Spoilers ahead…
In Milan Luthria’s Baadshaaho, Ileana D’Cruz plays Rani Gitanjali Devi, who rules over a small part of Rajasthan. She begins an affair with her bodyguard, Bhawani (Ajay Devgn). During a song, she goes up to the terrace of her palace — Bhawani is waiting for her. She walks up to him, drops her royal coat (under which she’s nude), and reveals her royal back to the camera, which is poised provocatively, just stopping short of the royal buttocks. Bhawani, meanwhile, is clad from top to toe, and looking at Devgn’s expression, you don’t get the impression that a beautiful woman is throwing herself at him. He looks ready to say, “Child, you’re going to catch a cold.”
This isn’t about age-inappropriateness (though that’s certainly there) or selective female nudity (though that’s there as well). This is about what it will take for Devgn to emote again. There was a spate of films (Company, Zakhm) where he seemed capable of tapping into something raw inside — now I wonder if his performances were more due to the directors (Ram Gopal Varma, Mahesh Bhatt). How can you make a masala movie with a leading man devoid of spice? Devgn’s introduction scene, where he withstands a tear gas attack, is weak. His delivery of Rajat Arora’s dialogue is weak — though one could argue whether anyone can put across lines like “Aapke sone ka carat mhaare character ko barbaad nahin karega.” He still seems to be saying, “Child, you’re going to catch a cold.”
The story is set during the Emergency, which seems to be the flavour of the season. We got a drama (Indu Sarkar). We now have this heist thriller (Bhawani and Co. have to stop the queen’s treasure from being looted by the army). What next? A throwback love story where the rich heroine’s father hands a goon a pair of surgical scissors to perform a vasectomy on the slum-dwelling hero? Someone certainly seems to have snipped Emraan Hashmi’s ardour. The actor plays Dalia — he’s Veeru to Bhawani’s Jai. He gets to partake in an item number with Sunny Leone, but thereon, he’s strangely neutered. He doesn’t even attempt to kiss Esha Gupta (another teammate). Then again, would you derive much fun from life if you were named after a breakfast cereal?
Baadshaho (which means ‘kings’) promises B-movie entertainment, but the action scenes are unexciting, the writing is awful. (Check out the scene in the car where Bhawani realises something about his royal squeeze.) Sanjay Mishra offers some relief as a crotchety old lockpicker. I got a big laugh from the scene where he plies his trade wearing a horse’s blinders. Sharad Kelkar gives the film’s best performance as a cop named Durjan Singh (in these films, there’s always someone named Durjan Singh), and we finally get some masala swagger. (Unlike the others, he seems to truly believe he’s a part of this world.) Had Gitanjali thrown herself at him, it would have been a very different story. The title would have referred to the occupants of the royal nursery nine months later.
Copyright ©2017 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
MANK
September 3, 2017
This is about what it will take for Devgn to emote again.
Ha ha ha, le li devgn ki😁
The review was fun fun fun all the way, just disappointed that it was so short
I loved the previous collaborations of Devgn and luthria_ kache daagey and outim , so was expecting a decent masala film. Pity
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Adite
September 3, 2017
Killer Review…and I almost died laughing at the last line! 😀 Seriously though, Ajay Devgn looks like he has a permanent hangover.
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Kay
September 3, 2017
Interesting that you remarked on the age difference. It must be less than the difference between SRK and Anushka, isn’t it? But because of the chemistry their pairing didn’t feel odd at alll.
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ayushidatta
September 3, 2017
The trailer itself was so off-putting that I never wanted to watch Baadshaho, let alone reading a review of the film.
I’ve started following your work only recently and each and every review is sooooooooooooooooooo well-written that I just read all of them!
Fridays always excited the movie buff in me. The email notification about your latest review is now an added incentive. 😊
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travellingslacker
September 3, 2017
I think the decline started when he dropped that “a” from his surname. That took away all the emotions with it. 😦
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Akhilan
September 4, 2017
“Child, you’re going to catch a cold.”
Thanks to you BR, from henceforth I’m always going to remember this line whenever you review any future Ajay Devgn movie… 😉
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smile
September 4, 2017
we get it, we get it. You are in karan johar camp now.
