Packing predictable and unpredictable turn of events, Bob Biswas both delights and infuriates

Nonika Singh

If Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani had you in a thrall, his daughter Diya Annapurna Ghosh’s directorial venture, a spinoff to the sleeper hit, can only be based on an intriguing premise. So it is, as it builds a complete story ( by Sujoy ) around the killer Bob Biswas whom you certainly remember as the man trailing Vidya (Vidya Balan) in Kahaani.

Now, the character might have been taken from the much acclaimed thriller, the actor playing it here is none other than Abhishek Bachchan. In his new avatar, the suave man may not be unrecognisable but the hard work he has put in on his physical transformation is more than obvious.

So there he is, looking anything but a killer and everything a regular insurance agent should. With puffed up face, rounded cheeks, a paunch in place and hair plastered like a baby’s… he looks like an average man you probably won’t even spare a glance for on the Kolkata streets.

Yes, indeed, the locale is the same as Kahaani and the smells and flavours of Kolkata can be felt in both the panoramic expanse and little details. Character sketches, especially that of Kali Da (Paran Bandopadhyay a famous Bengali actor), who runs a parallel world in his medicine shop, are quintessentially Bengali. The lead actor Abhishek Bachchan may be only half Bengali but looks the part from the moment he walks out of the hospital clueless about his identity. Could his family comprising a lovely wife Marie (Chitrangda Singh as youthful as ever), a son and a daughter Minim (Samara Tijori) be a plant?

And more importantly what exactly ticks this man suffering from amnesia? For beneath his confused persona runs a killer instinct which he discovers by and by. So far so good… the element of surprise and mystery keeps you invested in both his tale and predicament. But only up to a point.

Mein acha aadmi hoon ya bura mujhe pata nahi… he enquires and it’s not just he but we too wonder. What is this trigger-happy man who shoots without blinking up to? But the crux of the film about a hit-man with grey shades instead of developing into a masterstroke, fails to find a solid tangible ground.

The theme is explored in a half-baked fashion and pieces of jigsaw puzzle don’t always fit. Despite giving us a back-story of Bob, the timeline does not really go back in time to connect the dots. And we don’t quite get a sense of what makes Bob who he is.

Besides, call it the perils of stardom or whatever, the makers always feel the need to justify the acts of the protagonist if played by a lead star even when cast in an unconventional part.

Thus expediency takes over the twists and turns of storyline. Packing predictable and unpredictable turn of events Bob Biswas both delights and infuriates.

Streaming on Zee5, however, junior Bachchan makes the plot contrivances worth your time. Watchable … only if you do not expect a Kahaani encore. For, like father like daughter might be a fairly true axiom… to reach the same level of excellence that a maker like Sujoy possesses takes time.

As Sujoy has himself tweeted in context of Big B and junior B, baap hamesha baap hota hai. But the daughter does show promise even if does not live up to it fully.

Bob Biswas

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Chitrangada Singh, Paran Bandopadhyay, Purab Kohli, Barun Chanda, Bhanu Uday, Kanchan Mullick, Ronith Arora and Samara Tijori
Director: Diya Annapurna Ghosh
Rating: ***