Heyy Babyy

 

In Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, we saw Indians living in the New York marrying, cheating, divorcing  and being miserable in the pursuit of soul mates.   In Sajid Khan’s Heyy Babyy, the location is Sydney, and the trio of dawgs (Arush, Tanmay, Al) never get  that far, as they bounce from girl to girl in an endless string of meaningless physical encounters.

The  movie opens with the title song, featuring Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Fardeen Khan living it up in the nightclub that Akshay’s character, Arush, manages.   They are joined by some 20 actresses in dance on, dance off guest appearances.   It’s a high energy number and  the girls (Malaika Arora, for example) look stunning.

The next day, all three boys wake up in their rooms of the bachelor pad, each wrapped around his own conquest from the previous night.   Arush answers the doorbell and finds  a mystery baby girl gurgling and cooing  at him.   She is the most adorable child you will have seen in years, unless you have your own, and then she will be the second most adorable child you’ve ever glimpsed.

Given how slutty fancyfree the boys all are, the baby could belong to any of them.   They draw up long, long lists of all the Aussie maidens they’ve bedded and seek out each and every one to look for the missing mother, but, many tight slaps later,  no luck.   In the meantime, much slapstick comedy ensues as they learn how to feed and diaper the tot, wherein the three become model parents and newly sensitive men, regretting any pain their past indiscretions have caused.

Vidya Balan appears  and  the father in the group realizes he’s the one, as  the mother waltzes off with the bundle of joy, leaving the men bereft.  

The trio devise a plan to win her and the baby back.   More slapstick,  a few more songs and a wedding, and a wonderful picturization of Mast Kalandar, complete with guest appearance by SRK in a gorgeous mauve sherwani (with a baby pink lining) and some tongue-not-quite-in-cheek references to DDLJ.

You’ll completely ignore the closing credits rolling by on a split screen, because of the  final number.   It’s  a re-do of the title song, but this time with the accompaniment of Australian group Girl Band, as a series of outtakes give way to a Chippendales type scene playing out.    Akshay and the two boys appear in air pilot uniforms, which they shed before a cheering  all-female audience.   Athletic Akshay manages to do a bit of very competent pole dancing too.

See it or skip it?

It’s a fun summer soufflé, though with a few dents in it from some overwrought drama and an excess of about 10 minutes overall.   Akshay is cute, Fardeen rather misplaced (except when playing the khadi-wearing, shudh Hindi-speaking suitor), and it is Riteish who comes out surprisingly strong here.   After his comic turns in films like Bluffmaster, he again shows an easy ability for comedy.   Vidya manages well enough, in spite being saddled with several unflattering dresses with the largest, ugliest patterns imagineable.   Her saris at the Delhi wedding scenes are a welcome respite.

9 thoughts on “Heyy Babyy

  1. Yes, just watching this heyy babyy movies, i really liked it. is there’s any other kind that i would love to watch too? if there is, please reply back. Email address is right there. Thank you.

  2. Joseph, she did look lovely in Parineeta.

    I think part of the problem in this film is that she may have put on a few pounds, not that she was severely overweight but may have had a bit more weight than before, and whoever did the costumes on Heyy Babyy wasn’t able to, or didn’t care to, find clothes that would be more flattering to her. Also, I have to say, in one number, Mast Kalandar, she looked like she had lost weight. Given that it was filmed not too long ago, after most of the rest of the movie, it could be that she dropped some weight, and she looked good, but it looked incongruous.

    As to her looking uncomfortable, hmm, I wouldn’t say that this was her strongest role, but then again, she was really just the provider of the baby, and the scorned woman out for revenge, whereas the movie was really about the love affair between the three guys and the baby, so it’s not like Parineeta, that was more centered around her.

    One funny detail, she was in a black and red sari that was reminiscent of the color and styke of Rekha’s costume in Parineeta.

  3. I am so happy to see that Fardeen Khan is once again gainfully employed and, hopefully, ready to become a contributing member of society.

  4. Speaking of Vidya Balan, don’t you think she looks painfully uncomfortable doing these kind of roles?

    At the risk of type-casting methinks that she’d be better of sticking to playing traditional-type characters like in ‘Parineeta’. Also the fact that she positively can’t dance isn’t helping her image either!

    Your comments on Miss VB are eagerly awaited:)

  5. Sajid Khan used to be a stand up comic before directing this movie. He would often make fun of the methods used by other directors incuding the numerologically corrected names in his shows. Its funny to see how he has used many of the same things in his own movie.

    It reminded me of a very “respected” critic who made a movie a few years ago only to repeat many of the mistakes and inadequacies he used to point out while reviewing movies made by other directors.

  6. Hmm, I’m a little bit interested now … The poster and the spelling of the title were enough to completely turn me off this, although I do love Vidya and have a soft spot for Riteish. Also, a cameo by SRK, you say? Well, maybe I could borrow the DVD once it’s out. But is 3 Men & a Baby really a story that needs to be told again?

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