Baby Do Die Do
Director: Nachiket Samant
Cast: Huma Qureshi, Sikander Kher, Chunky Panday, Rachit Singh, Seema Pahwa
Rating: ★★.5
One Friday, two Hindi films about female assassins. One arrives with the muscle of the YRF SpyVerse and a passport full of international locations. The other doesn’t bother with the fireworks, choosing instead to keep its mission grounded. We are talking about the latter in this review.
The premise
Directed by Nachiket Samant, (whose Single Salma also released this year with Huma Qureshi in the lead), Baby Do Die Do follows Baby Karmarkar (the film’s title is a literal English translation of her name). She’s a woman shaped by childhood trauma into a contract killer. After her twin sister’s murder, she is brought up by Papa (Chunky Panday), who trains her as an assassin and puts her to work for Zafar (Sikandar Kher). Her unsuspecting neighbour Siddhu (Rachit Singh) falls in love with her, but once their paths converge, the story heads down a route that’s predictable.
The film spends its first half trying to convince you it’s unlike anything you have seen before. Sweeping Mumbai shots consist of neon signs that keep changing their messages depending on what’s happening in the story. It’s quirky for the sake of being quirky. The actual hook, thankfully, is far more interesting: a deaf and mute assassin haunted by the voice of her murdered twin sister. But just when it begins to pull you in, the screenplay starts handing out answers like freebies. In a thriller, surprise is currency, and BDDD burns through it quickly. For instance, how the police identify a businessman’s killer during the investigation is something the film already hints at way before it actually comes along.
Thankfully, the second half brings with it a sense of urgency that the film has been missing. The pace improves, but the writing continues to lean on convenience whenever it hits a roadblock. As a result, the reveal of Baby’s sister’s killer, arguably the film’s biggest moment, does not pack the punch it should. Instead of making your jaw drop, it merely checks a box.
The performances
Huma Qureshi lends Baby the emotional weight the screenplay often lacks. Rachit Singh is convincing as the bewildered Siddhu, playing the part with sincerity. But as mentioned earlier, BDDD frequently mistakes quirks for depth. Making Siddhu a Sikh, for instance, has no bearing on the plot or his character arc, making the decision feel inconsequential. Real-life couple Huma and Rachit are pleasant together on screen, and the chemistry is just about okay. Seema Pahwa is reliable as the investigating officer, Sikandar Kher is good as Zafar. Saqib Saleem, who also co-produces the film, leaves the strongest impression in a special appearance as “Alpha” Q. Hehe.
The music by Arjun Iyer is heavily dependent on the story and doesn’t contribute a lot.
Verdict
Overall, there is an honesty to Baby Do Die Do that’s easy to appreciate. It resists the temptation to become another larger-than-life action spectacle and instead tells a smaller, personal story. A deaf and mute assassin driven by childhood trauma is an idea rich with dramatic possibilities, and Huma Qureshi does enough to make you care for Baby’s journey. 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.