Baaghi 2 review: Welcome to the Tiger Shroff stunt show

At the outset one must know that Baaghi 2 is a package created to showcase the strengths of Tiger Shroff — beefy body, brute power, gun-toting skills and stunt techniques. Welcome to the Tiger Shroff stunt show! 

Now, if you want to see Shroff show off his abs, flaunt his dancing skills in a Punjabi number, snarl at his enemies, kick tons of butt, and be invincible, this has it all. If you are looking for logic and nuance, you are at the wrong screening.

Neha (Disha Patani), who has recently been attacked by masked goons, asks the rebellious, trigger-happy special forces officer Ranveer Pratap Singh (Shroff) to help her find her four-year-old daughter Riya. With Singh's introduction scene, where he shows no mercy to a bunch of terrorists, director Ahmed Khan quickly establishes his nationalism, coaxing you to root for the 'Baaghi' protagonist.

Several flashbacks slowly reveal the clichéd and boring love story of Neha and Ranveer — how they fell in love and parted ways during their college days.

Ranveer lands up in Goa to help his ex-flame, even as Patani struggles to express the fear, pain and confusion that her character Neha is going through. The major part of the suspense involves finding out if Riya exists or is just a figment of Neha's imagination. And if she does, who is behind her abduction.

We are introduced to many characters as the mystery of a possible kidnapping begins to unfold: a gyan-giving senior police officer (Manoj Bajpayee), a drug-dealing car showroom owner (Deepak Dobriyal), a hippie policeman from Punjab (Randeep Hooda), Neha's suspicious husband (Darshan Kumar) and his drug-addled younger brother (Prateik).

While all these brilliant actors form a commendable supporting cast and each has his moments, adding just a little more weight to the narrative, the convoluted and illogical scenarios don't do them any good.

Yes, there are plot twists to keep you interested, some good, others predictable.

But the last 15 minutes of the film is what all the romance, drama, twists and suspense lead up to — Shroff in the jungle, home to an army of baddies, a place that nobody has even mentioned up to this point, taking out the bad guys with brute strength. These 15 minutes are a non-stop action fest, well-choreographed by Ahmed Khan, Lakshman Chella and Ram Chella.

This long-drawn climax destroys the little gravitas that the narrative had attempted to achieve till then, but then that was to be expected. Thankfully, Shroff makes it all look good with his brooding style and convincing stunt execution. He breaks many a leg, turns into a punching machine, lands different kinds of martial arts kicks, shoots automatic weapons Rambo-style, throws daggers and bombs, and even leaps into a flying helicopter.

While Shroff seems to have learned how to emote and brings a little more weight to his performance compared to his earlier films, he continues to play to his strength, which is hard-core action.

Though Singh's senior claims that our hero is a one-man army, I would like to point out that his enemies have very poor aim. How else can you explain his coming out unscathed despite being showered by a barrage of bullets throughout the climax?

Logic seems to have been thrown out of the window to design a story that can allow for long-drawn-out action sequences and, of course, shots of Shroff's glistening body. The songs are only unwanted interruptions, especially the 'Ek Do Teen' and 'Mundiya' remakes, which stick out like sore thumbs.

After Heropanti (2014), A Flying Jatt (2016) and Baaghi (2016), if you are only too happy to see Tiger Shroff unleash his power and destroy everything that stands in his way, then Baaghi 2 will entertain you. And if you aren't satisfied, don't worry. Baaghi 3 is already on its way!