Global Baba movie review: Beyond a god man's game lies a political scam

Director: Manoj Tewari

Cast: Abhimanyu Singh, Ravi Kishen, Sandeepa Dhar, Sanjay Mishra, Pankaj Tripathi

So far many Bollywood films have taken a dig at the false god man and their acts. Be it ‘PK’, ‘Oh My God’ or ‘Dharam Sankat’, the films tried their best to showcase crooked godmen and their self-propagation of superstitions. Director Manoj Tewari’s ‘Global Baba’ is the story of a goon, who seeks refuge in the world of religion after losing protection from his political masters. How he succeeds in attracting a large number of followers and regains his position of power in politics – is what makes ‘Global Baba’ an interesting watch.

Chillam Pehlwaan aka Global Baba (Abhimanyu Singh) is a local gangster, who is constantly eyed by the CM Bhanumati for his evil deeds in the society. Bhanumati orders an honest officer Jacob (Ravi Kishen) to catch hold of him but somehow Chillam succeeds in escaping from the city. Injured Chillam incidentally reaches Benaras where he encounters several babas on the ghats of Ganges. Mouni Baba aka Dumroo (Pankaj Tripathi), who runs his shop of fake beliefs co-incidentally meets Chillam and provokes him to join the world of religion.

Bhole Nath (Sanjay Mishra), is a preacher with a huge number of followers in the same city. With Global Baba’s fake propagation, his followers increases rapidly and soon he becomes the minister of religion. Another character in the film is Dallu Yadav (Akhilendra Mishra), who is chasing his dreams to become MLA and grabs this opportunity to fight for the local people as means to strengthen his play at the coming elections.

Global Baba trespasses a barren land that belongs to the forest department and builds his lavish ashram over this land. Now, the fight begins between Dallu Yadav and Global Baba. Bhavna (Sandeepa Dhar), is a journalist in the channel run by Dallu. Seeing her dedication, Global Baba offers her a job with handsome amount to handle his devotional channel. Later, Bhavna and Jacob join hands for a mission to catch Global Baba and reveal his real face to the society. Will they succeed in unveiling the real side of Global Baba or not, is the real mystery that the film circles around.

The film starts on the note of fake beliefs and superstitious babas but later ‘Global Baba’ takes you in the world of politics. Director Manoj Tewari made a different attempt. One might think that ‘Global Baba’ must be a replica of ‘Dharam Sankat’ and ‘Oh My God’ but the film’s second half will put all the speculations to rest. ‘Global Baba’ not only showcases the journey of a fake god man but also how well he plays politics to regain his power and position.

Abhimanyu Singh impresses to the core as a saffron-robed charlatan. His intense performance will leave you stunned. Ravi Kishen did full justice with his role as a dedicated and loyal cop. Akhilendra Mishra, Sandeepa Dhar and Sanjay Mishra perform up to the mark in their scenes. Pankaj Tripathi, stand out in his performance as a lisp devotee of Global Baba. He is totally a stunner in each frame.

The film is beautifully shot on the ghats of Benaras and in the interiors of the near by localities. The only missing link is the revenge of Bhanumati that vanishes in the second half.

If you are religious and want to know its hidden harsh realities, then go watch ‘Global Baba’ this weekend. But if you are expecting a fancy film like ‘PK’ or ‘Oh My God’, then it may disappoint you. Though the film doesn’t have ‘stars’, but the performances by the actors in the film will blow you away.