At one point in Baby John, a little girl named Khushi (Zara Zyanna) hides under a bed, screaming with fear. Outside, bad guys are pulverizing her caretakers. She can hear the mayhem and anticipate that bad things are coming her way.

The scene made me wonder why her father, the titular Baby John (Varun Dhawan), hadn’t trained her the way that Honey instructs her young daughter Nadia in Citadel: Honey Bunny, also starring Dhawan as Nadia’s father. Nadia is such a pro at dealing with murderous attacks that when one takes place, Honey just tucks her into a trunk, puts headphones on her ears and tells her to listen to the song and not come out.

Incidentally, both Nadia and Khushi belong to a club particular within Indian cinema — that of overtly precocious kids who speak like adults. (I think of the cancer-stricken Sexy from Cheeni Kum as the president of this club.