| Baba
(Rajanikanth) is said to be the gift of god to the family, blessed
by a Baba living in the Himalayas for thousands of years. An atheist,
he smokes, drinks, chews zarda, plays cards and always puffs at
a beedi. In a contradictory behaviour, he suddenly starts talking
about the various 'Chakras' from 'Mooladhaara Chakram' to 'Sahasraaram'
that control the body. An astrologer (Vijay Kumar), living opposite
Baba's house, takes interest in Baba and reveals to his mother (Sujatha)
that Baba is no small man and will soon become great. He also warns
them of impending dangers to his life that may prove fatal, if left
unguarded. As if to support the astrologer's statement about the
young man, an elephant in a temple procession, stops at Baba lying
on a cot and places a flower on him. Then a man behaving like a
lunatic till then, surprises Baba, by taking him to the Himalayas.
There, he gets a chance to watch the real Baba his family worships
and learns a 'mantra' from him. On chanting, his wishes turn into
reality. This mantra can be used only seven times and will be ineffective
after that. Back home, Baba becomes playful and starts using the
'mantra' for frivolous reasons, as a kind of test, like wishing
for a kite, staying aloft, etc. His penultimate wish is to ask god
to renovate a temple in their vicinity and clean up the area and
lay roads just in two days. Time to introduce a character of a corrupt
CM and his stooge. As he CM's term is about to end, he asks Baba
to use the mantra so that he can continue to be a CM forever. That
is when Baba's friends ask him to use the mantra for himself. But
Baba chooses another man to become next CM. He also turns to god.
He visits the Himalayas again with the intention of renouncing the
material life. But Baba there, his guru, orders him to the job-a
sort of preparing the ground for a leader in the State.
There
is a sea change in Rajnikanth's looks and style. The voice used
to dub his role in Telugu is not effective. Manisha Koirala is ornamental.
She has absolutely no role to play, except to the chosen one for
Baba to wed. Anyway, that does not happen. But for the Chief Minister
and his stooge (Ashish Vidyarthi) no one has a sensible role. The
film is loaded with plenty of fights that project Baba as an invincible
powerhouse. Dance duets also mark the pace of the film. Sanghavi
too gets an insignificant role. Sujatha is the only artiste who
has something to portray as the doting mother Baba. A.R. Rehman's
score is effective in the background support, but songs make no
impact. Technically the film is interesting. Computer technology
is used particularly for scenes in the Himalayas. The film, in short,
fails to meet the expectations raised in the pre-release hype.
Punch Dialogue :
"Aasanja adikirathu wungga policy,
aassaiyamma adikirathu Baba policy"
Baba Songs ... |