Evil laughter here
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GODZ
September 4, 2017
You line “Child, you’re going to catch a cold.”…
Hahahahahahah… OMG.. Hahahahaa
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Sunny
September 4, 2017
Your review is way more interesting than the movie 😂
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Apu
September 4, 2017
I saw that Sunny Leone-Emraan Hashmi song and it just seemed so much meh – I wondered what happened to the Emraan-serial-kisser-Hashmi…what has he done to himself to seem so uncomfortable and stand-offish when there is Ms Leone around. Ten years back, that would have been the song that would have guaranteed a lot of butts on the seats.
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Amrita Ravimohan
September 4, 2017
No comments on Vidyut Jamval? Most reviewers have torn into his topless-in-the-train-carriage scene. Let’s be gender neutral about on screen nudity, I say 😀
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astha
September 4, 2017
I died laughing at the breakfast serial bit. 😀
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Anu Warrier
September 4, 2017
Yeah, where is the Ajay Devgan of yore? He was a reasonably competent actor at one point.
I laughed so much at the ‘Child, you’re going to catch a cold’ line. 🙂
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Deepak singh
September 5, 2017
I think u just broked my patience by insulting ajay. I think u always praise only Tamil and Telugu actors. I think ajay is clearly better than ajith Vijay and allu arjun. Just sad for you .i never expected u to be this biased. U even stole the outstanding performance of aj in company as well. That says it all how wrong u r this time like seriously. ….😂
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Prashila
September 5, 2017
I have been a fan of Ajay Devgan right since his Phool aur Kaante days. That was something of a family movie in my house, played multiple times on our VCP, and its songs something of a pop-culture milestone in the neighborhood. I still remember all us little girls gasping with visible discomfort in our classroom everytime one of our equally young boy classmates sang the “I love you” song replete with full emotions.:) Like one of my ex-bosses, who was also a fan, often said his unconventional non-Bollywood-hero looks only helped. Of course, there was that time when he made movies like Shikhar where he had switched to a hideous haircut and more hideously some blondish hair color where we both momentarily had doubts, but otherwise, his is a journey I have largely found fascinating. Though I share your frustration on the kind of movies he has been churning out lately and that single stone expression on his face which is becoming more and more common, I think it is a little unfair to think that his performances like Zakhm and Company might have been all thanks to the directors who made those films. He was quite good in Once upon a time in Mumbai, and even Shivaay though a vanity project, had its moments. And then who else but him to play the Magwitch character in Fitoor. It is a different matter that the movie turned out to be a damp squib. I remember reading an interview many years back where he said that he would like to focus on making profitable entertainers, considering he has had his share of critically acclaimed and performance oriented movies in the beginning of his career. With most of our other stars, it is the opposite. Now if he can fit the bill of a competent comedian in the Golmaal movies and the other Rohit Shetty vehicles, is a different topic, but the audience seems to not mind at all. I guess which is why his next movie is a Golmaal V4.
Raincoat is one of my favorite movies, and I still find it hard to believe how good he was in that role and how well he worked with Aishwarya Rai. Surely, the actors had to bring something from their side to infuse some life into the somber mood that made up that film. And then, even the unsentimental Bhagat Singh portrayal, even when he was not as young in real life as Singh was at the time of his death, when this movie was made. I think that performance too was as deserving of the National award as his performance in Zakhm was. And then there was Omkara where he was sadly overshadowed by Saif Ali’s Langda Tyaagi. I have lost count of how many times I have watched the O Saathi re song and how amazing was his chemistry is with Kareena Kapoor in that song. Sure it was Bharadwaj’s vision, but it would be unfair to not give credit to the performers.
I think his recent roles are more a reflection of how Bollywood has undergone a change of tone and preference. Akshay Kumar somehow has been lucky to reinvent himself and also remain spectacularly relevant. But he has an edge over Ajay Devgan in terms of being blessed with an innate comic timing.
As for the movies, I cannot imagine a Zakhm being made today, even if Mahesh Bhatt comes out of his retirement. Even Bharadwaj himself has moved onto Matru ki bijlee and Rangoon. Baadhshaho looked lazy and unremarkable right since its trailer had launched. If he joins hands with the likes of Anurag Kashyap or his whole Phantom films gang, there might be something worth looking forward to. Or probably a biopic, as that seems to be the flavor of the season. Otherwise, I guess he will be content to coast along the ‘entertainer’ brigade and make some money for himself and continue to remain around. Sad, but then what else is not.
