Baba (2002 film)
| Baba | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Suresh Krissna |
| Screenplay by | Rajinikanth |
| Dialogues by | Gopu-Babu S. Ramakrishnan |
| Story by | Rajinikanth |
| Produced by | Rajinikanth |
| Starring | Rajinikanth Manisha Koirala |
| Cinematography | Chota K. Naidu |
| Edited by | V. T. Vijayan |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Lotus International PVR Pictures SV VVK Pictures (Malaysia)[1] Lyca Productions (Re-release)[2] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 178 minutes 148 minutes (Re-release) |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Baba is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language supernatural action film written and produced by Rajinikanth under his banner Lotus International, directed by Suresh Krissna, with cinematography by Chota K. Naidu. The film features Rajinikanth in the title role alongside Manisha Koirala. The original songs and background score were composed by A. R. Rahman.
The film's story is about a carefree young non-believer of supreme power, Baba, who is a reincarnation of a great saint from the Himalayas. After several twists and problems caused by corrupt local politicians, Baba is taken to Mahavatar Babaji, whom Baba was a follower of in his last life. Baba gets tested by the deity to overcome several illusions of the materialistic world and is given seven wishes. How he uses the wishes while developing spirituality and being at loggerheads with the villains at the same time forms the rest of the story.
First released in 2002 with more than 100 days in theatres, the film was met with mixed critical reviews and was a box-office failure, resulting in Rajinikanth reimbursing distributors for their losses. The film was digitally remastered, re-edited with a shorter duration and an alternate ending, and re-released by Lyca Productions on 10 December 2022, twenty years after its original release, coinciding with Rajinikanth's birthday weekend and received a favourable response.[4][5]
Plot
The film's story is about a carefree young atheist, Baba, who is a reincarnation of a Saint from the Himalayas. After several twists and problems caused by corrupt local politicians, Baba is taken to Mahavatar Babaji, whom Baba was a follower of in his last life. Baba gets tested by the deity and is given seven chances of wishes; the test is that if he uses any one of the wishes for his own personal desires, he would have to take many more births for him to get rid of the Karma.
Cast
- Rajinikanth as Baba and Mahavatar Babaji (voice only)
- Manisha Koirala as Chamundeeswari
- Goundamani as Annamalai
- M. N. Nambiar as Baba's maternal uncle
- Amrish Puri as the tantrik
- Vijayakumar as Chamundeeswari's father
- MRR. Vasu Vikram as Baba's treacherous friend
- Delhi Ganesh as Perusu
- Karunas as Samundi
- Crane Manohar as Kathirika
- Kolkata Viswanathan as Baba's father
- Kitty as Bhai
- Riyaz Khan as Ramaswamy's son
- Ashish Vidhyarthi as Deputy Chief Minister Ippo Ramaswamy
- Sayaji Shinde as Divyananda Bharathi
- Bharat Dabholkar as Chief Minister Purushothaman
- Sujatha as Baba's mother
- Sanghavi as Lakshmi
- Seema as Jagadeeshwari, Chamundeeswari's mother
- Deepa Venkat as Chamundeeswari's friend
- Santhoshi as Rajeshwari, sister
- Vaishnavi as Bhuwaneshwari, Chamundeeswari's sister
- Special appearances
- Radha Ravi as Minister of Tourism
- Ramya Krishnan as Neelambari[6]
- Nassar as Suryaprakash
- Sarath Babu as the father of the girl saved by Baba
- Bharati Mani as Kanthan (uncredited)[7]
Soundtrack
A. R. Rahman was approached to compose the original songs and background score of the film. He initially declined the offer because of his busy schedule in London, with Bombay Dreams. He eventually accepted the film while in Ajmer.[8] The songs were recorded in June 2002. Rahman had to supervise the recordings online.
