Heyy Babyy Movie Reviews

Parenthood couldn't have been more fun than this. Ask the trio of Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan and Riteish Deshmukh and they would be able to tell. From the comfort of their job as a night club manager, betting player and children's party entertainer along with their random rendezvous at bed, they soon find themselves on an eight hours shift apiece with an unsuspected guest whom they love to call 'Angel'.

Required to feed her every two hours, change her diapers every hour, act as clowns to keep her smiling, take her for evening outings and buy clothes in dozens for her could have been horrifying for them. But one incident in their life changes it all and it's time for them to sing along 'Meri Duniya' with the toddler for the rest of their lives. So much so that they completely go out of practice of 'how to woo a woman' and choose to sing lullabies and nursery rhymes in spite of being on the verge of a romp with some of the hottest stunners from the Oz!

There are number of factors that contribute towards enhancing the strength of HEYY BABYY. First and foremost, the film doesn't revolve around Akshay and only Akshay in the film. Fardeen and Riteish raise from being mere sidekicks to Akshay and instead provide an integral support to the plot. The three share almost equal screen time and it is good to see each of them getting one liners that suit their personality and image.

While Akshay continues his 'main-hoon-sabse-smart' act that he has perfected since the days of HERA PHERI, Fardeen Khan has his Western sensibilities embedded all the way in his body language, mannerisms and accent. Though it's a different matter that he is forced to do just the opposite in the second half as he does a take off on Parimal Tripathy, the botany teacher played by Amitabh Bachchan in CHUPKE CHUPKE. He is phenomenal there as he mixes his 'shudd hindi vartalaap' with accented English and gets the house on fire. After NO ENTRY, he demonstrates once again that he has his own flair of doing comedy.

On the other hand Ritiesh Deshmukh threatens to steal the show (something which has now become a routine) whenever he appears on a frame. His dead pan humor is prevalent once again as director Sajid Khan incorporates a humorous 'gay' angle to his character at not less than 4-5 instances. And doesn't he just do it just so perfectly? Watch him come across a man as he meets all the people with whom he had once slept with or his Arabic act as he teases Fardeen Khan or a shower where he enjoys two men around him!

Nevertheless, all this is about the comic parts of the film which were anyways expected to be rip roaring due to Sajid Khan at the helm of affairs. It was but obvious that the man with a funny bone wouldn't let the script, his actors and the audience down when it comes to bringing smiles and laughter along.

The real surprise that Sajid throws is his strong control over getting just the perfect emotional moments in place. Keep your tissues ready when the trio realizes it's love for the kid. Whether it is the hospital sequence when they feel guilty about their folly or the entire 10 minutes duration when the song 'Meri Duniya' plays or the situation where the baby is took away from them or the scene where the baby calls out her 'daddy' for the first time - it is impossible not to have a moist eye and a heavy heart! Writer in Sajid Khan mixes original scenes with some of the clichés [Fardeen reading a 'namaaz'] excellently to create scenes which do not fail to touch your heart.

This is the reason why one gets a feeling of contentment as not only do you get good comic pleasure, you also take home fond memories of the emotions that you experienced during watching the film. So where does that leave two females in the film - the baby and baby's mother [Vidya Balan]? Needless to say, the baby Johana is simply adorable and special effort gone into getting the best expressions from her are apparent, especially when it comes to all the close up shots. While her naughty winks would be remembered by the audience, her wails are of the kind that would be identified by anyone and everyone who has ever held a kid in his/her arms.

Surprisingly Vidya Balan doesn't leave the kind of impact that one would have expected from her in HEYY BABYY. There is something that misses out from her performance. Is it because audience still considers her as a classical beauty a la PARINEETA and find it hard to digest her in anything which is otherwise? Or is it because in some of the high voltage dramatic sequence she doesn't come across as convincingly? Or is it because at times her strong resistance against even getting into a conversation with the father of the baby seems unjustified? Or is it just bad costumes? The fact remains that one would have expected a much better showing from the lady in spite of an honest effort by her.

Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is an asset to the film along with the choreography. One can't keep the eyes off the beauties as the opening song 'Ishq Mohabbat' plays with a dozen odd females. 'Mast Kalandar' has the best fun quotient though as mentioned above, 'Meri Duniya' has the kind of emotional appeal which makes you take it home!

As a first time director for a full length film [he directed the opening episode of DARNA ZAROORI HAI], Sajid Khan springs a surprise as a film maker who gets a polished product in place in spite of a unique subject, a huge star cast and a baby at the helm. He maintains a very good graph for the film and ensures that audience is hooked on to the screen throughout those two hours. Also, he gets the 'item' sequences right at regular intervals. Riteish's fight with the kids, Fardeen's Parimal act, Arab act by Akshay and Riteish, Shahrukh Khan's brief but high impact 'Raj' act from DDLJ, striptease sequence in end credit rolls - these are just some of the aces which he reveals at the opportune moments.

No, HEYY BABYY is not 'just' a comedy. It's not a film where you can use one of the most used and abused statements - "Leave your brains locked at home and enter the theater for an absolute 'dhamaal' while laughing your guts out." Instead it is a film which has a strong emotional quotient attached to it and has numerous sequences straight out of life. All of that, which makes HEYY BABYY an utterly enjoyable piece of cinema which makes you smile and laugh loud at as many instances as it makes you shed more than just a tear or two.