Heyy Babyy

Fooling film lovers in the name of Baby

By : Ulhas Shirke

It is very easy to criticize other Bollywood filmmakers of the past, but when its your turn, be prepared to take criticism with a smile. Sajid Khan did it in his role as a host for television shows, making others laugh; but today, he has himself become a laughing stock. With the release of his debut film Heyy Babyy as a director, Sajid leaves behind many questions unanswered . His biggest mistake is that he has not chosen the subject that was something new and refreshing. With the kind of title used and the expected target audience being kids and family, he has offered nothing but cheap jokes and vulgarity based on sex.

To talk about the theme of the film, in 1969, T, Prakkash Rao presented a film Nanha Farishta starring Pran, Anwar Hussain and Ajit, playing the three dacoits who take care of a baby girl. May be the circumstances are different in the previous film and Sajids latest film, but the ultimate presentation i.e. taking care of the baby, becoming emotional, sentimental and showering love on the baby is almost the same act. Just for the information of Mr. Sajid, there is nothing new that he thought of while showing the trio comprising of Akshay, Fardeen and Reitesh struggling to clean the shit, feeding her and giving bath to the baby. More so, the producer already having denied that his film is a copy of Hollywood movie Three Men And A Baby, whats original in it ? Not enough with the baby drama, he brings in another story knitted through the baby, at the stroke of interval.

The post interval drama too is nothing new but the same masala that we have seen in hundreds of bollywood films. When it is disclosed that the baby belongs to Vidya Balan, who has had an affair with one of the heroes- Akshay, a year back, she deserts him after finding him in bed with another girl. Now, the director takes you for granted . He offers whatever he feels is good through his so called comedy. The two friends with the help of girls father Boman Irani help Akshay to come out of the trouble and the film drags till the climax, which too is not impressive. Needless to mention that some of the sequences are just a copy from some of the previous bollywood and Hollywood hits.

What surprises more is the strategy adopted by the producers for marketing this film. In the name of the Baby they tried to invite the attention of families posing it as a comedy film on the likes of Babys day out. In reality, except for the voice of laughter of the baby, theres no comparison. Then, repeatedly showing the song mast kalandar in promos on TV, they showed Shahrukh Khan dancing and singing with Akhshay and Reitesh, but actually, Shahrukh has only that much song part to show his presence. Then there are other girls like Diya Mirza, Malaika Arora, Amisha Patel Shamita Shetty and other popular stars showing their faces in a dance number. One wonders, why use them in this manner and that too together ,only in songs? Is it not fooling the audience, using such artistes in songs and showing them in promos, so that the audience is tempted to watch the movie expecting it to be a multi-starrer.? .

One needs to offer quality entertainment thoughtfully, as not every time you can fool the same audience . The director should pay more emphasis on the target audience and accordingly select and edit the dialogues for the clean presentation of the screenplay. At no moment, where the audience comes to watch the film with their kids should feel embarrassed. But that is never to happen in our Bollywood, barring exceptions like Lage raho Munnabhai and few others, no filmmaker has tried to study this psychological aspect of audience with intelligence. Money and fame does not always come with heavy marketing and media hype. A good filmmaker has to find a place in the hearts of the sensible audience to remain in race in the long run.