Oh! Baby (2019)

I heard Hriday Ranjan at Film Companion South calling it the "Samantha Akkineni Show" and that is honestly the most apt description of this movie. Samantha doesn't just carry the movie on her shoulders- she dances along with it, making her audience dance in the process too. 

Actually, I would say it's the "Samantha & Lakshmi Show". Those two ladies make the film shine even in its weakest moments, and it's their massive talent combined into one character that makes it such a treat to watch. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the runtime, and the best part is that the movie doesn't give you enough time to ponder upon its flaws. It's only after you're done (with the movie and with crying) that you start to question why certain things happened, and well, I don't know about you but I prefer this to nitpicking and criticising while watching the movie itself. 

As for the flaws- the biggest ones that I can think of are the mother propaganda, the fact that they literally brushed aside Baby harassing her daughter-in-law, and the romance angle between Swathi and Vikram. Let's look at each individually: I was really emotional and crying in the climax scene between Rao Ramesh and Samantha, but my tears abruptly stopped when she said something along the lines of "I'm a mother and I can never turn my back". I was just, for lack of a better word, frustrated. I mean, look at it logically: very few people in Baby's position would leave when a loved one's life is at risk and they are the only ones who can help. Even if she had said "I love him too much to walk away", it would have made perfect sense. Then why insert Mother Sentiment? Isn't it obvious enough already?

Coming to daughter-in-law harassment- looking at the film from just this angle, one would never guess it was directed by a woman. Also the fact that Baby clearly favours her grandson and at best ignores and at worst detests her granddaughter is cleverly brushed aside by that one bit where Baby takes care of the granddaughter when she is ill. Sare. Too much feminism so we had to tone it down, right?

The third point was just completely unnecessary, I feel. Instead of devoting so much time to building that up, we could have had more comedy. And more building up of Baby realising her true feelings for Chanti- I felt like that storyline wasn't developed enough, and felt a little half-baked, even though it was one of the most heartwarming parts of the movie. 

That was my overwhelming feeling after watching the movie- it had so much potential to be one of the greatest movies ever, but it lost steam in the weirdest ways possible. I know it's a little unfair of me to hold women directors up to different standards, but I am so tired of not seeing our stories represented faithfully and it feels worse when you realise that a woman was running the show and still this happened. It's a shame also because the movie hits all the right spots, from guffawing to sobbing, and every cast member does an amazing job. Sigh. Guess you really can't get everything you want, huh.

In conclusion, you'll have a good time as long as you focus on queens Lakshmi and Samantha and don't expect too much of radical gender politics.