BABLI BOUNCER is a decent watch due to its message, funny moments

Babli Bouncer Review {3.0/5} & Review Rating

BABLI BOUNCER is the story of Babli, (Tamannaah Bhatia) who resides in the twin village of Asola-Fatehpur Beri near Delhi. She is the daughter of Gajanan Tanwar (Saurabh Shukla), who trains bodybuilders, and Ganga (Supriya Shukla). Babli failed in her tenth exam despite trying multiple times. She is quite strong physically, and has imbibed the bodybuilding qualities from her father. Kukku (Sahil Vaid), her childhood friend from her village, is in love with her and wants to marry her. Babli however doesn’t love him. At a wedding in the village, she meets Viraj (Abhishek Bajaj), the son of her school teacher (Yamini Dass). Babli falls for him. Both spend some time and Viraj asks her to meet him in Delhi, where he works. Babli decides to move to Delhi and take up a job so that she can frequently meet Viraj. Babli’s parents, however, are looking for a match for her. When Kukku learns about it, he gets worried and confesses to his parents that he wants to marry her. They meet Babli’s parents with the proposal and they are more than happy since they know Kukku very well. Babli sees an opportunity in this situation. She falsely tells Kukku that she’ll marry him, provided she’s allowed to work for a year. As luck would have it, Kukku works in Delhi’s Tally Gully Club, and the management there is looking for female bouncers to deal with unruly women customers. He asks Babli to apply and also convinces her parents about it. Babli passes the selection process and lands the job. She also meets Viraj and further falls for him. Viraj invites her to his birthday bash. At the party, Babli gets drunk and confesses to Viraj about her love for him. Viraj bluntly refuses her proposal and makes it clear that she doesn’t meet her standards. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Amit Joshi, Aradhana Sah and Madhur Bhandarkar’s story is fine. The bouncer element gives a novel touch to the storyline. Amit Joshi, Aradhana Sah and Madhur Bhandarkar’s screenplay is decent. The writing in the initial portions is shaky but gets better later on. A few scenes are well thought out and keep the interest going. Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah’s dialogues (additional dialogues by Sumit Ghildiyal) are a mixed bag. While some one-liners are witty and raise laughs, some dialogues fail to impress.

Madhur Bhandarkar’s direction is fair. He’s known for hard-hitting and serious films but BABLI BOUNCER is a light-hearted feel-good film. At the same time, he makes sure that it doesn’t turn out to be a mindless film as he raises some important points about women empowerment and their need to be independent. There’s no dull moment and he packs in a lot in 116 minutes of run time. A few scenes are very well executed like Babli’s training process, Babli and Viraj in the restaurant, Babli’s drunken confession, Babli’s promise to her father in the restaurant and Babli and Viraj’s conversation in the metro. The scenes in the pub also make for a nice watch, especially the different kinds of customers that frequent the watering hole. On the flipside, the film could have been funnier as there was a lot of scope for humour. Secondly, the viewers only get an overview of the world of female bouncers. Madhur doesn’t delve into it, the way he did with the life of bar dancers in CHANDNI BAR [2001] or the life of entertainment journalists in PAGE 3 [2005]. There’s no focus on her pay structure, working conditions or Babli’s interaction with fellow female bouncers. The climax is thrilling but one would surely expect it to be more hard-hitting. The finale is sweet but also convenient.

Babli Bouncer | Official Trailer | Hindi | Tamannaah Bhatia, Madhur Bhandarkar

Tamannaah Bhatia delivers a stupendous performance. This is unlike what she has done anything before in her career. The way she perfects the dialect and also gets into the skin of her character is seen to be believed. And most importantly, she suits the part of the bouncer. Saurabh Shukla is dependable as always. Sahil Vaid is praiseworthy and lends able support. Abhishek Bajaj looks decent and leaves a huge mark with his performance. Sabyasachi Chakraborty (Saurav Dutta) has an important role and does well. Upasana Singh (Dolly Chaddha) is too good as the rude customer. Khabir Mehta (Babli’s brother Golu) is wasted and disappears after a while. Ashwini Kalsekar (Bobby Didi) rocks in a cameo. Supriya Shukla, Yamini Dass, Saanand Verma (Jaggii), Rajesh Khera (Inspector Amarnath Singh) and others are good.

Songs are well woven into the narrative but aren’t of chartbuster variety. ‘Mad Banke’ and ‘Babli Shor Machaare’ are foot-tapping. ‘Le Sajna’ is okay while ‘Mann Mein Halchal’ is soulful. Anurag Saikia’s background score compliments the proceedings.

Himman Dhamija’s cinematography is neat. The locales of Chandigarh are passed off as Delhi smartly. Vikram Dahiya’s action is raw and not gory at all. Priya Suhass’ production design is realistic and appealing. Sheetal Iqbal Sharma’s costumes are authentic. Manish Pradhan’s editing is sharp.

On the whole, BABLI BOUNCER is a decent watch due to its message, funny moments, and Tamannaah Bhatia’s superlative performance.