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Anu Warrier
September 5, 2017
Prashila, I agree with you about the Ajay of Raincoat, Omkara, Zakhm, Bhagat and even out and out commercial films such as Deewangee, Pyar to Hona hi Tha, Thakshak, Lajja, Chori Chori and Khakhee. I used to like him a lot in those films, and i do wonder where that performer went.
I don’t mind him coastng along in ‘entertainers’ if that’s what he feels like doing – I do want him to entertain, however, not sleepwalk through his roles.
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Prashila
September 5, 2017
Anu, oh yes. I don’t bother watching any of his new films anymore, So the old fandom is in a strange place now. I feel he actually doesn’t (and doesn’t probably need to) put any effort in the Golmaal type fare he has specialized in now. Because those movies like the Houseful movies have their audience and will do well no matter what. Even Baadshaho is doing well apparently. I hated him in Golmaal 3. So annoying with that whole ‘ungli’ thing. But all said, I would still consider him a good and capable performer and hope he might end up surprising me and you and BR and all the others like us with something soon enough. And if that doesn’t happen, like I said, it will be sad. I’ll have one more remnant of my childhood to leave behind in some capacity. Sigh.
And good to see you mentioning Chori Chori. I liked that movie too but more often than not seem to forget its existence entirely. 🙂 And Lajja, haha looks like you and I are the only two people who liked anything to do with that movie.
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GODZ
September 6, 2017
@Prashila. You Forgot his performance in Gangaajal. One of his best. I got the glimpse of that Old Ajay in “Once Upon a Time in Mumbai” Fortunately, Nawazuddin Siddiqui fills the gap that was left long back when Devgan decided to act in films like Golmaal and Singham. Imagine how it would be if Devgan acted in “gangs of wasseypur”. Hope, we get to see the Ajay of early 2000;s soon with some great script selection.
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Kay
September 6, 2017
I happened to see the Rajnigandha ad, and felt he has acted quite well 😝 Same with the VKC Pride slipper ad too.
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Varun Oak-Bhakay
September 6, 2017
“A throwback love story where the rich heroine’s father hands a goon a pair of surgical scissors to perform a vasectomy on the slum-dwelling hero?”
^ I would pay to watch this.
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MANK
September 6, 2017
Actually Ajay was pretty much in this – expressionless, i’m too cool to care about acting – zone all throughout the 90’s. All those Platforms, Jigars and Vijaypaths. i have seen them all for his stunts, but it was a chore to sit through the rest of the film.
The first instance of real spark was in Zakham, where his internalised intensity got a proper channel and director, following up that with Thakshak and HDDCS, he change tracks from being an mere action star in to a serious performer.
My 3 favorite AD performances are Company, Khakhee and Omkara. his stone faced ,cool intensity creates a chilling effect in those 3 characters, as all of them are rather flawed immoral characters . This without being overtly showy . i liked him better than Saif in Omkara whom i thought was rather overrated in a performance that was helped a lot by good styling and a more author backed role
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MANK
September 6, 2017
The reason why this film has been doing reasonably well is because of the genre, its a fast paced masala heist\chase film which works very well with the single screen audience.
This film could have been so much better. the basic idea of the film is very promising, but it has not been developed properly at all, Bad casting – Emran hashmi and Esha Gupta , Yikes! and why would you hire Vidyut Janwal and not have an athletic fight sequence, the climax fight between him and Devgn is hardly visible in the sandstorm -, tacky production values and for a film set in 70’s , almost everybody talks , behaves and looks like they are from the present.To top that the director has gone and made the narrative unnecessarily convoluted, with all those plot twists and double crosses that would put Abbas Mustan to shame.
Its hard to imagine, Luthria made the solid OUTIM, which was like a great tribute to the serious masala films of 70s. this one stinks like a bad 80’s Mithun film
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Abir MIsra
September 21, 2017
https://abirmisra.wordpress.com/2017/09/03/baadshaho-the-most-mediocre-good-film-ever/
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