Manoj tiwari’s Global Baba is both superbly timed and timeless. It’s about a criminal who seeks refuge from the law by donning saffron robes and setting up a cult that soon amasses enough influence to bring the local goverment to heel The transformation of chillum pehelwan ( Abhimanyu singh) into Global Baba ( the name is inspired by a hair -cutting saloon) with the help of another history-sheeter posing as a holy man ( Pankaj Tripathi) is instant and semless.
In short order, Global Baba occupies a chunk of forest land on which he sets up his ashram and dispenses nonsensical advice to the easily hypnotised masses. None of the devotees blinks at Baba ’s lurid sartorial sense ( he wears silken nighties and a following wig) or his trapping of wealth. The movie is low on psychology, and misses the opportunity to explain why the faithful might actually appreciate, rather than be repulsed by, their religeous leder’s love for lucre and political power.