The trailer of Tiger Shroff-led Baaghi 4 was dropped today. Filmmaker A Harsha, known for his collaborations with Shiva Rajkumar and the late Puneet Rajkumar, is making his Bollywood debut with the film.
The trailer has already drawn attention for its graphic content. YouTube flagged it as "inappropriate for some users" because of its violent visuals.
The trailer shows Tiger Shroff as a lover-turned-avenger, who sets out to track down the man responsible for killing his partner, played by Harnaaz Sandhu. Flashbacks show him as a Navy officer, but the traumatic loss of his partner pushes him onto a bloody path of revenge.
The cast also includes Sonam Bajwa, Shreyas Talpade and Saurabh Sachdeva, with Sanjay Dutt playing the main antagonist, a castle-dwelling villain who chops off fingers and is accompanied by a CGI tiger.
Soon after YouTube's advisory, the trailer warns viewers with a "Restricted Violence" logo. It then cuts to Tiger Shroff's grand entry, where he appears wielding a butcher knife. A voiceover declares, "I have witnessed countless tales of love, but never have I seen such an action-packed love story in my life before. A Baaghi (rebel) has failed Romeo, Majnu and Ranjha."
In one scene, a character questions him: "Have you lost your mind?" To which he replies: "Not my mind, but heart." The trailer then hints at a psychological twist. Shreyas Talpade's character says, "Alisha (character played by Harnaaz Sandhu) just exists in his mind." This suggests that the protagonist's story may be built around delusions and imagined trauma.
Background
Baaghi 4 is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and will release in theatres on September 5. It is set to clash at the box office with Vivek Agnihotri's The Bengal Files, another film with a violent theme.
The Baaghi franchise has been one of Bollywood's most successful action series. The first film, released in 2016 with Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead, earned Rs 125.90 crore worldwide on a budget of Rs 37 crore.
Its 2018 sequel, Baaghi 2, featuring Tiger and Disha Patani, went on to gross Rs 257 crore globally despite mixed reviews. The third installment, Baaghi 3 (2020), faced the challenge of releasing just a week before India's nationwide lockdown, but still managed to collect Rs 137 crore, recovering its Rs 100 crore budget. Encouraged by the franchise's continued popularity, the makers greenlit the fourth part.