Baabul

Baabul -- Father

MAIN CAST:
Amitabh Bachchan -- Balraj
Salman Khan -- Avinash
Rani Mukerji -- Milli
John Abraham -- Rajat
Om Puri -- Balwant
Hema Malini -- Shobhna

BRIEF PLOT OVERVIEW:
Rajat is in love with his best friend, Milli. Unfortunately for Rajat, Milli has fallen in love with a Avinash, the sweet son of a wealthy businessman. Milli and Avinash marry and have a son, but everything falls apart when Avinash dies in a car accident. Determined to see his daughter-in-law happy again, Balraj sets off on a quest to help her love again.

FILM -- 3/5
The opening title is very promising, picturizing the song "Kehta Hai Baabul" over piles of red sindoor powder and images of a traditional Indian wedding. This promise isn't fulfilled, however, and a lot of the editing is really choppy and obnoxious. Namely, you miss a lot of the great choreography and end up slightly sick from all of the cuts, jumps, and bad camera angles...a real shame, because the choreography and picturizing are good in and of themselves. Worse still, Baabul suffers from the common Bollywood pitfall of tediousness, and while most of the film is enjoyable, at least half an hour of random crap could have been left out to improve the overall pace of the story. The first half of the film is infinitely better than the second, and there's a distinct lack of "magic" throughout the film. Some of the dialogue would work in a 90s masala film, but it just sounds corny in the more toned down Baabul. On the plus side, the comedy hits home in both Hindi and English, the dramatic mid-story twist is well-played by the actors, and the visuals for songs like "Beewari Piya Ki" are sexy without being sleazy.

CHARACTERS -- 3.5/5
Salman Khan's attractiveness seemed to fade around the turn of the century; he looks more than a little drugged out and frightening in this film. He gives a strong performance, however, and he's finally mastered the art of sculpting believable facial expressions. He has a unique father/son chemistry with Amitabh Bachchan, who--as always--fits his part like a glove. Of course, Rani Mukerji is stunning from start to finish, and while this isn't her best performance, it certainly isn't her worst. Rani and Salman have great chemistry. Rani and John Abraham don't look as good together, but there's a lot of great emotional moments between them, even if they do seem more than a little "sibling-ish." With the exception of Hema Malini, who looks lovely in a mature, earthy sort of way, and several comedy relief characters, the supporting cast isn't really worth mentioning.

MUSIC -- 3/5
The soundtrack is solid, with nothing in particular maiming its good name. "Kehta Hai Baabul," a song from parent to child, is so exquisitely beautiful, so well-written, and so touching that I immediately fell in love with it. "Come On, Come On" is the movie's magnum opus and is great fun to listen to, although I prefer listening to it over watching it because of the craptastic in-film editing. "Ga Re Mann" is one of my favorite Bollywood songs; I love the vocals and the beat! There's some track blending, but it's nothing too obnoxious, and I'm sure you could pick every song out if you watched the film a second time. Still, a few of the tracks, such as Baawri Piya Ki, are bland outside of the original film context.

OVERALL -- 2/5
Baabul is yet another example of a Bollywood film that is far from Oscar-worthy, but tugs on your heart strings regardless. You have the good (choreography and slapstick humor), the bad (editing and English subtitles), and the ugly (Salman Khan's face), and the end result is an entertaining feel-good flick. It's rocky as a whole, but parts of Baabul are beautifully crafted; prior to the horrendous Hitchcock-esque editing, the scene with the wet sindoor powder dripping from Rani's part is a great example. Some reviewers claim that only true-blue Bollywood fans and the easily amused can stick to this film, and as a member of the latter group, I can honestly say that I enjoyed Baabul. At the very least, it warrants a rental for long weekends spent indoors.

TOTAL SCORE -- 11.5/20 (okay)