When we come upon him first in his second film, ‘Baaghi’, we see Tiger Shroff upside down, balancing his full weight on a thumb and forefinger. It is an impressive sight, to see someone so fit, so agile, so much in command of his body.
It is the money shot of the film. Whenever we see Tiger doing something that involves his hands, legs, torso, head, all moving in perfect sync, scything up, slashing down, revolving on the balls of his feet, we are watching: it is a pleasure to see this young actor move, no jerk, all flow. When he is in action, that is. When he is ‘acting’, he is still clearly a novice
But he makes up for that lack by being likeable, even when he is being forced to act like a rebel just so he can justify the film’s title, in the first half of the film. Ronny(Tiger Shroff) shows up at a ‘kalari’(a Kerala martial arts school which teaches the ancient art of ‘kalaripayattu’) in order to hone his rough edges. The process of transformation– from aimless ‘baaghi’ to a rebel with a cause– is familiar from many similar films, but there’s enough to keep us engaged through the interactions with a ramrod straight `guru’, who puts the young fellow through his paces