Baabarr Review

When 12-year old Baabarr picks up a gun for the first time and shoots a man in cold blood, his descent into a life of crime begins. Fearlessly wielding his gun, he continues to terrorise the community for the next 10 years. In a bid to end Baabarr's reign of terror, SP Dwivedi (Mithun Chakraborty) is sent to Aman Ganj under orders to arrest him, or kill him. Dwivedi finds that Baabarr is at the centre of a complex nexus of criminals working for the very same politicians who want him dead. In a desperate effort to bring his campaign of violence to an end, Dwivedi and his associate Daroga (Om Puri) enlist the services of Baabarr's main adversary Tabrez (Sushant Singh). As Baabarr continues to evade them, Dwivedi soon discovers that the corruption is endemic and his efforts to capture Baabarr are being foiled by his own men.

The film opens with a narration by a child who tells of the crime and corruption that is rampant in the city. It's an eerie introduction and a precursor to the horrors that will follow. Baabarr is grim from the outset. The depiction of the greying chawls and the dank, sprawling city of Aman Ganj set the scene for the portrayal of life in a crime ridden community.

The film is gruesome in its depiction of violence and is, at times, utterly repulsive. While the story dictates that criminal acts be portrayed to their full extent, the film takes the violence to a whole other disturbing level. An abattoir is the setting for a skirmish between the criminals and gunshots fly in the midst of huge, hanging carcasses in which one of the criminals is finally stuffed and killed. A man is crushed in a giant press and as another begs for his life he is shot in cold blood. The police torture of the criminals is equally disturbing as Mamu (Tinu Anand) is brutally beaten in a bid to discover Baabarr's whereabouts.

Employing the fast paced, slick style first demonstrated by Ram Gopal Varma in Satya And Company, the film is well edited with quick, sharp cuts which, along with the evocative background score add to the simmering tension. With its caustic one-liners, the tight dialogue is also compelling.