Baaghi review: Drought of good dialogue and situational drama in Varsham saga

Rating - ** 1/2

Cast - Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor and Sudheer Babu

Director - Sabbir Khan

Genre - Action-Romance

Language - Hindi

Baaghi is the remake of the Prabhas-starrer Varsham (meaning rain), a 2004 Telugu film. Where it differs is the kalaripayattu and mix martial arts background it is set in.

While this is the remake of a 2004 film, the director doesn’t deem it necessary to update the story to 2016. With dialogues like “Aurat sirf taakat se pyaar karti hai”, we still have a hero-heroine who continue to meet by chance (no sight of a phone or Facebook anywhere). The director also relies on fickle circumstances like rain to move the story forward.

Ronnie (Shroff) is a good-natured rebel without a cause who is sent to a Kalari in Kerala, to train and hone his rough edges under a Shifu-like master. He meets Siya (Kapoor) on his way and many repetitive one-liners and a lot of barsaat later, they fall in love. Siya’s beauty also catches the fancy of Raghav, the master’s son, who stops at nothing in his quest to marry her. So far, so 90s.

The movie’s storyline follows a predictable path. A few peripheral characters, like the muddling, blind taxi driver and his young brother-in-law who are in it for the gags slow the film down, while inciting no laughs. Some major plot points are abandoned mid-way by the director, leaving the audience bemused. The first half is set in picturesque Kerala, the second in the gritty streets of Bangkok. But the visuals do not distract from the slow pace and campy storyline.

The movie is its most engaging when Shroff hacks away at the bad guys. From the first scene, where you see him balancing his entire body upside down on two fingers to every fight sequence, the young actor is all ripped muscles and smooth action. He flounders in the emotional parts, but is likeable. Kapoor, not dancing in the rain, is seen simpering her way through the film, with the exception of a couple of action sequences.

There is a drought of good dialogue and situational drama in this saga. With Shroff’s action prowess, this would’ve been an engaging out-and-out action film. The romantic track just slows down this Tiger.