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Run Baby Run review: RJ Balaji delivers an effective thriller with good twists

Run baby run review: rj balaji has managed an easy transition from comedy to thriller with this captivating new film..

Actor-filmmaker RJ Balaji, who has quietly charted his own path with films with a good dose of comedy, steps out of his comfort zone to attempt a new genre in Run Baby Run. It works as an effective thriller that gets the job done. What really makes Run Baby Run unique is that it’s not a hero-driven thriller where he’s doing all the heavy lifting and solving the mystery single-handedly. It’s a thriller that’s powered by some interesting characters and RJ Balaji, who plays the central character, just happens to be one of them.

The film opens with the suicide of a young medico Sophie (Smruthi Venkat) falling to death from her college building. Cut to the next shot, we are introduced to RJ Balaji (Sathya), who works in a multinational bank and is days away from getting married to Isha Talwar. As he’s busy with wedding shopping one day, he finds out that an unknown woman has sneaked into his car and he’s forced to bring her home. Upon inquiring, he learns that the girl is Thara (Aishwarya Rajesh), who reveals that her life is in danger and pleads to take refuge in his home for a few hours until her guardian arrives. After much contemplation, Sathya allows Thara to stay in his home, only to find her lying dead in his bathroom the next day. Sathya tries to dispose of Thara's body but he finds himself caught up in a messy situation.

This is a confident transition for RJ Balaji, who has so far safely played to his strengths, taking up comedy roles even when he was directing. He shines in this relentless thriller that never wastes a second and keeps the thrill alive till the last minute. The story kicks in from the opening frame and the proceedings keep you pinned till the very end. This is one of the biggest strengths of the film. Unlike most thrillers, Run Baby Run works to a large extent because it has multiple suspects and it succeeds in shifting the focus of the viewer from one suspect to another from time to time throughout the film.

Balaji, who has always been self-aware about his limitations as an actor, plays his part competently. It’s a believable performance of an ordinary guy stuck in an extraordinary situation and the story follows his efforts to free himself. Any other actor in his shoes would’ve expected his character to turn heroic at some point but thankfully RJ Balaji doesn’t fall in that image trap. The film definitely needed a better antagonist and a stronger twist but that’s just a minor grouse in an otherwise mostly compelling thriller. The supporting cast does a decent job in playing their respective parts fittingly.

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Run Baby Run

While returning home from work, a bank employee, Sathya (RJ Balaji) meets a strange girl inside his car, whose life is in danger. He allows her to stay at his apartment, leading to many complications.

Run Baby Run: Release Date, Trailer, Songs, Cast

Updated Jun 9, 2023, 13:27 IST

About Run Baby Run

Run Baby Run Movie Trailer

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Run Baby Run review: RJ Balaji’s effective crime mystery loses steam in the second half

Run baby run is another tamil crime mystery that fails to quench the excitement the set-up creates..

Run Baby Run comes across as two different films. The first part is a solid thriller about an everyday bank employee named Sathya (RJ Balaji), who finds himself caught in a murder mystery when he tries to help a perturbed woman Thara (Aishwarya Rajesh) who sneaks into his car. Sathya goes shopping one day to buy a gift for his fiance. While returning he picks her up and heads to her home, and suddenly finds a woman hiding in his car. Within a few hours, his life gets changed forever.

The whole set-up is engrossing and brilliantly structured. The rewarding part of it all is that a lot is shown than said. Every scene, though the film is pretty racy, takes its time to convey things, which is pretty seamless. In a matter of minutes, Run Baby Run effortlessly acquires our attention and investment. It incites empathy for its protagonist and we wish he gets out of this disaster in one piece. One also badly hopes that all this brilliant set-up, especially the deliberately-paced pre-interval segment, will pay off.

Music composer Sam CS does a lot to Run Baby Run. Though the blaring background score ostentatiously stands out and begs for your attention, it helps the mood of the film, which at times gets into the supernatural zone. However, post the interval, like many of our Tamil films, things start to fizzle out. The screenplay is not seamless anymore. There’s a lack of consistency too. The initial threat to the protagonist, which felt omnipresent and omnipotent, loses its consistency. We painfully watch a brilliant premise descend into a generic thriller with the usual motive and a stereotypical villain. Then there’s a huge change of pace. While the predominant portion of the first part was about the whole journey of the protagonist and the way he gets rid of the body, the second part just gets past several major developments in a hurry. There’s no ‘showing’ anymore, but a lot of telling.

While Sathya, as he claims, was just an average person in the first half, he quickly becomes a hero in the next. The unnecessary fight sequence has no reason to exist in this film, which was trying to stay sober as much as possible. One might argue it was realistically choreographed, but the point is the movie never needed one in the first place. Then there are the contrivances that make it a lot easier for the hero. It all looks hurried. The huge issue with Run Baby Run is the lack of a solid motive and a stronger antagonist. The threat which was initially personal becomes a social issue. It is time heroes and filmmakers realise they need not always save the world. Sometimes saving a decent film from becoming a mediocre affair is good enough.

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Kirubhakar Purushothaman is a Principal Correspondent with Indian Express and is based out of Chennai. He has been writing about Tamil cinema and a bit about OTT content for the past eight years across top media houses. Like many, he is also an engineer-turned-journalist from Tamil Nadu, who chose the profession just because he wanted to make cinema a part of his professional life.   ... Read More

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Run Baby Run Movie Review: This RJ Balaji-Starrer Keeps You Hooked Till The End

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The Tamil language thriller-drama is receiving a positive response from the audience.

Tamil action-thriller Run Baby Run, starring south superstars RJ Balaji and Aishwarya Rajesh, released in cinemas this weekend. Directed by Jiyen Krishnakumar, the film is quite impressive, and looks completely different from Balaji’s previous movies. The intense first half surprises the viewers with twists and turns, while the mystery unfolds in the climax. Followed by an engaging second half, the thriller will keep you hooked for sure.

The film opens with the suicide of a young woman (a medical student), falling to death from her college building. Next, we are introduced to Sathya (RJ Balaji), who works in a multinational bank and is getting married soon. One day, when he goes out for his wedding shopping, he suddenly comes across an unknown woman named Thara (Aishwarya Rajesh). She is seen being forced inside a car by someone. Sathya helps her during the tussle. But, he finds out after a few days that Thara has died. The story is surrounded by mysteries. It focuses on the troubles Sathya faces, and his efforts to escape from them. The events that take place after this death and the consequences this young man faces, is the main storyline of the movie.

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Balaji has chosen a story that departs from his usual comedy films like Mookuthi Amman and Veetla Visesam. The actor, after featuring in several comedy dramas, opted to do a thriller film for the first time. What really makes Run Baby Run unique is that it’s a hero-driven thriller drama, where Balaji is doing all the heavy lifting and solving the mystery single-handedly.

The length of this film is 2 hours and 10 minutes. RJ Balaji has acted perfectly to suit the character and the film’s story. Scenes for other characters are limited, including that of actors Aishwarya Rajesh, Radhika and Isha Talwar. They too have done their job well.

Run Baby Run’s music has been composed by Sam CS. His background music has added to the film’s strengths. The screenplay and visual settings of the film could have been designed in a better way. Run Baby Run would have been commendable, had the narrative been carried out in a more vibrant way.

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Overall the film has been receiving a positive response, and is set to become another success for RJ Balaji. The positive reviews have helped the film to get decent occupancy on day 1. The movie has also occupied a decent number of screens in cinemas.

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• 'Run Baby Run' Twitter review: RJ Balaji displays his never-before-seen side as an actor

'Run Baby Run' Twitter review: RJ Balaji displays his never-before-seen side as an actor

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