Review of Baabul (2006) by Private U — 12 Jan 2008

By far the most emotional Bollywood movie I have ever seen. Amitabh Bachchan is at his best in this movie. Frankly speaking, I didn't know that John Abraham was playing Rajat, though I was speculating it the whole time.

After a simple Google search, it IS him all along!! There was just something about his hair in the movie that offset the instant recognition ahahah. Songs are not too bad, but not the best however. BUT, this movie is dainty (ok, that's the best word I can scratch down right now).

Very very emotional.. and sad to say that I was crying like a baby in the second half. This beats Khabi Khushi Khabi Gham (however you spell it.. and believe me, I wish I understand Hindi ok lol). It's a mixture of family values, traditions and society perception.

One of the themes from this movie is to treasure happiness and love above tradition. See what this movie has done to me!! I'm talking cliche. Definitely worth a second round I reckon. Bad news for John Abraham fans, he's in this movie for an insufficient 40 minutes.

. ONLY! Ok ok, so here's a brief summary of the movie (I'll try to avoid spoilers). It starts off like most typical Bollywood flicks. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, next comes marriage and the little one.

Now, here comes the "happening" part. The protagonist (Avi is the nickname) is killed by a car accident (I'm really trying not to spill out ok but this is crucial part since this is VERY different from other Bollywood).

Now, the girl (Milli is the nickname -not to be confused with beloved muah, of course- is devastated as hell. The older family members blame the death in part of Avi's parents inviting a widow to the Avi and Milli's wedding (supposedly, widows in a wedding brings bad luck to the marriage).

Ok, back to Milli.. in short, she's just pretty much screwed up and about to go out of sane. So, her father-in-law (Buddy senior.. I made that up cause they just call him Papa, but he and Avi call each other Buddy.

. charming ain't it?), played by the legendary Bachchan, tries to bring back her life. This is where the drop dead gorgeous Rajat, played by John Abraham, comes in. Rajat is Milli's chilhood friend and the one who gave her away to Avi (instead of her dad.

. how ironic). Matter of fact, he liked her for a wayyy too long time (and I pity this guy.. he's so... urrr.. let's just put it as "over-meek"). Bachchan tries to set up a marriage between the two although it will involve breaking the family's most valued tradition and spoiling the family name (eee.

. sounds very Cina ler.. si ai bin hahah). I highly recommend this movie. Trust me.