Baby (2015 Hindi film)
Baby | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Neeraj Pandey |
Written by | Neeraj Pandey Aas Mohammad Abbasi |
Produced by | Bhushan Kumar Krishan Kumar Neeraj Pandey Aruna Bhatia |
Starring | Akshay Kumar Danny Denzongpa Rana Daggubati Taapsee Pannu Kay Kay Menon Sushant Singh Madhurima Tuli Mikaal Zulfiqar Murali Sharma Rasheed Naz Anupam Kher |
Narrated by | Danny Denzongpa |
Cinematography | Sudeep Chatterjee |
Edited by | Shree Narayan Singh |
Music by | Songs: M. M. Keeravani Meet Bros Anjjan Background Score: Sanjoy Chowdhury |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | T-Series White Hill Studio (North America) |
Release date |
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Running time | 159 minutes [1] |
Land | Indien |
Sprache | Hindi |
Budget | ₹58.97 crore (US$7.1 million)[2] |
Box office | est. ₹142.99 crore (US$17 million)[3] |
Baby is a 2015 Indian action spy thriller film directed by Neeraj Pandey.[4] The film stars Akshay Kumar in the lead role, along with Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Madhurima Tuli and Rasheed Naz in supporting roles. Made on a budget of ₹58.97 crore (US$7.1 million),[2] the film released on 23 January 2015 to generally positive reviews from critics, who particularly praised the direction and Kumar's performance.[5]
Plot
The story follows the last mission of Baby; which is a temporary task force headed by Feroz Khan (Danny Denzongpa) formed in response to the 2008 Mumbai attacks whose job is to find and eliminate terrorists who are planning attacks in India.
While attempting to rescue a fellow Indian security agent in Turkey, Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar) captures a traitor Jamal (Karan Anand) who formerly worked under Ajay and threatens to kill his family unless he gives them the information about their terror attack plans on India. Ajay is told about a terrorist plot to cause a bomb blast in a Delhi mall which he and Jai (Rana Daggubati) are able to prevent. In the process they learn that this was only the first, of a series of massive attacks that had been planned. Pakistan based terrorist mastermind, Maulana (Rasheed Naz), is causing trouble near the India-Pakistan border. He plans and executes a daring prison escape plan for Bilal Khan (Kay Kay Menon). A team of officers is dispatched to interrogate Taufiq who is an ISI agent posing as a local muslim leader. Ajay manages to get information on their local contacts after torturing him. They go to their hideout, but things go haywire when all of the squad members on the mission except Ajay are killed in an explosion. To collect further information from a terrorist logistics planner in Nepal, Ajay and Shabana Khan (Tapsee Pannu) travel to Nepal pretending to be husband and wife. Their plan to capture the terrorist Wasim Khan (Sushant Singh) goes wrong when Wasim finds out that Shabana is in fact an undercover officer. Shabana manages to hold Wasim and Ajay arrives to find that Shabana has knocked him unconscious.
As per the information given by Wasim, Feroz sends Ajay, Jai (Rana Daggubati) and Shukla (Anupam Kher) to meet their deep asset Ashfaq (Mikaal Zulfiqar) in Saudi Al-Dera where Bilal Khan is holding meetings to discuss the funding and execution of their plans. Ajay and Jai crack into Bilal's room with the help of Shukla and manage to kill Bilal. As they are about to return, they find that Maulana is also at the suite. Jai knocks him out and they decide to bring Maulana back to India, under the pretext that he is a relative who needs to visit India for an urgent liver transplant. They manage to get a visa from the local authorities for Maulana (being shown as Ashfaq's ill uncle) with Ashfaq's help. Soon after, the hotel security discover the corpse of Bilal. The Arab police authorities put the police chief Hani Mohammad (Hasan Noman) on charge of investigating the crime. He attempts to track down the murderers quickly and identity them as Indian agents.He even contacted ATC to stop the plane boarded by Ajay and his team, but he looks in a newspaper headline which reveals that Maulana and Bilal were terrorist and had an international bounty on their head. He smiles and let the plane to take off. Maulana was finally brought to India.This was kept as a secret. And then after 6 weeks of interrogation by Indian Army in Srinagar, he was kill.The trial run was successful and Baby was given permanent status .The team celebrates it.[6]
Cast
- Akshay Kumar as Ajay Singh Rajput
- Danny Denzongpa as Feroz Ali Khan
- Rana Daggubati as Jai Singh Rathore
- Madhurima Tuli as Anjali Singh Rajput
- Anupam Kher as Om Prakash Shukla
- Taapsee Pannu as Shabana Khan
- Kay Kay Menon as Bilal Khan[7]
- Sushant Singh as Wasim Khan
- Jameel Khan as Taufiq
- Mikaal Zulfiqar as Ashfaq
- Sajjad Delafrooz as Saudi Doctor
- Amar Talwar as Minister Pradhan
- Murali Sharma as Mr. Gupta
- Rasheed Naz as Maulana Mohammad Saeed Rahman
- Esha Gupta Special appearance in song "Beparwah"
- Hasan Noman as Hani Mohammed
- Karan Anand as Jamal
- Rumi khan as Javeed
Production
Baby was produced under T-Series along with Crouching Tiger, Friday Filmworks and Cape of Good Films. Sajjad Delafrooz was roped to play the role of Saudi Doctor.[8]
The filming began on 4 September 2014, in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.[9][10] Many shots have been taken in Gautam Buddha University, at Meditation Hall, Shanti Sarover and Library, at Greater Noida. The second part was shot in Nepal and the team completed their final schedule in Abu Dhabi in October and some parts were also shot in Istanbul.
