Random Expressions

For someone who has spent a lifetime on television making fun of other’s movies, I had expected Sajid Khan to churn out a whacky and whopper comedy - even if it were superbly slapstick or insanely double-entendre laden! Alas, Khan proves to be simply an arm-chair critic and an atrocious film-maker. Heyy Babyy is neither a full-fledged comedy nor a perfect emotional blaster, and in the end you return from the theater mourning the loss of money and time wasted on this corrupted kitsch.

The film is supposedly borrowed from Three Men and a Baby. It could be, but that is just till the first half - or till about three quarters of the first half. In the rest, it gets all emotional - including a tediously lengthy song that the three nasty-bachelors-turned-nice sing to the cute little one. Knowing Sajid Khan, he would surely have watched Dharam-Hema’s Tum Haseen Main Jawan (where a womaniser Dharam is found clutching a figure far too smaller to his liking!). Why couldn’t Khan take a leaf from that film? Despite all the seventies cliches and contrived situations, Tum Haseen Main Jawan was way more entertaining (and with good music to boot, courtesy Shankar Jaikishan!).

In the second half, the film concentrates on Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan’s romance-cum-tiff, who it turns out is the mother of the child, and has returned to claim her right back. Poor Riteish and Fardeen are reduced to sheer side-kicks mumbling unconvincingly about how they miss the kid and help Akshay regain Vidya’s trust. This portion has a few genuine laughs. But then, it’s too little and too late.

It’s a current norm to reference old movies; in this one we are reminded of Chupke Chupke (Fardeen Khan doing an impersonation of Amitabh Bachhan pretending to be Dharamender) and DDLJ (with SRK sauntering in for a guest appearance). But why is it that such back-referencing almost always comes in movies that have nothing of their own to proffer?

Other than Shahrukh Khan, Sajid ropes in a bevy of beauties for cameo appearances - Amisha Patel, Neha Dhupia, Minisha Lamba, Hrishita Bhatt, Koena Mitra, Malaika Arora Khan, Diya Mirza and some more. Ok, we got it, he has stong links within the industry and carries immense goodwill. Perhaps, he should have extended this goodness and goodwill to his script-writer as well, who could have at least avoided that lengthy hosptal-scene or that shockingly cliched climax!

Peformance-wise Akshay Kumar tops - and is the clear winner with his boisterous act, though he falters somewhat in a few emotional scenes, but that is being extremely finicky. Riteish is his usual self. Fardeen is very average. And Vidya Balan? Goodness, does she have to wear western clothes?! Agreed, she is all fire and fiery, and does well, but when she puts on that coy act it’s time to tell her that Parineeta is long over. Try something new, please! Other than those horrendous wigs, that is!

The music is pretty average - and only two songs remain with you after exiting the theater - ‘Jaane bhi de’ and ‘Dholna’.

In the end, Heyy Babyy, is a strictly average fare, with a few laughs in between, here and there, but largely an unpalatable concoction that wouldn’t be remembered two weeks later. Numerologically, the producers have added some extra ‘y’s to the title. Perhaps, it’s an oblique question - why, o why, did they make this?

Overall - Average, Avoidable

[A very good review is available here, and I tend to agree with the author!]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 26th, 2007 at 7:19 am and is filed under Film Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.