Movie Review - Ardab Mutiyaran: All eyes on this Jatti

Manpriya Singh

Welcome to Pollywood Babbu Bains, the character (played by Sonam Bajwa) that is a departure from all that a Jatt stands for. Or actually, it’s bang on what a Jatt stands, only it’s a Jatti standing this time. The one, who drives a Thar with Ardab Mutiyar inscribed on the rear windshield, carries a baseball bat in that very Thar and has a Ghaint Jatti written on that very bat. So far so good! The good part is it stays that ways for the rest of the film. 

As the name suggests, Babbu Bains is stubborn to the core, the one who’ll make you come around. She stands up for her rights, for others’ rights and for all that is right.

Never mind if she has to be a little wrong in the process, drop in a fake lizard in your cup of tea, break a few bones, create a scene in the parking lot, be at home with a few cuss words. She is no lady, but the leading lady driving a film on her shoulders. And boy does she have Amritsari accent in place? 

Giving this ‘lady loan recovery agent’ professional company is Ninja, who has his demons to fight. Which includes a contract marriage with his boss, almost a hoity-toity girl, an MBA, played remarkably well by Mehreen Pirzada. 

The script, refreshingly, has a good storyline and funny dialogues, thankfully, to take that story further. Be it a girl saying, how it doesn’t take a scholar to recover loans but rather the skill to catch hold of collars. Snuck in, not forcibly but effortlessly, are social messages to with gender equality, superstitions in the name of babas that propagate regressive thoughts.  

Now for the promising debut by Ajay Sarkaria and the cameo by Navneet Nishan that we would have liked to see more of. Ninja, quite a fixture in Pollywood now, having worked on a variety of roles and varied films, gets better with each film. 

Ajay Sarkaria debuts in Pollywood as Bandookwala Bansal, who runs a large sweet shop chain, and he stands out amidst this ensemble cast, where it can be tough for a male to make a mark. Fondly called the Halwayi by Sonam, he breaks the stereotypes highlighted quite tastefully in the film. So, he is a baniya yes, but no kanjoos, as he sends a table full of Indian delicacies for his lady working at a finance company. Taking the fun play on community further, is the wedding between this Bansal and the lady Bains. But, of course, our Jatti is loud and clear. This film belongs to her. 

[email protected]