Baby John

Baby John Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh, Jackie Shroff, Wamiqa Gabbi, Rajpal Yadav, Zara Zyanna

Director: Kalees

What’s Good: Varun Dhawan’s honest efforts, background scores, some action sequences, Salman Khan’s cameo

What’s Bad: Shoddy and poor execution of the screenplay and editing, occasional plot holes, a lack of connection with the emotions, cringe-worthy dialogue, not all performances landing, and some Illogical action sequences.

Loo Break: You can take one in the middle of those unnecessary soundtracks that randomly appear in the middle of the film despite having nothing to do with the plot.

Watch or Not?: Varun Dhawan and Salman Khan’s fans might have a fun ride, but otherwise this is overall a huge letdown and can be enjoyed on OTT too.

Language: Hindi

Available On: Theatrical Release

Runtime: 159 minutes

User Rating:

The Varun Dhawan starrer action flick Baby John marks the Hindi adaptation of the Atlee directorial 2016 film Theri, which starred Thalapathy Vijay in the lead role. This was both an advantage and a disadvantage for the film. While a good amount of buzz was generated to witness the combo of Varun and Atlee coming together, on the other hand, expectations were rife about whether the movie would be able to stand out with its own essence and entertainment value. However, while VD makes a brutally honest effort, the film succumbs to a shoddy execution and plot holes that stick out like a sore thumb.

John D’silva (Varun Dhawan) lives a contended life with his daughter Khushi (Zara Zyanna) and owns a small bakery. Things go smoothly until John’s past comes knocking at the door. We soon unravel that John was actually DCP Satya Verma, who is running away from his past after a life-altering tragedy. However, when an old foe Babbar Sher (Jackie Shroff) returns, Satya has to go to great lengths to protect his daughter and settle some old scores.

Baby John Movie Review: Script Analysis

The major drawback of Baby John is the writing and a lackluster screenplay. There are significant plotholes right from the inception. How easy is it for Satya to randomly take up a new identity and open a bakery without raising suspicion? How does Satya go into an almost ghostly vigilante mode while exacting revenge on his wrongdoers without anyone noticing him in the daytime? How easy is it for Wamiqa Gabi’s character to hide her real motives under the garb of a school teacher?

Everyone in this universe happens to execute the most deadliest and the most life-threatening plan like a cakewalk. The screenplay also has an inconsistency wherein one plotline or soundtrack is randomly placed after a scene. The dialogues do not have that electrifying effect and instead appear preachy or downright awkward. For instance, in the middle of a fight, Varun Dhawan says, ‘Mere Jaise Toh Kahi Aye Hai But Main Pehle Aya Hun’ or tells his wife (Keerthy Suresh), ‘Tum Meri Dusri Ma Ho’ when she asks him about her impression as a wife. These dialogues just come across as awkward and cringe. Even the emotional dialogues fail to create a solid impact. Even the attempt to showcase DCP Satya Verma as a righteous cop and later as an undercover vigilante does not resonate as strongly as it should’ve been.

The writing does not flesh out the chemistry between Varun Dhawan and Keerthy Suresh’s character nor do we get a good writing for Jackie Shroff’s Babbar Sher. Just when you think of connecting with one aspect of the storyline of the character, the scene swiftly jumps to another plot. Except for the action sequences and some of the massy segments, there’s no striking a chord with any character development or a plotline.

Baby John Movie Review: Star Performance

Varun Dhawan’s efforts are visible in Baby John. The actor has pushed himself beyond and above for the role and convincingly shifts between the happy-go-lucky John to the badass Satya. The actor especially shines in the action sequences and absolutely has the best chemistry with child actor Zara Zyanna. However, we can see some struggle in the emotionally high-octane scenes. Otherwise, it can be safely said that he is the soul of this one, and this will stand out as one of his most memorable performances.

Keerthy Suresh and Wamiqa Gabbi do full justice to their characters, but there would’ve been a better scope for their performances with better etched-out writing. Somehow, Keerthy and Varun Dhawan’s chemistry doesn’t strike a chord with you, both in the courtship and the emotional scenes. Jackie Shroff is menacing regarding the physicalities, but his performance comes across as very caricaturish. Sheeba Chadha is endearing to behold. Rajpal Yadav is a treat to watch as he, for the first time, tries his hand at some action. Watch out for the actor giving out one of the best dialogues in the film, hands down when one of the baddies writes him off as a ‘comedy.’ A massive shoutout to Zara Zyanna for her adorable performance as Varun Dhawan’s onscreen daughter, Khushi.