Bob Biswas Movie Review: Sabka saath sabka Biswas

Bob BiswasOn: ZEE5Dir: Diya Annapurna GhoshCast: Abhishek Bachchan, Chitrangada SinghRaing: 3/5 Whether or not this is actor Abhishek Bachchans finest performancestill think that was Guru (2007), and in a less obvious sorta way, Bol Bachchan (2012)it is, without doubt, his toughest role so far. Chiefly, because he plays a character, Bob Biswas, that is already associated with another gentleman, Saswat Chatterjee, who in a nine-minute role in Sujoy Ghoshs Kahaaniyou can watch the compilation of all his scenes on YouTubemerged so well into the Everyman in a Kolkata crowd, that he immortally stood out. Watch Video Which explains a full-fledged feature entirely centred on the role from the 2012 hit film. The only other such instance for a Hindi movie that I can instantly recall is Taapsee Pannu in Naam Shabana (2017) in a prequel of sorts to Baby (2015)and that was a bit of a hollow disaster, to be honest. In this case though, no matter what Abhishek does for his part, hes likely to be compared to the original. And as it is with biases towards originals for anything, hes quite likely to be compared unfavourably. That slight unfairness is a given, to start with. Further, this is also Abhishek sincerely weaning himself away from all mannerisms, tics and tropes that weve come to identify with him as a mainstream Bollywood star for over two decades. He shows up overweight, balding, deeply unattractive, largely shorn of his characteristic smile and intense dialogue deliveryholding scenes by virtue of being understated alone. What do we know of Bob Biswas soon as the spin-off titled on him starts? Nothing. Which is also true for Bob Biswas himselfhes lost all memory. And therefore, the lead character has to regain some of the stuff about himself that the audience would be aware of, if they have seen Kahaani. That is, a man whos a life insurance agent by day, and a contract killer by night, likely in the employ of certain cops. Over this we see a new world created around Bob as wellas a regular middleclass man, with wife (Chitrangada Singh) and two kids. Besides Vidya Balan, of course, and the fact that the film was a suspense-thriller on a mainstream Hindi screen after long, whats that one thing you remember most about Kahaani? Kolkata, the city, captured with immense love and attention to detail. This is as true for Bob Biswasright down to yellow Ambassador cabs, egg rolls and the brown, street chowmein! The art direction even during indoor scenes is exquisite, to the say the least. Which I suspect is what first separates an A-grade production from lesser ones. You can feel its milieu. The motorazr cellphone with Bob Biswas suggests the film is set around the same time that Kahaani was. Left to itself, as with Kahaani, this would have been a Bengali film. In a way that Amitabh Bachchan, playing up the old bhadralok in Piku (2015) was. His son Abhishek, one must acknowledge here, is half-Bengali himselfalthough of the ‘probashi kind, since his mother, Jaya Bachchan, grew up in Bhopal. That said, perhaps trying to avoid a caricature, he consciously plays Bob not as a Bongkeeping his accent neutral. But for Nomoshkar, which is Bobs trademark. At no point though does this take away from his convincing powers as a performer. Between Abhishek and Bob, unless the judgment is clouded by comparisons, the audience is likely to remain on the ride, altogether believing in the dark world the lead character occupies. Which is? Getting chased down by snoopy cops on one end, and an arms dealer fronting as a pharmacist, the lovely, old Kali Da (Paran Bandhopadhyay), for an ally. Full marks there. At the centre of it all is a novel blue drug that no ones heard of, like the gochi from Sacred Games 2, that the young in Kolkata are addicted to. Portions of this plotwritten by Sujoy Ghosh; his daughter Diya makes her directorial debut with thiscan seem too casual and contrived. Heres an issue youre more likely to face, and which makes this a tougher film to pull off stillthe humanising of a serial killer. All said and done, Bob Biswas kills for a living. And theres something unconsciously unconscionable/uncomfortable about a series of scenes that deal with deaths in bulk, where it doesnt matter who dies, where, how and when. Life, like the film itself, carries on as if not much really happened. Even neighbours and bystanders dont care, let alone detailed investigations post the said murders. Despite suspense thriller for a genre, I enjoyed Bob Biswas more as a character-driven movie, rather than a plot-driven pic. The sheer lack of pre/post-release buzzwith none of what Im watching being over-hyped alreadysomewhat helped. This is a relatively underrated film that I guess will eventually survive its shelf-life on an OTT platform. Felt the same about Kahaani 2 (2016) too, by the way.