Soundtrack
Untitled | |
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The songs for the film features songs composed by MM Keeravani and Meet Bros Anjjan. Lyrics are written by Manoj Muntashir.
The film score was composed by Sanjoy Chowdhury.
No. | Titel | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Beparwah" | Manoj Muntashir | Meet Bros Anjjan, Apeksha Dandekar | 5:13 |
2. | "Main Tujhse Pyaar Nahin Karta" | Manoj Muntashir | Papon | 4:13 |
3. | "Beparwah (MBA Swag)" | Manoj Muntashir | Meet Bros Anjjan, Earl Edgar | 4:22 |
4. | "Main Tujhse Pyaar Nahin Karti" | Manoj Muntashir | Ramya Behara | 3:50 |
Total length: | 17:38 |
Release and reception
Critical response
Baby was released to positive reviews.[5]
Subhash K. Jha gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5 and stated "Baby is one helluva roller-coaster ride. Miss it at your own risk."[11] Sarita A Tanwar of Daily News and Analysis gave the movie 4 stars, describing Akshay Kumar's performance in the movie as his career-best.[12] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu summarized the film as "A gripping espionage thriller that eschews drama and jingoism".[13] Srijana Mitra Das of The Times of India also gave it 4 stars out of 5 and said, "Akshay Kumar is terrific as Ajay whose core of steel you can almost feel".[1] Hindustan Times gave the movie 4 stars out of 5 too, calling the film "sleek, well-timed and engaging."[14] Yahoo Movies gave the film 4 stars and wrote, "The film deals with a definite conflict, backs it up with a coherent plot trajectory and delivers a compelling resolution."[15] Anupama Chopra gave the film 3.5 stars and stating that the movie will make the viewers forget Akshay's cinematic misdemeanours.[16] Rajeev Masand gave the film 3 stars, hailing its action sequences and performance of the cast.[17] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 2 stars. However, Gupta praised Akshay Kumar's performance.[18] Devesh Sharma of Filmfare praised the breathtaking action of the movie and gave it 3 stars.[19] Ritika Handoo of Zee News hailed the movie as an entertaining movie which is a must watch.[20] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the movie two stars calling the movie as politically dodgy in spite of being a smartly-packaged, competently shot espionage thriller.[21] Shubha Shetty-Saha of Mid Day gave the movie 4 stars, calling it a must-watch movie.[22] Mihir Fadnavis of Firstpost didn't give positive reviews to the plot but praised the movie as entertaining and fast-paced.[23] Mayank Shekhar of ABP News gave 3 stars and wrote that the film manages to hold viewers attention.[24] Abhishek Gupta of India TV said the film is "fast-paced and entertaining" and that it "goads by making a point that while America executed their plan to kill the 9/11 mastermind in Abbottabad, here our politicians could just make loud promises " about the 26/11 attacks.[25] Bollywood Hungama praised the "exceptional" cinematography; the "extremely gripping" storyline, which makes appropriate use of the actors; the score, which "instills the necessary emotions"; and Kumar's performance. It concluded, "On the whole, Baby is one of the finest films ever made in the history of Indian cinema" and gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.[26] R.M. Vijayakar of The New Indian Express gave 3.5 ratings calling it "that near-perfect textbook espionage thriller we have been dying to see: straight and business-like, fast-paced, without frills, and immaculately detailed to the point of occasional verbosity" [27]
Ban in Pakistan
Baby was banned in Pakistan by the censor boards in Islamabad and Karachi, stating that "it portrays a negative image of Muslims and the negative characters in the film also have Muslim names".[28]
Box office
Bollywood Hungama estimated the opening day at ₹9.3 crore (US$1.1 million).[29] International Business Times said the film had "tremendous growth" over the weekend and that its first weekend total was ₹36.07 crore (US$4.3 million).[30][31]
Spin-offs
Naaam Shabana
A prequel/spinoff titled Naam Shabana was released on&on 31 March 2017. The film features Tapsee Pannu as Shabana Khan in lead and Akshay kumar in a cameo role .[32][33][34][35]
Other spin-offs
After releasing Naam Shabana, Neeraj Pandey is planning four more spin-offs based on other different characters from the film.[36]
Prequel
After releasing Baby, makers are planning a prequel named " Naam Shabana ". [37]
Game
An official game based on this film has been released by Vroovy, for Android mobile phone users.[38]
References
- ^ a b "Baby Movie Review". The Times of India. 22 January 2015.
