The posters and trailer of 'Baaghi' gave a firm idea of what to expect from the movie - limitless action and some breath-taking visuals in the backdrop of a stereotypical bollywood romance.Indeed,it is.
A mock-tail blended with 2004 Tollywood release,the Prabhas starrer 'Varsham' (Earlier remade in Tamil as Mazhai starring Jayam Ravi in the lead) and reknowed Indonesian martial arts flick The Raid::Redemption(2004),garnished with pinches of Tezaab(1988),36th Chamber Of Shaolin (1978) and The Karate Kid (2010) this Sabbir Khan movie is a mixed bag of excitement and dread as it suffers hardly due to its clichéd storyline that's based on the age old template of virtuous hero up against the evil villain.
The reason for a so-so experience is evident - lazy handling of the screenplay and relying entirely upon Tiger Shroff and his ability to pull off action sequences with ease and perfection.The screenplay by Sanjeev Dutta turns a roadblock in a smooth cinematic experience and had some more care been taken in handling the screenplay better by compromising unwanted comedy tracks and vomiting hackneyed romantic sequences,the movie could have been an instant cult action classic from bollywood,given the perfection in handling never-before seen breath-taking action sequences.
The action choreography is top-notch and undoubtedly the best from Indian cinema in quiet a long time and even compatible with films from the west.The park-our sequence,the climax fight etc were particularly brilliant and deserves special mention.
Tiger Shroff is a revelation as far as bollywood action films are concerned and it must be admitted that he along with likes of Vidyut Jamwal has raised the standards of action flicks from India that was struggling hard to find a bankable action star after Akshay Kumar who did some impressive works in his initial days in bollywood.
Cinematographer Binod Pradhan can be proud of the fact that he could capture the beauty of God's own country,Kerala brilliantly may it be the visual splendor of the snake boat race,the enchanting backwaters or the lush greenery of paddy fields in Kuttanad.Still,as a keralite I must admit the fact that the slang used by keralites in the film is far from original and the sets erected during the market fight sequence too was exaggerated and hostile to kerala.
The name Julius Packiam have become synonymous with thrilling background scores and here too he did his part well utilizing the enthralling single 'Get Ready To Fight' composed by Pranay Rijia.The songs by Amaal Malik,Manj Musik and Meet Bros were good and choreographed well.
Tiger Shroff looked convincing as the rebellious lover and was brilliant in handling action sequencs with perfection reminding of eminent martial artist specialists like Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais.Still,there was room for improving his acting skills which I guess he will,in films to come in the future.The fact that he has gained huge support from the viewers was evident by the big numbers in for the show,including a good number of families.Shraddha Kapppor didn't have much to perform than looking over-cutish which is a cake-walk for her.Shifu Shaurya Bhardwaj was impressive as the martial arts guru and mentor of Tiger.Sudheer Babu as the antagonist did his part well.Sunil Grover couldn't shine in the role of Shraddha's father.
Overall,Baaghi is worth a try if u can cash in some breath-taking action sequences and exquisite visuals of kerala and Thailand.
