I found Baabul a B-category movie with an A-list-casting. The story, about a young girl being widowed, and the challenges she faces to try and get married again, is really an interesting idea, even though I am not sure whether it still is a common social problem amongst Hindustanis.
There's two reasons which make the movie quite bad: Salman Khan and Screenplay/Dialogue.
I don't know what people see in Salman Khan, but by the gods, this man CAN NOT act. He sounds like he is a half-German, half-Indian class B actor who is dubbing himself over in real-time. His post-modern interpretation of Romantic Love reminds me more of freshly laid asphalt then of anything else. Why do people still hire him? Were they out of money after Amitabh, Malini and Rani signed up?I found him so irritating that I could not suppress a small 'yay' when he gets run over by a car, halfway through the movie. "Great" I thought, "now let's get on with the people who CAN act and make it a good movie".
The second reason: at about three quarters of the movie, I suddenly realized something: if at this, or at any point in the movie, any of the characters would suddenly be played by another actor, it probably wouldn't change any of the dialogue, screenplay or anything else. If Rani would have been replaced in every other scene by let's say Kajol, Priyanka Chopra and an anonymous street vendor from Kolkata, the movie would go on. Now, that may seem an interesting achievement, but it isn't: it shows that many of the people involved just did not care about the actors, the plot and the movie. Screenplay and dialogue should be made to fit the actors: this is what makes chemistry and empathy possible. This just felt like the producers and director thought of this movie as 'another day at the office'. This comes out during the climax: at the point where even hard and sturdy men like me should break down and cry: "oh yes, that's so true, how can humans be so cruel?", you just don't feel anything.
The reason why I don't give the movie lower then a six, is that: well, at least the movie is tolerable. The camera-work is quite nice, the idea is quite nice, and the songs are not that bad. So, if you must see it, buy it on DVD and watch it at home when you have nothing else to do.
There's two reasons which make the movie quite bad: Salman Khan and Screenplay/Dialogue.
I don't know what people see in Salman Khan, but by the gods, this man CAN NOT act. He sounds like he is a half-German, half-Indian class B actor who is dubbing himself over in real-time. His post-modern interpretation of Romantic Love reminds me more of freshly laid asphalt then of anything else. Why do people still hire him? Were they out of money after Amitabh, Malini and Rani signed up?I found him so irritating that I could not suppress a small 'yay' when he gets run over by a car, halfway through the movie. "Great" I thought, "now let's get on with the people who CAN act and make it a good movie".
The second reason: at about three quarters of the movie, I suddenly realized something: if at this, or at any point in the movie, any of the characters would suddenly be played by another actor, it probably wouldn't change any of the dialogue, screenplay or anything else. If Rani would have been replaced in every other scene by let's say Kajol, Priyanka Chopra and an anonymous street vendor from Kolkata, the movie would go on. Now, that may seem an interesting achievement, but it isn't: it shows that many of the people involved just did not care about the actors, the plot and the movie. Screenplay and dialogue should be made to fit the actors: this is what makes chemistry and empathy possible. This just felt like the producers and director thought of this movie as 'another day at the office'. This comes out during the climax: at the point where even hard and sturdy men like me should break down and cry: "oh yes, that's so true, how can humans be so cruel?", you just don't feel anything.
The reason why I don't give the movie lower then a six, is that: well, at least the movie is tolerable. The camera-work is quite nice, the idea is quite nice, and the songs are not that bad. So, if you must see it, buy it on DVD and watch it at home when you have nothing else to do.