Oh! Baby Review: A Delightful Family Film!

Oh! Baby, the official remake of the South Korean blockbuster film, Miss Granny, stars Tollywood’s high-profile actress Samantha Akkineni in the lead role with veteran actors Lakshmi and Rajendra Prasad filling in as the supporting cast. Samantha, who’s riding high ever since U-Turn (2018) and this year’s romantic-hit Majili is back with yet another women-centric film in which she undoubtedly gives her career-best performance and displays her brilliant comedic chops.

Directed by B. V. Nandini Reddy (Ala Modalaindi fame), the storyline of the film starts with Baby (Lakshmi), a stubborn, no-nonsense, bad-tempered 70-year old, who runs a canteen with her lifelong friend, Chanti (Rajendra Prasad). After often finding herself in shouting matches with her daughter-in-law. Consequences lead Baby to leave her household as she eventually makes her way to a photo studio in which the photographer promises her that he will snap a picture which will remind her of her long-lost teenage years. Instantly after taking the photo, Baby now transforms into a young 25-year old as the rest of the movie explores the fun and mischief Baby (now Samantha Akkineni) has with her younger self.

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Well over two-hour-thirty-minutes, Oh! Baby had a lot going on all at once, but, let’s begin with the positives. In its entirety, the comedic sequences in the movie are decent, on-point and extremely enjoyable. The Rajahmundry accent added that extra bit of flavor to the well-written dialogues as there are laughable through and through. Complementing the overall tone of the film, Samantha did everything she could to make her unorthodox character blossom and stand out. Her body language, facial expressions, behavior and mannerisms looked and felt like an actual 70-year old as she amazed everyone comedically and emotionally. However, her stellar performance wouldn’t have been possible if not for the terrific dubbing by Chinmayi who nailed that native-Andhra accent from top to bottom, and she deserves equal credit from the audience.

Besides Samantha, the other supporting cast also did a fantastic job by helping the narrative move forward. Yesteryear comedy star, Rajendra Prasad played a vital role in enhancing Samantha’s delightful screen presence, and his chemistry with her was captured really well on-screen. On the other hand, Lakshmi once again showcased her ability to entertain and steal every scene in the first twenty minutes of the movie alongside Rao Ramesh who had quite a few emotional moments to share together with a social message about children, parents and family.

Having said that, although Oh! Baby is entertaining through and through it had its fair share of issues for the entire duration. Director, Nandini Reddy who also penned the screenplay for the film, did not structure the narrative all that well. The patchy, up and down screenwriting issues were distinctly noticeable as the character moments, and the emotional scenes took a hike and were lost in-between the overabundant comedy scenes. The plot and the overall intention of the story were, for the most part, unclear, and as a result, the climax didn’t fell impactful as it should be.

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Overall, Oh! Baby delivered on everything family audiences expect from a family film. It is entertaining, filled with comedy, emotion, amusing dialogues and most importantly was led by Samantha Akkineni’s (with Chinmayi Sripaada) remarkable performance. Despite the glaring runtime and screenwriting issues and concerns, this movie will win hearts and will indeed delight viewers of all ages. Additionally, it is pleasing to watch Tollywood move past the scenic romantic and special songs which only exist to entertain a certain set of audience. With films like Oh! Baby, Agent Sai Srinivasa Atheya – a gripping detective movie, Mallesham – a raw and a down-to-earth biopic, TFI is putting in the effort to entertain the viewers the right way; by giving utmost importance to the story and the characters.

Rating – 3/5 | Grade – B

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