Film: Baadshaho
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'Cruz, Vidyut Jammwal, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, Sanjay Mishra
Director: Milan Luthria
What's it about?
It's a desi heist film involving six badasses. Set in the Emergency era, Geetanjali (Ileana D'Cruz) is cheated of her treasure by Sanjeev (Priyanshu Chatterjee). Enter Bhavani (Ajay Devgn) Maharani's security head and love interest. Together they plan to steal her treasure back. Bhavani gets his gang of three balances - Daalia (Emraan), Sanjana (Esha) and Tikla (Sanjay). While the four plan the heist, the army gets their best man Seher (Vidyut) to make sure the khazana reaches Delhi safely. Will Ajay & Co be able to steal the gold? Will Ileana D'Cruz find her way out of jail and reclaim what's hers? Or will Vidyut win the round? That's what the film is all about.
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What's hot:
Although the film boasts of star power, this is Ileana's film all the way. As Geetanjali which is also Cruz's most layered character till date, as the astute queen, she wields power and the conniving and manipulative grey shade of her character that adds more flavour. Vidyut Jammwal excels in the action scenes. The background music is nice and 'Rashke Qamar' is the only song that stays in your memory. Sanjay Mishra as the comic relief is superb. His and Emraan's fun one liners add humour to the action laced plot. Watch out for the kickass twist right before the interval. That cliffhanger leaves you with the only high in the first half.
What's not:
Ajay Devgn doesn't have any punchline except two, which he keeps repeating every 15 minutes. For a heist film, the thrills and chills are missing and the film falls flat post interval. It takes forever to establish and the audiences' need for speed remains unfulfilled. None of the action scenes, save the two featuring Vidyut are noteworthy. A jailbreak scene is as juvenile as it can be. Esha is an ornament. Milan Luthria and Raat Arora are known for their masala dialogues but here, they are missing. In fact, dialogues are the weakest point in the film. The film is slow and drags for 2.5 hours. The climax is the weakest portion of the whole film. An open ending for a heist film is just weird.
What to do:
Unless you are a huge Ajay Devgn fan, you can skip this one.
Rating: **
