Director Nikhil Mahajan who made his debut as a director through a detective Marathi film ‘Pune 52′, now offers an action & mystery filled film ‘Baji’. The film is also a grand comeback for Shreyas Talpade into Marathi films after 8 years. But, as far as the screenplay of the film is concerned, it seems to be inspired by few Bollywood films like ‘Kaho na pyaar hai’, ‘Sholay’, ‘Ajooba’, ‘Shahenshah’ and ‘Krrish’. Writer- Director Nikhil Mahajan has paid more attention on making this film a technically superior film in Marathi.
The story of this film is set on the backdrop of a small village Shrirangpur in Maharashtra, which is supposed to be created by a king in 11th century. So, it’s all about the ‘hidden treasure’ in the village and a Superhero ‘Baji’, protecting the same from going into the hands of wrong people. Baji also comes to the rescue of villagers, whenever anybody is in trouble. There is a mystery behind this character of ‘Baji’, as he hasn’t appeared in the village for a long time. And that’s how the film begins, raising curiosity of the audience.
Dipu ( Shreyas Talpade) , who runs a grocery shop, keeps hearing the bravery acts of ‘Baji’ from his girlfriend Gouri ( Amruta Khanvilkar), who has been saved from a mishap by Baji. She is the only person from the village, who believes that Baji would return. Another young man from village, Martand ( Jitendra Joshi), turns greedy and tries to secretly search the hidden treasure. When Dipu comes to know about his plans, he opposes him; but, in the process, he is himself beaten up by Martand.
At the stroke of interval, we notice a twist in the screenplay. Post interval, we see a simple looking Dipu turning a brave man, thus coming to the rescue of villagers, who are used as slaves, by Martand to trace the hidden treasure in the village. So, it’s a straight fight between Martand v/s Dipu. But, Dipu’s mother( Ila Bhate) knows some secrets. The screenplay proceeds with action filled suspense, to see the end of wicked Martand, after a thrilling climax, shot on a running goods train.
In ‘Baji’ it is Shreyas & Shreyas all the way. With his variety of acting skills, he is impressive, from beginning till end. Amruta Khanvilkar has supported him well, as his leading lady in the film. In the entire film, she appears without make up, perhaps to meet the requirement of her village girl image. Jitendra Joshi as Martand, commits all heinous acts, in the post interval session. But, his character is shown cruel only through violence filled acts. There isn’t much scope for acting for him. In comparison, his portrayal of villain in recently released ‘Premasathi Coming Soon’ was much better.
The first half an hour of the film fails to take off with the story. A lot of time has been wasted in showing the friendship and intimacy among Shreyas, Amruta and child artiste Pushkar Lonarkar ( ‘Elizabeth Ekadashi’ fame).But, once the film’s story takes off, it keeps the audience engaged, till the end. The new concept of showing the shadow fight has been used well, in one of the action scenes. The climax has been shot well, but for that the credit goes to action director Stunt Silva and the excellent camera work by Vasu Rane. There is one stunt scene performed by Shreyas to rescue a puppy dog from the roof top. He keeps calling him with the name of a top hero of Marathi film. And, this certainly was in a bad taste.
The sound design and background music is appealing enough, to create suitable ambience during important scenes. The fiery dialogues are appropriate; but, they haven’t been used well, to show the conflict between Dipu and Martand. However, the two folk songs are picturised well, with good music composition by Atif Afzal. In special appearance, Shruti Marathe does well, with her sizzling dance performance, in one of the songs. Nagraj Manjule is surprisingly endearing in the role of a Police officer. Good support comes from Priyadarshan Jadhav, Pushakar Lonarkar, Sandesh Kulkarni , Ila Bhate and others.
Produced by a big group of producers, comprising of Arun Rangachari, Vivek Rangachari , Amit Ahirrao, Suhrud Godbole, Deepti Talpade, Hrishikesh Kulkarni, & Nikhil Mahajan, ‘Baji’ is a well presented film, but is too extensive, in its 170 mins length. However, one can still enjoy this film, without any preconceived notion.