With established action heroes like Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan slowly moving on to more ‘sensible’ ‘sensitive’ roles, Bollywood was looking for a young actor to step into their shoes and Tiger Shroff has ably filled that void. His box-office record has been quite impressive so far and the success of Baaghi 2, (The film has already amassed more than 150 crores!), is only going to add to the buzz.
What’s the plot?
A fierce army-commando (Tiger Shroff) posted on the Kashmir border, gets a call from his now married ex-girl-friend (Disha Patani) to help her out in a personal problem. When she meets him, she tells that her three year old daughter was kidnapped on the first day of her kindergarten. The tough young man starts investigating but finds that practically no one is corroborating his ex-GF’s story, including the principal, the cops and even her husband. It is as if the whole story is a figment of imagination; but is it really? Is there some murky mystery beneath these strange happenings?
What’s hot?
• Director Ahmed Khan gets the formula right. The first half is a perfect masala film with the right mix of action, romance and suspense.
• Good supporting cast. Manoj Bajpai, Deepak Dobriyal, Prateik Babbar and Randeep Hooda leave their mark despite some clichéd characterizations.
• Tiger Shroff is excellent in both, light-hearted romantic as well as bone-crunching action sequences. His handsome looks, perfect physique and amazing stunts make him the best action hero of the current generation. Although his emoting skills in dramatic scenes need some improvement.
• Good production values.
What’s not?
• The film could have benefited by better editing and a much shorter running time.
• In the second half, the story becomes jumbled up and unconvincing, relying more on unending action scenes to carry the day.
• Disha Patani needs to improve her acting skills and dialogue delivery considerably!
• Jacquelline Fernandez’s ‘Ek Do Teen’ reprise is a letdown.
Verdict
Baaghi 2 is a watchable action thriller, which keeps you hooked on for quite some time. Tiger Shroff coolly pulls off the Rambo- style one-man killing machine!
Kesariya Balam
