s sophomore film Theri (2016), desperately tries to give Varun a mass makeover. The Southern style is strong with this one as the actor puts on his shades with full Rajini theatrics, stylishly flips gum into his mouth, and sits assuredly on the bonnet of a police jeep—a simple act of crossing his legs portrayed with such cinematic dexterity. He lights up a cigarette only to ultimately burn down the bad guy. But Varun’s off-screen personality doesn’t amply provide the additional booster needed for this theatrical actioner. When he delivers Sumit Arora’s dialogue, “Mere jaise bohot aaye honge, but main pehli baar aaya hoon” (Many would have come before me, but I have come for the first time), it is done with the hope of eliciting a hooty response, similar to Shah Rukh Khan’s fan-favourite line, “Bete ko haath lagane se pehle” (Before touching the son) from Jawan (2023). But Varun’s public appeal isn’t propulsive enough to make the dialogue rouse the viewer. It falls flat and feels uneven, even forced. As a whole, Baby John too leaves you with a similar feeling—disjointed, underwhelmed.

Directed by: Kalees

Starring: Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, Jackie Shroff, Rajpal Yadav and Sheeba Chaddha

Varun is John D’Silva, a pacifist baker and a doting single father who lives with his young daughter, Khushi, in a Kerala town. They affectionately call each other "baby." The relationship lacks chemistry and seems to exist only to monetize the fact that Varun too recently became a father. His character, John, keeps away from violent confrontations and hides his face behind a newspaper when he nears a police station. A misunderstanding leads a bunch of goons to knock on his door one rainy night. He tries to reason, even renders a folded-hands apology, but they still go after his daughter. Big mistake. John ties up his mundu as the dark sky flashes with thunder. Time to get cracking—some bones.

A few years back, this paavam baker was Satya Verma, a supercop who claims to be Gandhian but is more likely to turn the cheek of the other guy and cane it red as well. After a girl is raped and immolated by local strongman Nanaji’s (Jackie Shroff) son, Satya renders vigilante justice on the latter. It doesn’t end well for the cop and his family as Nanaji exercises his revenge. Satya goes on the run and takes on an alias to protect his daughter from his turbulent past.

Baby John feels like a feverishly hurried version of Theri. It doesn’t let the characters marinate and is too eager to get to the conflict. The build-up is often half-baked, and the action, when it comes, is underwhelming. I expected Varun to dial up his goofy charm with this one, but there seems to be an unseen weight of becoming an action star on his shoulders. He jettisons his personality and seems to be aping his South Indian counterparts. Jackie Shroff, as the nemesis Nanaji, with his frail frame and thinning dreadlocks, looks menacing but never feels like a formidable antagonist. There is a feeble, even absurdist, attempt to give Wamiqa Gabbi’s character Tara (Khushi’s teacher and John’s potential flame in the film) more agency than her counterpart in Theri (played by Amy Jackson). It turns out to be odd and illogical. Keerthy Suresh gets the stock love-interest role as Satya’s wife, whose profession as a doctor is never talked about once she starts enjoying marital bliss.

The Kalees directorial takes the route of vigilante violence to solve systemic problems like rape. Satya proclaims to be a policeman who believes in giving "good vibes only" and then goes on to mutilate a sexual offender’s private parts. In the garb of giving voice to the voiceless, the film champions mob justice. The narrative is stretched and predictable, and there are very few exhilarating moments. One of them is Rajpal Yadav’s comic-relief character taking up arms. “Comedy is serious business,” he says before gunning down a henchman. The audience in the theatre I went to livened up with whistles and laughter. In a film with a Salman Khan cameo, it says something when a sidekick taking charge evokes the most jubilation.

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