A largely unfunny, plot-heavy film, Baaghi 3 is a fusion of mainstream elements of Hindi cinema. There's family drama, there’s action, and there's terrorism. Starring our new age ‘king of action’ Tiger Shroff, Riteish Deshmukh, and Shraddha Kapoor, this Ahmed Khan directorial is an adaptation of the 2012 Tamil film Vettai. It also stars Vijay Varma as a Pakistani pickpocket Akhtar Lahori and Jackie Shroff in a brief cameo as Tiger Shroff and Riteish Deshmukh's martyred police officer father.
Now, if you've seen the trailer, you probably already know the plot. Ronnie, played by Tiger, and Vikram, played by Ritesh, are brothers who are pretty much joined at the hip. Their co-dependence is unhealthy and their daddy issues - massive. Every time Vikram finds himself in trouble (which is often), he calls out to Ronnie. And Ronnie, like the loving, committed and seemingly unemployed brother he is, shows up in just one second. However, it’s this commitment that leads to bigger trouble as Vikram is eventually kidnapped by a big-time Syrian terrorist and Ronnie sets out on a mission to find his brother, either dead or alive.
Baaghi 3’s storyline is largely logical but it’s the writing that seems a little overdone. In the first half, almost every third sentence has a gag that mostly does not land. In fact, the unsuccessful humour, at many points in the film, makes Baaghi 3 feel like a parody of sorts.
We’re also left wondering why Riteish’s character behaves like a severely underconfident man-child with no voice of his own. The writers have tried so hard to force humour that they forgot to develop relationships apart from the Vikram-Ronnie dynamic. In a film that is supposedly rooted in family values, there’s no clarity on the nature of the relationship between Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor’s characters. Each character in Baaghi 3 comes with a unique quirk that’s not actually unique and feels more like a device borrowed from older Bollywood films. Yet, all of this is easily overshadowed by the pace of the film. From Delhi to Agra to Syria, Baaghi 3 is a tight script that is acceptably ridiculous.
As far as the performances are concerned, Tiger Shroff doesn’t deliver more than a couple of expressions and his usual dose of beautifully choreographed action scenes. In fact, it’s Riteish Deshmukh who makes up for Tiger’s missing theatrics. In the second half, Shraddha Kapoor takes his place and ensures that we’re not disappointed by Tiger’s limited range as an actor. Vijay Varma’s talent is severely wasted as a character that is merely a tool for the story to move forward. While none of the performances truly stand out, they all come together in a fitting way to make sure the film is moderately entertaining.
Towards the latter half of the film, Baaghi 3 descends into a full-fledged Tiger Shroff show that is also very predictable. There’s a lot of unrealistic action stunts, violence, random camera movements, and a perpetually bare-chested Tiger Shroff - enough to make you lose track of the plot.
And of course, the two and a half-hour long duration does not help. The only thing that stays with you is Ronnie and Vikram’s ‘unbreakeable’ bond of love and care. After all, Bollywood has a long history of normalising unhealthy relationships.
Ahmed Khan’s Baaghi 3 falls perfectly in the Tiger Shroff genre of films. If you go in expecting nothing, you’re bound to come out with a few entertaining laughs. But beyond that, Baaghi 3 serves no purpose.
All said and done, I’m going to go with 2 Quints out of 5 for this one!
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