Baby Do Die Do

BABY DO DIE DO works due to a terrific performance

Led by the excellent Huma Qureshi and backed by confident, tightly written storytelling, Baby Do Die Do does exactly that. At a time when women-led films are often pushed to streaming, Baby Do Die Do reminds us that they deserve theatrical confidence too. Not every film needs to reinvent cinema; some just need to entertain.

The film is stylish and inventive but loses its grip in the second half. Baby Do Die Do is a fast-paced black comedy thriller led by a terrific Huma Qureshi, but the film falters later.

Unfortunately, thrillers live and die by the suspense they create, and this one repeatedly undercuts itself by revealing too much, too soon. Add to that convenient plotting that rarely serves the narrative, and what could have been a gripping thriller ends up as a watchable one that never fully realises its potential.

As an assassin story, Baby Do Die Do is not out of the ordinary. The only novelty is that the brooding hero is a deaf-and-mute hitwoman, not a hitman.

Baby Do Die Do initially lives up to its superb title and inventive premise, with deft portrayal of Mumbai and inventive use of split screens. However, the love story takes over the narrative and diffuses its focus, forcing overly neat coincidences and unconvincing twists, and the 125-minute film could have done with the same kind of ruthless treatment that Baby reserves for her targets.

The film however, doesn't always treat the violence with gravity. Its tone is not always sharp and cynical even as it aims to critique the cornerstones of wealth and power on occasions by establishing the link between the builder lobby and mafia. Director Nachiket Samant largely uses the noir as part of the design element, lending a pulpy, comic-bookish layer to the narrative while the thematic undercurrents don't really get time to marinate.