The soundtrack album was released in July 2002 in Chennai. According to Rahman, he tried novel innovations with Baba, giving more than the jingoistic music that is a characteristic part of a Rajinikanth film.[9] Some of the songs were filmed in Europe.[10]
Rahman also faced criticism from the film fraternity for not recording the songs on time.[11]
The Dravidar Kazhagam objected to the lyrics of a song that had to be partially deleted from the film later. They objected to what they called unfair commentary on Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and his ideology.[9][12]
| Song | Singers | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|
| "Baba Theme" ("Ekam Eva Adhvitheyam") | Srinivas | Vairamuthu |
| "Dippu Dippu" | Shankar Mahadevan | Vairamuthu |
| "Kichchu Tha" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Reena Bhardwaj, Rajinikanth (voice-over) | Vaali |
| "Maya Maya" | Karthik, Sujatha Mohan | Vaali |
| "Rajyama Illai Emaiyama - Version 1 " | P. Jayachandran | Vaali |
| "Sakthi Kodu" | Karthik | Vairamuthu |
| "Rajyama Illai Emaiyama - Version 2" | P. Jayachandran | Vaali |
| "Baba Rap" | Blaaze | Blaaze |
Release
This high-budget production was sold at a record price of ₹17 crore to distributors, but the film yielded a share of ₹13 crore worldwide. So, Rajinikanth volunteered to return almost 25% of the investment. In Coimbatore distribution territory, Baba was sold for ₹1.5 crore. This record remained unbroken until Chandramukhi, another Rajnikanth film.[13]
The film made RM 2 million in Malaysia but only broke even due to the high cost of distributing the movie.[1]
Reception
Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "You tend to think of Badsha even as you watch Baba and you wonder at the magic of the former, which still remains unsurpassed".[14] A critic from IANS rated the film 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "A large dose of spiritualism, blended with the usual Rajini-style of mannerisms and punch lines, and some graphics [...] A bit of an uncertain and confusing cocktail".[15] A critic from Sify rated the film 3/5 and wrote, "Rajnikanth's much hyped Baba is a total let down even for his die-hard fans! The film lacks mass appeal and looks more like a propaganda movie for the 'Hindutva' brigade".[16]
Controversy
Ramadoss, a politician from Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) condemned Rajinikanth for posing with beedis in the film and playing the role of a chain smoker in the film, which glorified smoking and drinking and encouraged Tamil youth to pick up those habits. PMK volunteers attacked theatres which screened the film Baba and usurped film rolls, and burnt it.[17] Amidst such controversies and negative criticism, Rajinikanth kept himself away from acting. Despite this, a few novice directors approached him with scripts, all of which he rejected.[18]
Re-release
The film was digitally remastered and re-released on December 10, 2022 with its running time being reduced by half-an-hour and having enhanced sound quality.[19][20]
The film had a limited re-release within Tamil Nadu and a few cities across India.[21]
Legacy
The film was noted for its dialogue spoken by Rajinikanth "Katham Katham" (Finish, Finish), which gained popularity and also inspired a film of the same name released in 2015.[22]
References
- ^ a b "A tame comeback in 'Baba'". The New Straits Times. p. Entertainment 5. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
- ^ "Baba (Re-release)". Lyca Productions. 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
- ^ Anand, S. (26 August 2022). "Bhagwan Rajni". Outlook. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Rajinikanth's Flop Movie 'Baba' Becomes A Massive Success After The Re-Release". ABP News. IANS. 19 December 2022. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ^ "Once a flop, Rajini's 'Baba' turning into a superhit on re-release?". Onmanorama. 19 December 2022. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ GE, Krupa (14 February 2018). "Ramya Krishnan, for the win". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ Kumar, N Vinoth (11 December 2022). "Baba review: Rajini's cult film holds little appeal for a 2022 audience". The Federal. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
- ^ Baba - Why Mahavatar Babaji Face Was not Shown in Film? - Suresh Krissna Opens Up | Rajini (in Tamil). Cinema Vikatan. 16 August 2020. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021 – via YouTube.
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b "Countdown to 'Baba' mystery". The Hindu. 1 August 2002. Archived from the original on 16 November 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2002.
- ^ "Exciting fare on the cards". The Hindu. 13 August 2002. Archived from the original on 6 October 2003. Retrieved 13 August 2002.
- ^ Pillai, Sreedhar (13 June 2002). "Discordant notes". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2002. Retrieved 13 June 2002.
- ^ Pillai, Sreedhar (22 August 2002). ""Baba" bashing!". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2002.
- ^ "Chandramukhi breaks Baba record price in Coimbatore distribution territory". Sify. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (16 August 2002). "Baba". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2003. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ "Baba Tamil Movie". Nowrunning. IANS. 25 July 2002. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
- ^ "Baba". Sify. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Rajini keeps everyone guessing". Deccan Herald. 23 March 2004. Archived from the original on 9 March 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ JBR (23 May 2005). "Is it a Rajni film, a film in which Rajini had acted?". Cinesouth. Archived from the original on 5 December 2005. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ "Superstar Rajinikanth's Baba to be re-released in theatres. Deets inside". India Today. 21 November 2022. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
- ^ "Rajinikanth unveils trailer for remastered version of Baba: 'A film that will forever be closest to my heart'". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
- ^ "'Baba' re-release box office collection: Rajinikanth starrer earned Rs 4 crores". The Times of India. 17 December 2022. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ "I don't imitate Rajini intentionally: Natraj Subramaniam". Deccan Chronicle. 26 May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
External links
- Baba at IMDb
- Baba at Rotten Tomatoes