The protagonist Baabarr's life is chronicled in no particular scheme except the one that occurs naturally to the character's destiny. There's a ruthlessly rigorous rhythm to the narration, somewhat like a Ram Gopal Varma film.

In fact there's a reference to Varma's 'Satya' towards the end when the hero dismisses it as 'just a film' when in fact his own life replicates the story of gangsterism in 'Satya' with far more brutal candour.

But the greatest virtue of 'Baabarr' is also its undoing. The world that Trika creates is too devoid of the soft moments and too violent and barbaric to be accepted as entertainment.

The performances match the mood of heightened anxiety. Om Puri as a cheesy, side-changing cop and Sushant Singh as the protagonist's arch-enemy blend with the fiercely bloody fabric of storytelling.

Tinu Anand has one outstanding sequence where he tries to stop the protagonist from killing him through emotional blackmail.

Newcomer Sohum Shah gets bravely into the sanguinary act. However the soundtrack is ear-splitting. Does violence have to be so noisy?