Varun Dhawan & Wamiqa Gabbi's Movie Baby John
The much-hyped action film by Varun Dhawan, Baby John, featuring Wamiqa Gabbi, had all the right ingredients of an adrenaline-pumping storyline, action sequences, and the charm of a popular Bollywood star.
But what it got at the box office was not even remotely close to the promise of its trailer, and negative reviews coupled with poor word-of-mouth ensured that it lost its steam within no time. Audiences who walked into cinemas expecting a high-octane entertainer walked out disappointed, and the reasons behind this disappointment are hard to ignore.
A Strong Start, But a Weak Follow-Through
On its release day, Baby John managed to attract a decent crowd, primarily driven by Varun Dhawan’s loyal fan base and an aggressive marketing campaign. Opening weekend numbers were excellent, and everybody thought this movie was going to be one of the year’s biggest blockbusters.
But after all the reviews started rolling in, it was clearly apparent that the movie didn’t live up to people’s expectations. The problems in the storyline were grossly visible, the action scenes were terribly delivered, and the characters were badly developed and not even evoking a feeling.
The steep fall in audience viewership after the first weekend was telling: the film could not retain the interest of the audience. Not even the most loyal fan could defend the film’s glaring flaws.
The Plot: A Messy Disconnect
The heart of Baby John lies in its storyline, or rather, the absence of one. A predictable revenge arc of a plot has few, if any, twists or surprises along the way. Important moments are rushed and not very convincing, making a coherent screenplay difficult to hold onto.
High stakes are set up but not delivered. Emotional turning points, which should be impactful, end up feeling hollow because of poor character development.
The film attempts to merge heavy action with dramatic depth but neither materializes. The audience most of the time felt that characters were only to be used for action but not people with realistic reasoning behind them.
Unsustainable Action Scenes
One of the most scathing criticisms for Baby John is the excessively comical and laughably absurd action sequences. Even by Bollywood standards, this genre has always had a flair for exaggeration.
But the stunts in Baby John were over the top and went into absurdity. The scenes in which Varun Dhawan takes down dozens of opponents single-handedly with hardly a scratch raise more eyebrows than applause.
Instead of being thrilling, it had forced action and poor choreography. In addition to this, overuse of slow-motion shots and effects reduced the urgency as well as excitement of these dramatic moments.
Many such sequences were predictable about where the fight would end with the audience, and those lost all tension involved.
Weakly Developed Characters
Varun Dhawan is surely a good actor, and Wamiqa Gabbi has shown acting potential in her earlier assignments.
Baby John does not give them much scope to work with, though. The character of Varun is shallow and one-dimensional throughout the movie. His motivations, though explained for a brief period, sound shallow and do not touch the hearts of the viewers.
There also isn’t much use from Wamiqa Gabbi, who plays an essential supporting character. She gets off to a good starting but soon gets relegated in the background and leaves many things to be done, except for the stereotypical love interest.
Supporting characters can’t get much worse off as their role degenerates into nothing more than a plot device rather than doing something that contributes meaningfully to the story.
Pacing and Predictability are Bad as well
One more significant flaw in Baby John is the uneven pacing. The film drags on unnecessarily during the first half, whereas the second half rushes to critical plot points. It leaves the audience frustrated since they cannot stay engaged with the narrative.
The predictability of the storyline does not help either. Every twist and turn is telegraphed, so there are no moments of real surprise.
Audiences who love action films would expect to see clever writing and smart reveals, but Baby John offers neither of those things. Instead, it recycles familiar tropes without adding anything new or exciting.
The Aftermath of Negative Reviews
In today’s digital world, word of mouth and online reviews form a crucial part of whether a movie will succeed or not. Unfortunately for Baby John, the negative word of mouth spread like wildfire.
Social media platforms became flooded with critical reviews and hashtags mocking certain scenes went viral.
Many viewers, who had initially planned to go and watch the movie, cancelled their plans after seeing how scathing the reviews had been online. That such bad reviews could instantaneously affect box office performance clearly shows how interest cannot be sustained beyond the opening day in a film.
What Went Wrong in the Filmmaking Process?
Evidently, Baby John had some problems, but first and foremost, at its core, is a lack of vision and coherence in its narrative.
What action films should have over flashy stunts is the emotional core with interesting characters and a smooth narrative pace. The movie seemed so focused on how it was going to be visually big rather than providing substance and meaningful storytelling.
The writing team also shares the blame. With a tighter script and better character arcs, many of the movie’s problems could have been avoided. Moreover, relying too much on old tropes and formulaic storytelling further alienated audiences seeking something new.
Could Things Have Been Different?
Absolutely. With Varun Dhawan’s star power and Wamiqa Gabbi’s talent, Baby John had all the right ingredients to succeed.
However, these strengths were overshadowed by poor execution. If the filmmakers had focused more on character depth, refined the action sequences, and trimmed unnecessary subplots, Baby John could have been a far more compelling watch.
Baby John reminds us that star power itself cannot save a movie gone badly in terms of a script and execution.
Varun Dhawan, for one does everything possible with what he got; the weak plot along with underwhelming characters as well as the action are unreasonably done which spoils the fun of the film.
For the Bollywood filmmaker, Baby John is a lesson: audiences today demand more than just a spectacle with big budgets-they want stories that interest them, characters they care for, and action that is earned.
Hopefully, the team behind Baby John will take these lessons to heart and deliver a better experience next time.
