Movie Review: “Baby”

Neeraj Pandey serves us a delectable fare “Baby”- a spy thriller - after an impressive response to his earlier contributions: “A Wednesday” – the story of vengeance inflicted by a common man who turns vigilante - & “Special 26”- a con film dealing with the famous gold heist of TBZ Mumbai in the 1980’s. Seeing our secret service agents on screen, for once, we are inclined to believe that the Indian intelligence personnel are no less deadly than those who represent Mossad. The film is bereft of songs but no complaints on that count for it would have been an unnecessary distraction from the main plot.

The movie begins with a voice over indicating that post the 26/11 attack in Mumbai & the carnage thereof, an elite 12 member counter intelligence team dubbed “ Baby”- a 5 year project - was assembled with the intention to detect & destroy foreign modules. This team of brave-hearts is led by the redoubtable Danny Denzongpa (Feroze) with Akshay Kumar (Ajay) providing him able support. The dapper Danny - a patriot - reminds one of the roles he essayed with aplomb in “China Gate” while Akshay reprises a role played in “Holiday” minus the romantic track. Both of them are, indeed, impressive.

Team “Baby” has many successes to brag about but unfortunately, 8 of its members are lost, in the line of fire.  The first half shows one of its team members, Rakesh, compromised by another, Jamal, who has turned rogue. Rakesh is being tortured in Turkey & the grisly images transmitted on the mobile with co-ordinates, perhaps, to encourage the agency to take the bait. Akshay reaches the site, finishes off the captors & captures the rogue agent. Ajay finding no chances of saving the severely pummelled asset, Rakesh, calmly pumps bullets into the latter – difficult calls that agents are forced to take in the pursuit of duty. Reminds one of a similar situation Gregory Peck faces in “The Guns of Navarone”. The question, however, that is left unanswered: Why did Jamal turn rogue?

The movie gathers pace when Ajay succeeds in retrieving information from Jamal that a blast was planned in DLF Mall, Delhi & his team succeeds in defusing the bombs planted. Jamal, commits suicide after revealing that the agencies across the border are planning more of such terror attacks. The rest of the movie is a chase to prevent the ghastly plans from getting implemented.

Enter Rasheed Naz (Maulana Mohammed Rehman) who etches a role, glaringly similar to LeT’s Hafiz Sayeed, with his usual anti India rants & pro Kashmir pronunciations. Kay Kay Menon (Bilal), a dreaded terrorist, with an even more menacing look is helped to escape, by his handlers, from an Indian prison to travel to the Middle East & close loop on the terror plot. Akshay leads a team of Rana & Anupam Kher (Shuklaji) & succeeds in killing Kay Kay. Surprise surprise,  Maulana is the unexpected prime catch & bringing him back to India forms the reminder of the film - an edge of the seat thriller with traces of ARGO- that involved bringing American citizens back from Iran- & D Day – that dealt with bringing Dawood alive back from Pakistan.

The movie, though, raises some uncomfortable questions: How & why are educated Muslim youths attracted to the Jihadi cause? They are shown attracted first through the offer of scholarships & later radicalized by showing them footage of Gujarat pogrom et al. While physical meetings were essential earlier for indoctrination, Social media has now made the process much easier. The Bangalore case of @Shamiwitness of Mehdi Masroor Biswas is a case in point.

There are some moments in the movie which are worth treasuring. A Minister, when asked for permission to allow covert actions in Nepal & the Middle East demurs, prompting Akshay & Danny to offer to run an unofficial operation - giving the govt. the cover of plausible deniability. When the Minister asks Danny if we are doing enough for the secret service agents, Danny remarks that, as a country, we don’t but the true blooded patriots still don’t care. Hats-off to such unknown faces, whose heroic deeds find no mention in the news, whose success is not celebrated & whose failure implies the tragedy of torture & a grisly death. Akshay ‘s wife Anjali (Madhurima Tuli) reflects the collective feelings of better halves of our secret service agents & the precarious lives  their lead with the constant parting line “Bas Marna Mat”  (Just don’t die) 

The importance of gatekeepers in the Indian bureaucracy is hilariously brought out by Murali Sharma, a pompous PA to the Minister, who constantly talks about the Minister being busy but Danny always has his way in fixing appointments. Similarly, there is a scene which is a sarcastic commentary of the laziness & lethargy of our times. “We, as Indians, have a reputation to protect” says Danny asking his subordinate to delay sending a response to a mail query; a faster response would have been seen as suspicious - sabotaging the plot.

The movie, in short, is a delight to patriots but fails to build up on characters. Rana appears in the first operation at the DLF mall & is conveniently forgotten till he reappears in the grand finale for an operation in the Middle East. Likewise Tapsee Punnu (Priya) who is used as a honey-trap to entice Sushant Singh - an ostensible travel agent but in reality a part of the terror cell operating in Nepal - is also conveniently forgotten till she is brought back in the last parting frame where team “Baby” is seen celebrating. Unlike a traditional Indian heroine who is, unfortunately, always portrayed as damsel in distress seeking a male cohort for protection, Tapsee  gives as good as she gets – pulls her own punches very effectively- a welcome tribute to the liberated Indian women of our times.

The action sequences are well choreographed & the cinematography- especially of the desert dunes – is breath-taking. The movie leaves you with some uncomfortable questions long after it is over: Are we taking enough care of the patriots of our secret services? How do we address the religious polarization & the radicalization of the lunatic fringe which has the potential to maim India? If the US can track down Osama in Abbottabad in Pakistan & hunt him down why do we not do the same?

Perhaps, our countrymen have to do a lot of soul searching.