Movies By The Mob and Gothic Entertainment’s Babumoshai Bandookbaaz (A) is the story of a hitman who changes loyalties but can’t take it when the tables are turned against him and someone close to him changes loyalties.
Babu Bihari (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a hitman who kills people for a fee. He works for Dubey (Anil George) and Sumitra, popularly known as Jiji (Divya Dutta), a scheming and evil politician. Babu marries Phulwa (Bidi ta Bag) after murdering her rapists.
One day, Babu Bihari changes loyalties. He is asked to kill three persons, one of whom is Triloki (Murali Sharma), a trusted lieutenant of Jiji. Even while he is on the job of eliminating the three persons, he realises that Banke Bihari (Jatin Goswami) has also been asked to kill Triloki. Banke swears allegiance to Babu and that’s how the two of them befriend each other rather than becoming enemies. But after the three murders, Banke actually shoots Babu who is then assumed to be dead.
Babu returns to his town after eight years. He is given the sad news that Jiji and company had burnt his house and wife Phulwa. He swears revenge on Jiji and also Dubey, as Banke tells him that Dubey had told Jiji about his wife’s whereabouts. Babu first kills Triveni (Naveen Tyagi), another trusted lieutenant of Jiji. He then goes after Jiji and Dubey. But life has another terrible shock in store for him.
What is that shock? Who had changed loyalties? What does Babu do when he learns of the truth?
Ghalib Asad Bhopali has written a story that is engaging although it lacks novelty. The final twist in the tale, which affects Babu Bihari, is interesting and shocking. Ghalib Asad Bhopali’s screenplay is quite nice but the biggest problem is that the audience’s sympathy does not go completely to Babu Bihari. Of course, there is also no other character in the drama, with whom the viewer’s sympathy can lie. In other words, the viewer doesn’t have any single character whose finger he can hold all through the film. The drama moves on a single track and there is no respite from murders and killings, making the film rather tension-ridden. There are a lot of swear words mouthed by the characters and also a lot of love-making scenes, making the film less palatable for the family audiences and womenfolk. Of course, the four-letter words add to the authenticity of the characters. Since all the characters in the film are shown to be opportunists and selfish and grey, the audience gets bored at places because of the monotony of the characters. Ghalib Asad Bhopali’s dialogues are realistic.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui once again shines in the role of Babu Bihari. He lives the character and stands out with his effortless performance, making the drama both, entertaining and interesting. Bidita Bag gives a free performance and exudes oomph. Jatin Goswami is impressive as Banke Bihari. Shraddha Das looks pretty and acts ably in the role of Yasmin. Divya Dutta is first-rate in the role of Sumitra (Jiji). Anil George has his moments as Dubey. Bhagwan Tiwari is extraordinary in the role of police officer Tara Shankar. The man delivers a brilliant performance. Jitu Shivhare leaves a mark as Bhupati. Murali Sharma (as Triloki), Naveen Tyagi (as Triveni), Anil Rastogi (as Sumitra’s father) and the others lend decent support.
Kushan Nandy’s direction is quite good. A few of his directorial touches are really nice. But he should have added more dimensions to the drama. Music (Gaurav Dagaonkar, Debojyoti Mishra and Abhilash-Joel) is alright. Although it goes with the film’s mood, the absence of hit and racy tunes is felt. Ghalib Asad Bhopali’s lyrics are effective. Jeet Singh’s choreography is functional. Anup Bhat’s background music is fair. Vishal Vittal’s cinematography is impressive. Kiran Shyam Shroff’s production designing is quite good. Editing (by Kushan Nandy and Ashmith Kunder) is sharp.
On the whole, Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a well-made film but because it lacks novelty and due to overcrowding of releases, its business will be below the mark. In fact, given its very poor initial, the film would entail substantial losses to its investors.