Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘Assistant Sub-Inspector Babita Singh reporting for duty sir!’
Directed by Ambiecka Pandit and written by Amita Vyas, the 2026 Bollywood thriller stars Nimisha Sajayan as a police officer newly promoted to field work. A visit to her in-laws takes a dark turn when her old school friend Bansi (Barun Sobti) is found dead, leading her to investigate the case herself.
‘Babita Singh Reporting’ opens with a rather funny, relatable scene where Babita, simply known as Baby, is seen shooting a short video of her senior, SI Sethi (Rajesh Kumar), riding his motorcycle for social media. Minutes later, they’re being reprimanded by someone more senior for wasting time at work. These opening moments establish Baby as a sweet, friendly cop, but her colleague Karamjeet (Geetika Vidya Ohlyan) warns that if she carries the same agreeable, compliant attitude into field work, she’ll be chewed alive.
And that’s essentially the conflict at the heart of Babita Singh Reporting: Baby is constantly trying to balance two worlds. She’s visiting her hometown of Rewa with husband Sharad (Anshuman Pushkar) for the first time in two years, having struggled to get leave from work earlier. She’s also expected to help organize her sister-in-law’s baby shower, which means shopping, making arrangements, and generally being available to the family. Finding enough time to investigate a murder isn’t exactly on the vacation itinerary.
The local cops certainly don’t like her meddling into things, especially since they quickly close the case by arresting a junkie for Bansi’s murder, while Baby suspects there’s more to the case. Unfortunately, almost everyone connected to Bansi seems reluctant to talk, and there are enough possibilities to keep her digging. The fact that the case doesn’t even fall under her jurisdiction makes her unofficial investigation even trickier.
Her determination also creates friction with husband Sharad, who understandably wonders why their supposed vacation has suddenly turned into an investigation. And this is where the film gets interesting, as Baby faces hurdles whether she’s trying to be a cop or simply exist within her family. Her husband and mother-in-law (Sunita Rajwar) often take potshots at her weight, while domestic expectations constantly compete for her time and attention. The makers of ‘Babita Singh Reporting’ manage to strike a nice balance between these two sides of her life without making either feel entirely separate from the other.
That said, Sharad’s frustration with his wife isn’t completely unreasonable. The film never establishes a particularly strong friendship between Baby and Bansi, making it difficult to understand why she becomes so personally obsessed with bringing his killer to justice. Is she really doing all this for Bansi, or is his death simply her first opportunity to prove to herself that she belongs in the field? I am betting my money on the latter.
Barun Sobti instantly helps sell his part as Bansi, despite his blink-and-miss appearance in ‘Babita Singh Reporting’. Bansi visits Baby the day before his death, and in those few moments, Sobti leaves a surprisingly powerful impression. Bansi comes across as a tortured artist carrying around far more than he says, isolated and seemingly starved of meaningful friendships. I kept expecting the film to return to him through flashbacks and give Sobti more to work with. Unfortunately, it never does, even though the character deserved more space. From then on, Bansi exists mostly through other people’s recollections whenever Baby unofficially interrogates someone about his death.
This mixing of domestic drama with a murder investigation is ultimately a double-edged sword for ‘Babita Singh Reporting’. Viewers expecting a razor-sharp procedural might grow impatient when the investigation gives way to baby-shower preparations or another disagreement with the in-laws. I often complain when thrillers spend too much time dwelling on an investigator’s personal life, but here the personal stuff actually belongs in the story. This isn’t Baby’s official case; she’s squeezing an investigation into a family vacation while simultaneously figuring out what kind of cop she wants to be.
Nimisha Sajayan holds these contrasting elements together with an absolutely riveting performance. There’s an earnestness to Baby, but also a growing determination to prove her worth once she finally gets a taste of real field work. For me, her obsession with the case felt driven less by concern for Bansi and more by her desire to prove herself or perhaps simply to escape the domestic duties waiting for her back home, although the film doesn’t really portray it that way.
The cinematography for ‘Babita Singh Reporting’ complements this genre-mixing surprisingly well. The film neither sinks into the murky palette of a conventional noir thriller nor goes excessively bright and colorful. When Baby is out shopping or navigating Rewa, there’s plenty of small-town color and vibrancy; when the murder investigation takes over, the visuals become more subdued. And since the story unfolds in winter, the slight gloom hanging over everything feels perfectly at home. And the fact that Bansi is an artisan who makes Ravan effigies gives the filmmakers plenty of opportunities to weave colorful cultural motifs into the story.
The eventual climax is a little anticlimactic considering all the possibilities raised along the way, although unlike some thrillers that leave you with an frustrating cliffhanger, at least we get closure here. ‘Babita Singh Reporting’ may not be the tightly wound murder mystery some viewers expect, but those who don’t mind genre-bending stories would find plenty here to be entertained.
Baby isn’t an experienced investigator whose family life is awkwardly interrupting the thriller; she’s a woman trying to investigate a murder that isn’t even her case while her actual life keeps demanding her attention. Nimisha Sajayan makes that juggling act consistently engaging, even when the mystery itself isn’t quite as compelling as she is.
If you enjoyed small-town mysteries like ‘Rautu Ka Raaz’ or ‘Kohrra’, stream this without a second thought.
Rating: 3.5 on 5. Watch ‘Babita Singh Reporting’ on Prime Video.
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