Tiger is Back….
Ahmed Khan is back in the Director’s seat after a gap of 11 years since his last debacle, Fool & Final a remake of the British hit, Snatch.
Baaghi 2 is a direct remake of the 2016 Telugu hit, Kshanam, which itself could be loosely said to have been inspired by the Jodie Foster 2005 starrer, Flightplan.
Without getting into story spoilers, Ronnie (Tiger), a valiant army Major, is called to Goa by his ex, Neha (Disha), seeking his help in finding her missing daughter, since no one is willing to help her in the past 2 months.
A story laced with good doses of college romance, remixed songs and cute nothings, the first half takes its time, just like Baaghi did, in building up the plot and Tiger’s presence in the film. Fortunately, here he has the back up of a good range of supporting actors, who share the burden of acting with him and Disha. So we have Prateik Babbar making a comeback, Darshan Kumar, Manoj Bajpayee and the two scene stealers of the film, Deepak Dobriyal and Randeep Hooda.
It is post interval where the film shifts its gears and moves into complete action zone, dedicating the majority of the second half of this 144 minute flick to Tiger, Tiger, Tiger breaking bones, more bones and what have you.
I must say, when I went to see Baaghi in a theatre in Dubai, on its release two years ago, I was surprised that there were no seats available. When I went to see the sequel, I along with my daughter, were pleasantly surprised at the cat calls and whistles which greeted Tiger’s entry and his initial fight sequences. It was watching Bajrangi Bhaijaan all over again. I kid you not, this man has arrived and how, if the audience reaction are anything to go by with.
No wonder, the producer, Sajid Nadiadwala, doesn’t let the director Ahmed Khan waste time on anything else. The focus is very clear, Tiger!
It is this single minded agenda which makes the action sequences so believable, even the Rambo/ Commando / Predator style climax, shot in Thailand and shown as Goa, where Tiger literally takes on a global army!!
It is also the same agenda, which acts as the dampener in the script, leading to a poorly written, one sided role for Disha, leaving her damsel in distress seem much more distressed than Shraddha Kapoor from the earlier instalment. And it is the same poor writing which leads to the brilliance of Dobriyal, Babbar, Bajpayee and Hooda skewered in half baked characters.
The songs are okay, barring Lo Safar, which is good, and act as a speed breaker in the film’s proceedings. Lets not get into Ek do teen, cos honestly poor Jacqueline tries hard, real hard, but is let down by poor unimaginative choreography which showcase her only as a bag of bones trying to do anything in the name of dance steps, in an otherwise cringe worthy attempt of rehashing a masterpiece.
Tiger does a fantastic job as the no nonsense Ronnie and definitely has improved a lot from this Jatt flying experience. His star power is definitely increasing and if he can match that up with a mix of roles, just like Varun Dhawan did with Badlapur, then lo and behold, not only do we have our next action star, but an action star who can act too.
Ahmed Khan does a very lazy job in the writing and direction departments. Coupled with lazy editing, the film does seem contrite in its cinematic liberties taken.
But overall, the film is definitely a worth a deko once, for Tiger’s moves and Randeep’s grooves.
RATING : 2.5/5
By: Yusuf Poonawala
