Released: March 2018
Director: Ahmed Khan
Run Time: 144 Minutes
Not Rated
Distributor: Fox Star Studios
Genre: Action/Romance/Thriller
Cast:
Tiger Schroff: Ranveer Pratap Singh
Disha Patani: Neha
Manoj Bajpayee: DIG Ajay Shergill
Randeep Hooda: Loha Sing Dhull
Deepak Dobriyal: Usman Langda
If you told me a decade ago that I would actually enjoy Bollywood movies by the year 2019, I would’ve laughed at you. Seriously. I would’ve told you to get out of my face. Of all the countries that I’ve seen movies from, India was the one that I avoided the most. Why? Call it a cultural misunderstanding, if you will. A lot of India’s movies were not necessarily made for the rest of the world. I heard about India’s movies having some decent action and stories but constantly peppered with bizarre musical numbers. That turned me off of their movies for the longest time. I’ve since learned that music has important functions in India. It’s important not just in entertainment, but also in terms of spirituality and religious practices, both of which are deeply ingrained within Hindi culture. It wasn’t until Heropanti that I got my first taste of India’s cinematic offerings. I was shocked at how much I actually enjoyed it. Was it a great movie? Not really, but I saw what they could do and that is what draws me towards Bollywood, now. To most Westerners, movies from India can come across as cheesy, overly sappy, and completely silly. Some of them really are, but these films have become a large part of their cultural identity. I don’t want them to change that at all. I want them to make better films for sure, but not at the expense of their soul. I’ve since seen a few Bollywood action flicks since Heropanti. Baaghi, Commando 2 and Baaghi 2. Baaghi 2 is what I’m going to be looking at today.
Baaghi 2 opens as Neha is dropping off her daughter at school when she’s attacked by two masked gunmen. After knocking her out, they kidnap her daughter, Rhea. 2 months later, Neha is continuing to look for her child, but either nobody cares, or they’ve never seen her little girl before. Desperate, Neha contacts her ex-boyfriend, Ranveer, to help her. Ranveer is a Captain in India’s Special Forces, but gets permission from his commanding officer to go on leave. Ranveer decides to help Neha find her daughter, but soon discovers a sinister conspiracy. Baaghi 2 is a sequel to 2016’s Baaghi in name only. In fact, it’s a remake of a film from 2016 called Kshanam. See? Western cinema isn’t the only industry in the world to be plagued by remakes. So, what do I think of the story? It’s really not that bad, at least in my opinion. The first half of the film is more about establishing what’s going on and character set up. It does get a little too convoluted for it’s own good, though. The second half of the film feels like an entirely different movie altogether. It becomes more of a thriller and straight-up action flick. The tonal differences between the two halves are night and day, and I don’t think it works the way that Ahmed Khan wanted it to. I think the first Baaghi did it better.
In terms of performances, I think this is Tiger Schroff’s best performance yet, given what I’ve seen in previous years. He actually puts more of an effort into actually acting than just looking good for the camera, although there’s plenty of that to go around. Disha Patani plays Neha and…well….she’s certainly beautiful, but it takes more than good looks to have chemistry on screen. I didn’t really see any of that between the two characters. Yeah, there was a romance between them, but it didn’t feel natural, but then again, this is Bollywood we’re talking about, so there is a certain amount of give-and-take that you have to consider. Overall, the acting isn’t terrible. The musical numbers look pretty good and the songs are catchy, as they tend to be in these movies, but you can definitely tell that the singing isn’t done by the actors. There’s a reason for that. They may have been trained to dance, but singing is not part of their repertoire, that being said, I’ve long since learned to give Bollywood movies a lot of leeway when it comes to these things. It’s just how they are, and on certain levels, it’s wonderful.
If there’s one thing that Baaghi 2 delivers on, it’s the action. While the film can overdo it with slow motion, a lot of the time, you can definitely see what’s going on, and the fight sequences are well-choreographed. There is a little bit of wire-work here, but like a lot of Bollywood films, the exaggeration is often on purpose to highlight the hero doing what he or she does best. As I have stated on my other Bollywood film reviews, I try not to apply the same kind of standards that I do with other Asian or Western movies. If I did that, the film would come across as being much worse than it actually is. If there’s a complaint that I have with the action in the film, it’s the last half-hour. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very spectacular, with Tiger’s character being a one-man army taking on a ton of bad guys. There’s something inherently satisfying about that. However, the film borrows a little too much from Sylvester Stallone’s First Blood. Certain lines are literally ripped from the first Rambo film, which is ironic because Tiger Schroff is going to be Rambo in India’s remake of Stallone’s film. Now, I’m curious, but I digress. The actual hand-to-hand combat sequences are surprisingly hard-hitting and violent. There’s a sequence where Tiger does a front flip and caves a guy’s head in. Damn. Tiger is an undiscovered action star, as far as I’m concerned. I would really like to see him branch out from India’s film industry and be a part of something from other Eastern and Western films.
Baaghi 2 is not that bad. It’s a hell of a lot better than Commando 2, I can tell you that right now. However, I don’t think it’s as good as the first Baaghi. The tone of the film is all over the place and some of the acting and musical numbers feel really out place. It also runs a little too long at times. 144 minutes is kinda stretching it a bit. It’s well-shot, though, with some pretty decent cinematography and the action is spot on and a lot of fun to watch. Yeah, Bollywood is bonkers, but you know what? That’s fine by me. I could use a few more bonkers movies in my life.
My Final Recommendation: It’s time to kick-ass, take names, and….dance? 8/10