Baby John

Don't waste your time or money on this utterly awful Bollywood remake! "Baby John" is nothing but a scene-for-scene copy of a South Indian movie "Theri Movie", with absolutely no originality. It's like the makers thought they could get away with just copying every single detail without any effort to bring something fresh to the table. Bollywood should be ashamed of itself for this lazy attempt at filmmaking.

The car scene? A direct rip-off of the original, with the exact same open jeep and police stick placed on top. It's as if the filmmakers couldn't even be bothered to change a single detail. Then there's the little girl who calls the hero "Baby." Guess what? Same thing from the original movie. They didn't even try to give this character a unique twist.

And don't even get me started on the bus scene where the bus falls off a bridge into the water-this too is taken directly from the original movie. The whole "school scene" where a boy beats up a girl and she waits for "Baby" to save her is just recycled from the original, with no effort to make it different or interesting. The dialogues? Completely borrowed. The moment where the girl says to the hero, "I call you Baby, but that doesn't mean you are actually a baby," is straight from the original with no attempt to add anything new. In short, "Baby John" is a shameful copycat film that doesn't even attempt to make itself stand out. It's lazy, uninspired, and a huge disappointment. If you want to watch the original movie, go ahead and do it, but don't waste your time with this mindless, soulless remake.

The Hindi remake of Theri struggles to capture the essence of the original, despite a few strong performances. Varun Dhawan, though solid in the latter parts of the film, overacts in the early scenes, particularly with forced dialogue like "Mere jaise bahut aaye honge, but main pehli baar aaya hoon." His emotional depth is average, but a standout moment comes during an intense scene involving Nanaji's son.

Keerthy Suresh, in a role made iconic by Samantha, could have delivered more. Though she holds her own, her performance lacks the emotional intensity needed. The supporting cast shines, with Sheeba Chaddha adding charm to her role, and Jackie Shroff stealing the show as the antagonist. Wamiqa Gabbi, despite a promising character as an undercover agent, feels underused.

The film's pacing suffers due to an overabundance of songs, which slow down the narrative, though the background music does add intensity. The direction is competent but lacks the emotional depth that could have elevated the film. While the plot follows the original, the inclusion of Wamiqa's subplot doesn't feel fully integrated.

Overall, the remake is an average watch-solid performances from some, but it fails to leave a lasting impact.

Pros & Cons:

• Varun Dhawan gave his 100% effort to shine as a Mass Entertainer, BUT the Director & Script let him down big time by making him a Superman/1 Man Army in one moment than a complete coward & punching bag for Babbar Sher's thugs the next moment.

• Jackie Shroff is an acting legend. He was terrifying in the movie. But because of his old age he was reduced to playing a Daadu role and couldn't fight with the Hero Satya head on and had his goons do all the work for him, which made the Hero vs Villain angle very boring & blend instead of exciting.

• Rajpal Yadav was spectacular in his sidekick role. Both Jackie Shroff and Rajpal Yadav did far far better acting than the main character, Varun, who was doing his typical overacting here and there.

• Every song in this movie was extremely boring and stretched the film out making it 30 minutes longer than it should've been. This was supposed to be a very serious movie about very serious crime topics like human trafficking, selling women in black markets and forcing them into prostitution etc. So why so many unnecessary songs were added that just kept on coming out of nowhere without any context.

• All in all this movie is not bad, but it is also not great either. It's just a so-so movie good for a one time watch with your family on OTT platform.

Baby John is the kind of film that makes you question why certain stories still make it to the big screen. It's a loud, brain-numbing mess that recycles the same old masala formula, sprinkled generously with over-the-top slow-motion action sequences that feel more like filler than flair. Not a single punch, be it in dialogue or combat, lands with any real impact.

Keerthy Suresh, despite her undeniable talent, is reduced to a forgettable prop, adding zero charm or depth to the narrative. On the flip side, Wamiqa Gabbi emerges as the film's only silver lining, effortlessly holding her ground and adding a dash of charisma in an otherwise dull affair. The child actor is another unexpected gem, delivering a surprisingly heartfelt performance that momentarily lifts the film out of its monotony. And then there's Jaggu Da, who slips into his role with his usual effortless brilliance.

But if there's one thing that truly tests your patience, it's the background score, a relentless, ear-piercing racket that makes you wonder how anyone survived this in a cinema hall. And just when you think the nightmare is over, in walks Salman Khan during the end credits, hammering the final nail into the coffin of what's now possibly the most cringeworthy cinematic universe ever attempted.

Baby John isn't just avoidable, it's a straight-up endurance test. Watch it only if you enjoy cinematic torture.

The same old storyline once again repackaged with different actors, different director, different camera angles. While watching this film reminded me of that song from one of SRK's old film Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, in that there is a line that says 'thodi ham mein sachchai hai thodi hai baimaani, kabhi naye packet mein bechein tumko chiz puraani".

I watched this film only because I have slight bias for Varun Dhawan. I find him slightly likeable amongst all the current lot of mediocre mainstream actors. But even he brings nothing new to the film. Full of clichés such as hero helping blind beggars, heroine singing aartis on baby shower. Villain derailing heroes life, then hero coming back to take revenge.

I can guarantee you that you will keep feeling that you have watched this film before because hundreds of films have been made with the exact storyline and exact formula.

I gave three stars for Keerthi Suresh and Wamiqa for looking damn good, the little girl who was the only savior because of her cuteness and Jaggu Dada for being a good actor even till now.