Opinion: Is ‘Baby’ Really A Cult Film?

K Viswanath’s Shankarabharanam, Ram Gopal Varma’s Siva, Maniratnam’s Geethanjali, Sukumar’s Arya and recently Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Arjun Reddy were all hailed as ‘cult’ films by film lovers and critics alike.

However, the makers of the latest sensational film “Baby” are claiming that theirs is a ‘cult’ movie with producer SKN going to the extent of slapping thighs while saying the same. So, is it really a cult film?

No doubt, say it is bold content or crazy content, Baby is doing well at the ticket windows, especially in the B&C centres. Especially the cuss words scene, the one where the heroine goes ahead to sleep with the other guy in her first lover’s auto-rickshaw, and the kissing sequence as well as the 30-day-dating plan, were all being loved by massy youths.

But to be honest, that is making the film a money-spinning product that reached the target sections quite deeply, but not a ‘cult’ film. You call it a cult, when the film shocks, amazes and takes a huge leap in terms of filmmaking, narrative, screenplay and other aspects. But fairly banking on verbose shock value won’t make any film a cult one, which will be talked about for years. That’s what film analysts feel right now about Baby.

The downside, these days if any film scores a hit, then the makers are calling it a cult movie. If we have to say that way, then the likes of RX100, Bimbisara, Dhamaka and Samajavaragamana are also cult movies, as they reaped huge at the box office. Of course, not everyone will agree to give cult status to these movies though they minted big monies. Still, if you think that Baby is a cult movie, mention your reasoning in the comments section below.