Baby John Movie Review: This headless chicken of a movie is entertaining because of Varun Dhawan’s role as action star.

In this Baby John movie review, we delve into why this Varun Dhawan-starrer remake of Vijay’s 2016 hit Theri fails to hit the mark. Directed by Kalees and produced by Atlee, the film attempts to bring South Indian masala to Bollywood but ends up as a bloated, incoherent mess that lacks originality and emotional depth.

The best line in Baby John is delivered by Rajpal Yadav’s character, who serves as the hero’s sidekick, towards the end of the movie: Comedy is serious business.

I think that was the only occasion in the preview theatre when I heard a ripple of laughter. It’s the type of joke that brings the house down in masala films. The fact that a comic’s dialogue is more taalis than the hero’s “taqia kalaam” line—”par main toh pehli baar aaya hoon”—says a lot about Baby John, which is a punishing 164-minute film.

You feel like telling lead actor Varun Dhawan, who is completely unsuited for this type of movie—cameras can help him pull off the slo-mo swagger thing, but his delivery is only appropriate for low-fi comedies—that he doesn’t have to bother after watching this bloated, noisy, derivative, and incoherent mess. It’s safe to say that Baby John is the worst movie of 2024, a year in which Bollywood’s big, star-studded productions really went under.

Making masala films is actually a serious business as well, especially in light of Pushpa 2, the best masala film ever. Even though that one is longer, the hero feels natural, the set pieces have a beat, and the Sukumar-Allu Arjun team throws everything at us, including the spuds, dishwasher liquid, and kitchen sink, and some of it sticks.

The problem with Baby John, Varun Dhawan’s big fat South masala film that is a remake of Vijay’s 2016 hit Theri, is that not much of it sticks. The novelty factor distinguishes good masala from bad. Why is there such an insatiable fascination with ships, docks, containers, and heroes hanging upside down? Baby John seems to be pieced together from multiple sources. Baby John, formerly Pushpa.

Shah Rukh Khan and the young girl in Jawan, as well as a number of other father-daughter pairs, are reminiscent of the relationship between the adorable Khushi (Zyanna) and Baby John (Vaun Dhawan). When these two become involved with a flesh-trading gang led by the evil Babbar Sher (Jackie Shroff), the peaceful pace of Alappuzha, Kerala, is disturbed. I’m not kidding when I say that’s his name. Naturally, there is a backstory when we learn that Baby John, the regular Joe in the lungi, was a police officer in a previous life, with a mother (Sheeba Chadha, Bollywood’s new favourite mommy) and a sweetheart (Keerthy Suresh).

However, all of those plot points are merely a pretext to get Baby John, also known as DCP Satya Varma, to settle into his groove and crush the villains with fists, guns, swords, and anything else that can be made into a weapon. As many fight scenes as he can find are thrown in by the director, who has helped Atlee. Who cares if we become completely indifferent to the ugliness on exhibit? Humans are carved, burned, trampled, have blood spurts, and body parts are scattered everywhere.

Also Read: Vanvaas Movie Review: Nana Patekar Starrer Fails to Impress with its Slow-Paced Storytelling

Catch Jackie Shroff in the fun 2010 film Aranya Kaandam, which marked the start of his villainous career in Southern cinema, if you want to see him acting like a real bad guy. Here, he slits his throats, shakes his unruly hair, and has a thick layer of “haldi” on his face (we won’t ask why). A young girl, who is aware that he did something awful, calls him “daadu.” Indeed, that is correct. How is she aware of it? Yes, we’re not inquiring. And no, this movie does not protect children.

While Gabbi, who portrays a teacher with a secret, receives just enough screen time to warrant her presence, Keerthy Suresh is essential but has no relationship with Dhawan. Sanya Malhotra comes and goes in a blink-and-miss fashion before you know it.

You can tell two things right away when Varun Dhawan, playing to his best Salman Khan (shirts and vests come off here and there), shares a climactic moment with the latter in a very “Pathan” manner: Baby John can do his best, but even an ageing Bhai Jaan ups the ante. Additionally, there will be another source from which this originated. Let out a moan.