Milan Luthria, the name we expect a lot from as he is the maker of some fantastic entertainers like ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai’, ‘Taxi No. 9211’, ‘Kachche Dhaage’, etc. We expect some more from him when he brings back the hit Jodi of ‘Once Upon Time In Mumbai’ Ajay Devgn and Emran Hashmi. Does his new movie ‘Baadshaho’ fulfill our expectations?
Maharani Geetanjali(Ileana D’Cruz) a desi-born, Videsi accent Princess is left with the palace, the family heritage and a lot of wealth after her father Maharaja’s death. A powerful minister wants to avenge her, and thus, in the times of 1975s Emergency, he wants her entire treasure to be confiscated by the Government. The treasure gets confiscated and is being transported from Rajasthan to Delhi by a no-nonsense Military Officer Sehar Singh(Vidyut Jamwal). Bhawani(Ajay Devgn), her loyal body guard, with whom eventually she falls in love with, promises to bring her the treasure. Bhawani’s team includes Dalia(Emran Hashmi), his partner in crime in most of the events(this we come to know through their dialogues), Guruji(Sanjay Mishra), a person with gifted talent of unlocking any safe, and Sanjana(Esha Gupta) who wants to her friend Geetanjali out of the prison anyhow. Do they succeed?
‘Baadshaho’ takes time to find its grip over the screenplay. The first half moves with somewhat slow pace as time is spent in introducing the characters, each in a different style, and the pace increases as there are chase sequences and it leaves us with suspense before the interval, increasing our curiosity. The second half of the film is speedy and is about the execution of Bhawani’s plan and its consequences.
The story written by Rajat Arora is very simple, but the screenplay could have been better to justify a thriller. Dialogues have always been a plus point of all Milan Luthria’s movies, and here too, they take a front seat. There are only three songs according to the need of the situations. Sunita Radia’s camera brilliantly captures the blue beauty and the dry deserts of Rajasthan. Aarif Shaikh’s editing makes the film interesting. Milan Luthria tries his best to present an average script in a better way. Baadshaho has its own elements of humour, thrilling moments, suspense, top notch action, etc. One can call ‘Baadshaho’ a desi and a better version of Abbas Mustan’s ‘Race’ franchise.
Ajay Devgn is in his trademark intense style(though there is nothing new about it) that gives him enough scope to use his eyes more than dialogues. Emran Hashmi is in a new avatar; a mix of flamboyance, humour, and action, and he does it with conviction. He is lovable. Sajay Mishra is a show stealer. His witty lines, body language and presence make Baadshaho a treat for all. Vidyut looks handsome, but he still has to learn acting, and same goes for Esha Gupta. Ileana D’Cruz looks gorgeous like anything, a true Princess, and plays her character nicely.
There is nothing wrong about Baadshaho, except the release time. When people are very much into watching simple, sober, practical movies, a movie of larger than life characters like ‘Baadshaho’ doesn’t work because of its length, plot development, and loose screenplay. If this movie had released four to five years ago, it would have got its own share of appreciations. ‘Baadshaho’ is saved only by the performances of the lead actors.
Ratings: 3 1/2 Stars