Noisy action, shootouts, slo-mo walks and some dialoguebaazi highlight Baby John‘s unimpressive teaser, observes Mayur Sanap.
How long will Bollywood press on with its obsession for lazy remakes? This question pops up as you open the trailer for Baby John, which has Varun Dhawan doing the mass hero in the Hindi adaptation of Theri, which starred Vijay.
The 2016 Tamil blockbuster starred Varun’s Citadel: Honey Bunny co-star Samantha and it was helmed by Atlee.
The Jawan director serves as co-producer on this rehash and hands over the reins to Kalees for his Hindi debut.
The first teaser of the film, which is curiously being called a ‘taster cut’ by the makers, barely shows any novelty in terms of story or concept, and simply brings Varun’s star aura to the fore.
He appears as a dashing police officer who seems capable of the most complicated stunts and ruthless killings. He plays a father to a kid, which looks like a driving emotion of the action-heavy plot.
There’s another version of Varun’s character that shows him in a long hair and some topless shots.
Amid this double identity play, there’s an ample dose of noisy action, shootouts, slo-mo walks and some dialoguebaazi.
‘Mere jaise bahot aaye honge, lekin main pehli baar aaya hoon,’ Varun gleefully mouths the line, almost announcing his action hero mode.
There’s a certain degree of entertainment in watching Varun play two distinctly different characters. And the BGM, designed by S Thaman, adds to the film’s massy pull.
The teaser also offers a glimpse of Keerthy Suresh, who appears to have a flower pot role that’s typically reserved for female stars in an actioner like this. She’s a capable actor as seen in Mahanati and Saani Kaayidham. I wish her Hindi launch was better than this.
Jackie Shroff shows up in an uninspired choice as the film’s menacing villain. His funky get-up tries to make him look interesting.
The end slate flashes the film’s tongue-in-cheek tagline: ‘Good Vibes Only’.
Despite the starry edge, Baby John looks like an expensive action romp that probably does nothing new with the original idea.
Why put in the effort then?
Theri‘s 4K ultra HD print is already available on YouTube for free viewing.
Baby John is set for a Christmas release.
