Baby (2023 film)

Baby is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language coming of age romantic drama film directed by Sai Rajesh Neelam and produced by Sreenivasa Kumar Naidu under Mass Movie Makers. The film features Anand Deverakonda, Vaishnavi Chaitanya and Viraj Ashwin in the lead roles.

Baby was released on 14 July 2023 to positive reviews from critics and grossed inr 1000000000 worldwide becoming the tenth highest-grossing Telugu film of 2023.

Plot
Vaishnavi and Anand are neighours and high school students, who live in a slum in Hyderabad. Anand has a troubled relationship with his mother as she is mute and deaf, although she loves him dearly. Vaishnavi has a crush on Anand, but he does not acknowledge her until one day when she stands up to their teacher. Anand reciprocates her feelings, and they eventually start a relationship. Three years later, Vaishnavi goes on to join a prestigious Engineering college while Anand drops out of college due to bad grades. He takes to driving an auto for a living.

Anand mortgages his auto to buy a smartphone for Vaishnavi. However, he has a hard time repaying the loan. Vaishnavi, meanwhile, has a hard time fitting in with the wealthier, modern students of her college. She befriends classmates Viraj and Seetha, and tries her best to integrate into their social circle. Viraj is attracted to Vaishnavi, who hides the fact that she is in a relationship with Anand. Enamoured by the glitzy and glamorous life of her new friends and angered by Anand's increasingly abusive and controlling attitude, Vaishnavi starts to grow emotionally distant from Anand and closer to Viraj. Viraj gifts Vaishnavi a new iPhone, causing her and Anand to have an argument when she discards and belittles the smartphone Anand got for her, unaware he was slapped by the loan shark in front of his mother.

Seetha becomes envious of Vaishnavi as she believes that Vaishnavi is from the lower class and does not deserve Viraj's attention. At Viraj's birthday party, Vaishnavi becomes conflicted when Anand leaves several voicemails apologising to her and Viraj professes his love for her. In an inebriated state and angry at Anand, she texts Anand that she loves him before kissing Viraj, which is captured on the premises' CCTV. She realises her mistake, but Viraj continues to pursue her and asks her to marry him. When she angrily rejects him, he threatens to reveal their kissing video. Using these situations to her advantage, Seetha manipulates Vaishnavi and Viraj against each other. In an attempt to get rid of Viraj, Vaishnavi sleeps with him. Later, she drinks to forget her infidelity and confesses the same to Seetha, which is secretly recorded by Anand's friend, Harsha. Seetha shares the kissing video as well with Harsha, who in turn, shares Vaishnavi's confession and the recording of Vaishnavi and Viraj kissing with Anand.

Anand comes to know about everything that has been going on between Vaishnavi and Viraj and in a fit of rage tries to murder Vaishnavi in her sleep but fails and breaks down in tears. Meanwhile, Viraj comes to know through Seetha that Vaishnavi has a boyfriend since 10th grade. When confronted publicly by both men, a guilt-ridden Vaishnavi attempts suicide. Anand and Viraj are both arrested, but eventually released on bail. Vaishnavi is hospitalised and recovers. Anand realises the harsh way he treated his mother and decides to apologise to her, but she passes away that night, causing him to slip into depression. On her father's advice, Vaishnavi finds an emotionally disturbed Anand drinking at a train station. She tries to apologise to him but Anand is unable to forgive her and begs Vaishnavi to leave him alone. Heartbroken, she obliges for his sake.

In the epilogue, Anand comes up on Vaishnavi's wedding procession while picking up a passenger. As Vaishnavi and her husband are about to leave her home, she and Anand exchange a glance before he drives away in tears. The film ends with Anand's emotional state and a photo of a younger Vaishnavi in his auto, showing that they still love each other but circumstances and destiny had something else in store for them.

Cast

 * Vaishnavi Chaitanya as Vaishnavi "Vaishu"
 * Anand Devarakonda as Anand
 * Viraj Ashwin as Viraj
 * Nagendra Babu as Vaishnavi's Father
 * Harsha Chemudu as Harsha

Music
The music was composed by Vijay Bulganin.

Release
Baby was released theatrically on 14 July 2023. The post-theatrical streaming rights were acquired by Aha and was premiered on 25 August 2023. Television satellite premiere rights were acquired by ETV.

Critical reception
A critic from 123telugu wrote that "On the whole, Baby sheds light on modern-day relationships in a neat manner, and the climax is unconventional. The performances of Vaishnavi Chaitanya, Anand Deverakonda, and Viraj Ashwin are simply superb". A critic from The Indian Express wrote that "Baby is a must watch this season". A critic from The Times of India wrote that "Baby might leave you with mixed feelings, but it's also the kind of film that'll incite conversations – for better or worse. And maybe that's the point of it all!" A critic from The Hindu wrote that "Helmed by Sai Rajesh, Anand Deverakonda's latest reads like a moral story with the protagonist actually spelling out the moral three-fourths into the movie". A critic from Deccan Chronicle wrote that "Director wanted to engage the audience riding on confusions in youngsters in dealing with relationships, but falls flat barring some moments".

Box office
Ten days after its release, the film had collected a worldwide gross of ₹60.40 crores with a distributors' share of ₹31.71 crores, amassing a total profit of ₹23.71 crores. In the home market (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states of India), it has collected a gross of ₹51.10 crores with a distributors' share of ₹27.85 crores.