Baaghi 3

STORY: Fiercely protective of his elder brother Vikram (Riteish Deshmukh), Ronnie (Tiger Shroff) goes after a dreaded terrorist group in Syria to save him. Can he bring back his brother alive?

REVIEW: Rippling muscles, six-pack abs and a chiseled face. Meet Ronnie - the handsome hunk whose only job is to magically appear from thin air whenever his elder brother Vikram is in trouble. He will bash up the bad guys to a pulp and go back to minding his own business. But in a sudden twist, Vikram is kidnapped by a terrorist group called Jaish-e-Lashkar in Syria and Ronnie sets off on a rescue mission.

Director Ahmed Khan throws in every trick in the book to make ‘Baaghi 3’ an action entertainer with elements that highlight his leading man’s brute force and deadly machismo. Tiger Shroff, who is clearly one of Bollywood’s most bankable action stars, packs quite a punch in the high-octane action scenes (directed by Ram-Laxman and Kecha Khampadkee). His perfect body and attitude make all the stylized action look real. However, he falls short in emotional scenes and comedy. Shraddha Kapoor looks beautiful and brings in some good comic relief in the first half. But her character isn’t very crucial to the story and hence, she doesn’t have much scope to perform. Riteish Deshmukh has an important role, but his character suffers from a certain handicap, which is never explained. On one hand, he needs to be constantly protected by his younger brother but on the other, he is also recruited as a police officer despite being so vulnerable. Such inconsistency in his character graph makes it difficult to relate with him. In fact, there are quite a few such loose ends in the story that make it far less convincing.

While the Syrian setting brings in a terrifying feel, most villains are far too caricaturish to be taken seriously, barring the main villain Abu Jalal (Jameel Khoury). He looks the part and his performance is chilling. Among the other actors, Jackie Shroff, Ankita Lokhande and Vijay Varma lend good support. The dialogues by Farhad Samji are laced with low-brow humour, especially in the first half and fairly filmy in the second half. The film’s music is quite average but thankfully, there aren’t too many songs. Disha Patani sizzles in a scintillating item number that adds a dash of glamour to this stylish actioner. While the action design (by Ahmed Khan) is impressive, the same cannot be said for the shaky camerawork and weak CGI.

There are ample acrobatics on display, slo-mo shots, deafening explosions and lethal punches in ‘Baaghi 3’. But none of it can rise beyond a weak script that doesn’t go for the kill. Knock yourself out only if you’re a diehard Tiger Shroff fan.