- ^ a b "'Baby' (Tuesday) 5 Days Collection at Box Office: Akshay Kumar-Starrer Racing Towards ₹100 Cr Mark". International Business TImes.
- ^ "Baby Total Box Office Collections in India,Overseas,Worldwide". Indicine.com. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ Saif's Phantom to Akshay's Baby: How Bollywood has dealt with terrorism on screen India Today. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ a b "'Baby' Movie Review Roundup: A Must Watch Film". International Business Times.
- ^ "Baby Movie Review". Times Internet. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "Baby: Meet the five baddies from Neeraj Pandey's film". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Meet Sajjad Delafrooz, the Salman Khan's arch nemesis in Tiger Zinda Hai".
- ^ "Akshay Kumar's 'Baby' team begins 'awesome' shoot". The Indian Express. Indian Express Limited. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ^ "'Baby' team begins 'awesome' shoot". india.com (Essel Group). 4 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ^ "'Baby' - Miss it at your own risk (IANS Movie Review, Rating - ****1/2)". Yahoo Movies India. 23 January 2015.
- ^ "Film Review: 'Baby' is sensible, taut and yet completely mainstream". Daily News and Analysis.
- ^ "Baby review: Preventive measures". The Hindu.
- ^ "Baby review: New-age patriotism in a gripping thriller". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Yahoo Movies Review: Baby". The Hindu.
- ^ "Anupama Chopra's Verdict on Baby". NDTV.
- ^ "'Baby' review: The film is a khichdi of influences, uneven film". CNN-IBN.
- ^ "'Baby' is Akshay Kumar's most credible performance". The Indian Express.
- ^ "Movie Review: Baby". Filmfare.
- ^ "'Baby' review: Kick out terrorism the Akshay Kumar way!". Zee News.
- ^ "Baby Movie Review". NDTV.
- ^ "'Baby' - Movie review". Mid Day.
- ^ "Baby review: Akshay Kumar's film is fast, entertaining but has a stupid plot". Firstpost. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ "MOVIE REVIEW: 'Baby' - Total timepass". ABP News.
- ^ "Baby movie review". India TV.
- ^ Bollywood Hungama. "Baby".
- ^ Vijayakar, R.M. "'Baby' Movie Review: Espionage Thriller is Gritty but Overlong". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ "Pakistan bans Akshay Kumar's 'Baby'". The Hindu.
- ^ "Box Office: Baby becomes Akshay Kumar's 9th Highest Opening Day grosser". Bollywood Hungama.
- ^ koimoi "Opening Weekend Box Office Collection: Akshay's 'Baby' Shows Tremendous Growth; Sonam's 'Dolly Ki Doli' Decent". International Business Times.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Bollywood Top Grossers". Bollywood Hungama.
- ^ Ghosh, Devarsi (14 October 2016). "Baby 2: Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu shoot for Naam Shabana in Malaysia". IndiaToday.in.
- ^ "Taapsee Pannu-starrer 'Naam Shabana' shoot begins". The Times of India. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Baby sequel Naam Shabana starts shooting without Akshay Kumar". The Indian Express. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Taapsee Pannu-starrer 'Naam Shabana' shoot begins". Business Standard. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Not just Naam Shabana, Neeraj Pandey planning 4 more Baby spin-offs". 27 March 2017.
- ^ "After Naam Shabana makes a spy out of Taapsee Pannu, get ready for a Baby sequel". 21 February 2017.
- ^ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vroovy.babythegame
External links
- 2015 films
- 2010s action films
- 2010s thriller films
- Indian spy films
- India–Pakistan relations in popular culture
- Indian action films
- Indian thriller films
- 2010s Hindi-language films
- Films directed by Neeraj Pandey
- Films shot in Uttar Pradesh
- Films shot in Nepal
- Films shot in Istanbul
- Films about terrorism
- Films scored by M. M. Keeravani
- T-Series films
- Indian detective films
- Fictional Indian secret agents
- Films about the Research and Analysis Wing
- Films featuring an item number