He might not make it that apparent but Neeraj Pandey is very much like Rajkumar Hirani, making the same format, film after film. If Hirani is on an internal cleansing mission through his social comedies, Pandey’s thrillers are plotted around missions. Everything from stealing jewellery from different parts of the country to stealing terrorists from faraway countries. That’s Baby, an assassination plot which turns into a very Argo-esque runaway project. And yes, there’s quite a bit of cleansing, of the patriotic kind.
The film runs the all-is-fictional disclaimer but talks about real events that have shaken India in the last decade or so. And it talks about one super-secret super-intelligent anti-terrorist unit named Baby which has foiled many Pakistani terrorist attacks in India. Danny Denzongpa’s Feroz Ali Khan leads the team which has a Tarzan, Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar), a Hulk, Jai Singh Rathore (Rana Daggubati) and a wig-adjusting senior hacker Shuklaji (Anupam Kher).
Baby’s project is to take out dreaded terrorist Bilal Khan (Kay Kay Menon), who escapes the Mumbai Police from an Italian Job-like hanging truck situation. Now after killing and arresting quite a few informants, which takes us everywhere from Turkey to Nepal, Team Baby has to go to Saudi Arabia and kill Bilal. While Chief Feroz will be on the phone, Ajay, Jai and Shuklaji will have to travel undercover and carry out the operation.
Everything goes according to plan except the fact that Bilal is not alone in his hotel room. With him is Maulana Mohammad (played by Pakistani actor Rasheed Naz, seen in Khuda Kay Liye), the India-bashing Mullah modelled on the real-life Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who has links to the Mujahideen Lashkar-e-Taiba jihad group. Now the last hour is about how the Baby trio manage to bring Maulana back to India. Alive.
From A Wednesday! to Special 26 to Baby, Neeraj Pandey’s craft has become better and better and it is the craft which is at the forefront in Baby, a pulsating thriller that manages to keep you hooked for close to three hours, a mission impossible these days. Whether it’s the stunts or the shots or the cuts or the background score, Pandey’s able to create an urgency that overrides the misplaced politics or the plot loopholes.
It’s only the romantic track again which lets Pandey down. Just like in Special 26, Akshay’s domestic situation brings everything to a crashing halt. This time it’s the Airtel girl Madhurima Tuli who plays his wife and has lines like “Bas marna mat”. To make up for it, Pandey does have a great setpiece where the special female agent (Taapsee Pannu) completely pulverises the bad guy before Ajay can reach the spot to save her.
After his usual round of inane films like Boss, Holiday, Entertainment, The Shaukeens and what not, Akshay is in a much more acceptable no-nonsense avatar here in Baby. Besides all the jumping around and daredevil stunts, he lends his character true grit through quiet stares and a body language which means business. He too can pluck a tubewell out of the ground but doesn’t need to scream his lungs out to prove his love for his country.
Pandey’s found a great mix in his screenplays — of relentless thrills, understated humour and clap-trap lines. As is evident from his first film, he knows the pulse of the aam aadmi, and not just on a Wednesday. He’s even got a top-drawer star to lead his missions. All he needs to do now is to take out the romantic track from his films and maybe spend a little more time on the title. Got that, Baby?
Pratim D. Gupta
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A BREEZY WATCH WITH A GREY HEROINE, BUT...
Dolly is a runaway bride. But before that, Dolly is the robber bride, the “looteri dulhan” who picks her target carefully, makes him go weak in the knees, traps him into marriage and even as the roses on the bridal bed remain fresh, she’s made off with the cash and jewellery in his cupboard, the furniture in his home and sometimes, even the clothes on his back. Most often, she celebrates her loot downing a glass of champagne and planning her next catch, even as her ditched grooms do everything from cursing her to crying for her.
Dolly (Sonam Kapoor) is the anti-thesis of the typical Bollywood heroine — she’s sly, she’s smart, she’s uninhibited, she’s unapologetic. The serial con bride goes about her job without allowing an iota of emotion to mess with her business plan, picking sitting ducks and taking them for a ride and then moving in for the kill, before taking flight after drugging them and their families. But because Dolly’s a Bolly heroine she keeps her chastity intact, not allowing any of the men to get close to her.
One such victim is Sonu Sherawat (Rajkummar Rao), a Haryanvi Jat who, smitten by Dolly, threatens to down a bottle of pesticide if his rough-talking dad (Rajesh Sharma) doesn’t agree to the match. The father relents, paving the way for Dolly’s family, led by her “dad” (Manoj Joshi) and “brother” (Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub) to step in. Thrown into the charade are a fake mother, fake grandmother, fake priest and fake photographer and the con is on for Team Dolly. The next bakra is Manjot Chaddha (Varun Sharma), a mama’s boy, who throws a fit when his mom (Archana Puran Singh) rejects Dolly for being “too tall”. He manages to marry Dolly, but the next morning finds himself poorer, for Dolly has made off with even his underwear.
At just 100 minutes, Dolly Ki Doli is a breezy watch. The first half, especially, cruises along as Dolly effortlessly shifts between walking down the aisle to walking around the fire, giving us ample laughs along the way. Dolly’s first meeting with the families of her suitors, the modus operandi of the con and its hilarious repercussions keep you chuckling in your seat. Debutant director Abhishek Dogra keeps the humour earthy and the lines fun, if a little raw in a few places, with a lot of “legi” and “degi” thrown in.
But the fun and games grind to a halt in the second hour when the case of the looteri dulhan is handed over to Robin Singh (Pulkit Samrat) whose association with Dolly runs far deeper than just cop and criminal. Complicating things further are the two ditched grooms, both of whom still nurse a soft spot for their ladylove, and the fake brother who carries a torch for Dolly. The good work of the first half is undone completely with a backstory to explain the birth of Dolly the con and a rushed and abrupt ending. What salvages the situation a wee bit? Dolly’s refusal to toe the line, choosing to live life on her own terms.
A wafer-thin plot and one loophole too many — how does Dolly manage to go through so many marriages without a single photo of hers being clicked is a mystery — is overshadowed, somewhat, by some credible performances. The diction may still be a problem and every expression may not sit easy on that pretty face, but Sonam Kapoor makes Dolly her own, investing her with the right amount of soul and spunk. Rajkummar Rao shows yet again why he’s one of Bolly’s most exciting talents, giving us thick-headed son, emotional lover and even item boy, managing to match Malaika Arora Khan jhatka for jhatka in Fashion khatam mujh pe. Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub — Dhanush’s pal in Raanjhana — makes the most of his half-baked role while Varun Sharma delivers the funniest lines with his trademark straight face. However, his Fukrey co-star Pulkit Samrat is the weakest link, his attempt to do a Chulbul Pandey falling flat miserably. And yes, do watch out for that special cameo somewhere in the middle. No, it isn’t as predictable as Salman Khan making an appearance in an Arbaaz Khan production.
Despite the disappointment of Half 2, Dolly Ki Doli comes in like a breath of fresh air in an industry that (still) doesn’t like its women grey. For that reason alone, the film is a victory for woman power in Bolly. Now if only they had done away with that item number.
Priyanka Roy
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