BAABUL was a great experience. The direction was excellent, the cinematography great, and the performances were the icing on the cake. Rani excelled first as the painter, then as the wife, next as the widow, and again as a bride.
If there was one aspect of BAABUL which disappointed me was the writing. Of course, there were many scenes that were excellent in terms of writing and also execution. (i.e., the scene where Rani is fasting for karva chauth, the scence were she goes under the shower to wipe off her sindoor, and the scene where she dances in the rain with Salman's sweater.) But, nonetheless, the story was predictable. The climax could have been prolonged to leave more of an impact, and it seemed very rushed. The tagline of the movie is "HE BROKE ALL RELATIONS TO MAKE ONE," but the relations are broken for only about ten minutes, and then everyone is happy again.
Rani was excellent, as was Amitabh and Hema. Salman was great, and John also demonstrated his skills beautifully.
The music is okay. The songs melted into the movie, with not one of them unwanted.
Overall, BAABUL is almost perfect, but not quite there with what I expected.
Watch it for the performances and direction!