 "Sanjay Dutt and Tiger Shroff’s ‘Baaghi 4’ movie review: 3 hours, 2 heroes, 1 disaster")
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Tiger Shroff, Harnaaz Sandhu, Sonam Bajwa, Shreyas Talpade, Saurabh Sachdeva
Director: A Harsha
Language: Hindi
Never Give Up. This is something people usually tell people who have repeatedly failed to hit the Saand Ki Aankh. Tiger Shroff, the man who will very soon be rechristened as Ronnie from Baaghi, has come back with part four. There’s a running joke how his girlfriend got kidnapped in part one, his daughter in the sequel, his brother in part three. So who’s being saved in Baaghi 4? Is it the audience? Naah! The joke is stale now. Post Animal and Kill, filmmakers think creating an orgy of bone-crunching action and unflinching and uncomfortable violence is the only way to please the box office. Who’s going to tell them one also has to fill in the glaring gaps in between?
Animal felt like a stern and stubborn response to all the critics who dared to critique Kabir Singh. Kill got the language of its bloodshed right and reduced Vanga’s film into a Disney cartoon. In the case of Baaghi 4, it feels like a star vehicle where the leading men are doing exactly what’s the need of the market. Sanjay Dutt follows the crowd at least a third time. When those cop remakes were the flavour of the season, he jumped on to the frivolous but ultimately failed Policegiri. When the nation woke up to horror comedies, he gave us what he shouldn’t have- The Bhootni. And now with Baaghi 4, it’s clear he’s trying hard to hit that Saand Ki Aankh. And coming to Tiger, it’s a fair departure for him post turds like Ganapath and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. If you repeatedly fail, best to go back to what made you succeed.
The earnestness of Tiger Shroff
Tiger Shroff’s relentless commitment to action has been impressive right from his film. In the first Baaghi, his single shot action scene in a 10-storey building was filmed with the kind of urgent breathlessness that can seldom be replicated. But the leading man barely broke a sweat. In the sequel, he battled an entire army of villains with guns, granites, fists, and fury. And in the third part, he went all the way to Syria and eliminated one and all with the kind of effortless ease only his agility can pull off.
In Baaghi 4, as stated in the review and seen in the trailer, Shroff goes bonkers and badass and gets into a darker mode that has beast written all over. After a point, despite the aggression on display, you can see he’s enjoying tasting blood and breaking bones and slicing bodies. This is something he has always worked hard for, and built a solid fan following for himself. It will be interesting to see how far he takes action in his next movie. His loyal fans will always lap up.
This time, the makers have attempted to show there’s a lot more to Shroff than his bronzed muscles and black belt. So the film begins with a gaudy shot of his accident. His brain is dead so he’s hallucinating and often breaking down. He’s trying to piece his screwed and scattered life together as charmless and tuneless songs play in the background. In the name of humor, Baaghi 4 comes close to the puerile preposterousness of Housefull 5. Innuendos that could make even Milap Zaveri squirm. This is Lage Raho Munna Bhai meets The Sixth Sense meets Joker meets Madhoshi meets Shutter Island meets disaster in the making. It also has the worst product placement since Yaadein (That had Coca Cola and Paas Paas, this has Country Delight). It’s a film that’s not satisfied by the farce of Upendra Limaye so they add the slapstick of Sudesh Lehri. It’s a film that thinks Harnaaz Sandhu, who plays the most miscast doctor in recent times, crying over her phone, will make us smile.
It’s a film that shows how a fine actor like Shreyas Talpade is at times reduced to thankless roles. It’s a film that shows Shroff as a Navy officer in hideous VFX. It’s a film that thinks cutesy exchanges between the hero and the heroine will make us feel nostalgic. It’s a film that makes the first three films in the Baaghi films coherent. It’s a film that has one of the most ill-timed and poorly choreographed action scenes involving a gun, a hockey stick, and a hammy Sandhu. It’s a film that also has the most ill-timed songs that are forgotten as quickly as they begin. It’s a film that wastes the prowess of Saurabh Sachdeva, who almost does a Mukesh Rishi from Judwaa. It’s a film that has major dubbing issues, just like its predecessor. It’s a film where a romantic ballad plays in the background during an action scene, as it was Agent Vinod. It’s a film where Dutt is called Chako and I wish Neeraj Vora was with us to see this travesty unfold and relish the riveting spoofiness of Daud.
It’s a film where the same actress has two back stories in a twist that feels so twisted that it twists your brain. It’s a film that echoes Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. It’s a film that’s so pretentious in its telling that swag soon turns into silliness. It’s a film where the editing is so inconsistent that you lose interest in the action even before it begins. It’s also supposed to be a film that can potentially revive the dwindling career of its leading man, who once was the infallible celluloid star. It’s a film whose commercial prospects look better than Shroff‘s last few films. It’s also a film that’s not done with its hideousness. It’s a film that will come back. As I said, never give up!
Rating: 1.5 (out of 5 stars)
Baaghi 4 is now playing in cinemas
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