Heyy Babyy DVD (2007)

I guess I just can't go a week without a Bollywood fix. This time out, it's HEYY BABYY, which is India cinema's 2007 adaptation of Three Men and a Cradle. If you've already seen THREE MEN AND A CRADLE (or its American remake Three Men and a Baby), then this one doesn't really have much to offer, unless you're a fan of any of the three male leads. And the baby is cute, so there's that. But, then again, this film is 2 hours and 24 minutes long. There's that, too.

Three funloving Indians living abroad, in Australia. There's Tanmay, who dons a Teddy Bear costume in his theme park job. There's Ali, who is lazy and likes to gamble. Arush is manager of Sydney's most happening nightclub. All three are hardliving, irresponsible womanizers. They happen to share a comfy bachelor pad. And life is an ongoing party. Then a baby girl enters their lives, abandoned on their doorstop and with a brief note: "Take care of your daughter." Party's over.

Although HEYY BABYY co-stars Fardeen Khan and Ritesh Deshmukh, the big star here is Akshay Kumar, who was on some kind of a roll in 2007. Along with HEYY BABYY, Akshay made Namastey London DVD (wonderful!), BHOOL BHULAYAA, and WELCOME, all of which were box office hits. Of the four, though, HEYY BABYY may be the film I like least. Bollywood just can't stay away from the extremes. The first half of the film runs like an unpolished, runaway version of THREE MEN AND A BABY, replete with airborne poop-drenched diapers and the three guys flinging baby food at each other. This is also where the three main characters are at their most unlikable and immature. They gripe and moan and despair over the baby's incessant needs,and the audience is soon treated to three grown-up men admonishing kids to shut up and that they hate them. They get so fed up with their infant charge that they actually do something truly reprehensible. And I guess we're supposed to still like these blokes because they later repent and turn into good, responsible dads, right? But, just as life is good for the three dads and the baby, the mother enters into the picture. She wants her baby back, and before the film's intermission.

Minor SPOILERS coming up in the next paragraph.

The film's second half moves the spotlight away from the baby a bit, to focus more on Akshay Kumar's romance with Vidya Balan, who stiffly plays the baby's mother, Isha. You see, a year ago, Arush (Akshay) and Isha had a thing, before Isha caught him with another woman. Thing over. Today, Isha's still got her mad on and doesn't want Arush to have anything to do with the baby (by the way, it wasn't Isha who left the infant at his doorstep). But Arush and his roommates have discovered the joys of fatherhood and mean to have their child back. Plus, Arush is in love with Isha. In desperation, Arush strikes a contract with her. If Isha manages to find a fit husband in seven days, she keeps the baby. If not, then Arush takes the baby away.

But, worry not, Arush has concocted a plan, and it's a goofy one, too. He'll need the help of his friends and that of Isha's father, who's all guilt-ridden. This gives the film license to come up with even more slapstick as Arush, Tanmay, and Ali resort to disguises and crazy antics. One wonders though how Arush, in particular, was able to get away with his flimsy disguises without Isha recognizing her erstwhile lover. And since we're mentioning flaws, coincidence kicks the audience hard in the pants as both parents end up independently naming the baby "Angel." What are the odds?

SPOILERS end.

The three male leads, perhaps fearing being upstaged by a baby, mug their way thru scene after scene. They cry a lot, too, and frolic in a shower (and how weird was that?). Each tender, emotional scene is overwrung with corny over-acting, which ruins the moment. Not only is the story a bit too pat and predictable, it tends to devolve into a Three Stooges type of zaniness (plenty of slaps to the face for everyone). In his film commentary, Director Sajid Khan states that he intended this film to be enjoyed by kids, and I guess that would explain the crass and silly attempts at humor.

The film does have some stuff going for it, enough for me to give it two and a half stars. I've been dumping on the cast quite a bit, but they are occasionally pretty decent and funny. Akshay once again displays how capable he is at drawing out chuckles. And some of the aforementioned silly attempts at humor actually works. My favorite scene is probably when Fardeen Khan was driving the car ever so slowly, to the chagrin of his passengers, even as joggers, a somersaulter, and a guy on a wheelchair breezily pass the car. Then there's that late cameo by the biggest superstar in Bollywood. However, ultimately, I don't believe these positives are enough to redeem the movie.

Since this is Bollywood, there are musical numbers. But the songs end up being lackluster, although the closing credits do showcase some film bloopers and Akshay, Fardeen, and Ritesh doing a bit of the full monty. So there's that.

Lastly, this film demonstrates once again that poop in the face just never gets old. And, if the poop is disturbingly yellow, well, so much the better.

Before I bought this I couldnt work out from the other reviews what the balance of the movie was like. Was it one of the silly Bollywoods where the guys are just jerks or was it more the 'redeemed men' theme such as in the enjoyable 'Bachna Ae Hasseno'?

Well the guys arent quite as inept as I expected and they didnt dwell on their initial silliness or annoyance with the baby's intrusion in their lives too much at the beginning. Yes it was a bit of the silliness but it was tamed down a bit compared to other Bollywoods I've seen. The relationship between the lads is fairly convincing and warm.

For me Akshay Kumar can go either way. I enjoyed him in 'Namastay London' and 'Singh is Kingg' but really didn't like him in 'Garam Masala' for one. He is Ok in this and the other two men balanced a roughness he seemes to have at times.

The overwhelming bulk of the movie is their affection for the kid and how they felt changed and had bonded closely with it.

Then the movie took off in a romance direction of whether one of them could retrieve his relationship with the mother of the child and finally form a family.

Then there was the cameo by Shahrukh Khan. He looked like he'd wandered onto the set to visit a friend and someone threw him a suitable coat and said 'hey what about joining in a moment'. Naturally his presence added to the dance scene he'd wandered into.

The song he danced to is one of the main reasons I decided to buy the movie as I hadnt been sure of whether it was for me. The song 'Mast Kalander' is a very catchy song and I had high hopes for the music. Actually this was the best song in the movie for me. One or two other songs had a little something but a few of the others needed a bit of zip in them (including the opening theme song).

This movie isn't just a remake of 'Three Men and a Baby' and actually I think I like this one better.

Overall not to bad and I will hold onto it (this is often a test for me am I likely to revisit it sometime in the futureYes worth holding onto...)

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I really enjoy watching this movie. This movie is all about being a father and loving your children. This movie was very funny but also has some very serious matters in it. This Movie taught those three men to stop fooling around and stop hurting women. They learn to respect women and learn about being a father. Its a movie for all those dead beat dads that dont care about their children and treat women badly. I also enjoy watching akshay the best. He's hot.

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Watch the wedding scene very closely, and you will see a couple of 20 something western extras milling around in the background at various times. They are my son and a friend who were having a beer in Mumbai one night when a guy approached them and asked them if they were interested in being extras in a Bollywod movie. He gave them a card and told them where to show up at 8 the next morning. They thought it was some kind of scam, but they checked it out and it turned out to be true, so they went. That scene took a full day and they were paid $20 each.

They were great extras. They did mention that the female lead was a real b*tch and that the director was a tyrant. As for the rest of the film, I can't say!

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Akshay kumar is so funny not only in this film, but in so many others. Boman Irani brings out his comical side as well as his soft side. This is a heart welding movie based on family values, love, respect and keeping a family together. There are some scenes where everyone quarrels with one another, but at the end Vidyas character knows what's right and follows her heart and keeps her promises to bring back her family!!! It's auwsume!! A must see film.

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