Review : Abhishek Bachchan shines in a well crafted ‘Kahani’ sp in off, ‘Bob Biswas’!

#SujoyGhosh brought ‘#Kahani’ about 8-9 years ago and the suspense and thrill in it is still remembered. One character from that movie, #BobBiswas, played by #SaswataChatterjee, was quite noticeable, despite just 8 minute screen time, and his ruthless killer attitude was imprinted on viewer’s minds. Sujoy Ghosh has written a story on the life of Bob Biswas and his daughter has directed the film. Actually in a prequel Bob pushes Vidya Balan on a train track and rescues her saying, ‘This is Kolkata, anything can happen here’. The menacing expressions on his face were spine chilling. Towards the end of ‘Kahani’ he meets with a car accident and the story of Bob Biswas starts unfolding eight years hence after he comes out of coma.

Bob Biswas is an ordinary citizen of Kolkata. If one passed by him on the street, one would not even notice him. But this was a plus for his profession as a contract killer. This time around, after coming out of coma, Bob Biswas (Abhishek Bachchan) is brought home by his wife Mary (Chitrangada Singh). He has lost his memory and doesn’t recognise anyone including his wife. They have two children, a daughter from David, her first husband, Mini (Samara Tijori) and Benny (Ronith Arora). Mary works in an office where her boss (Amar Upadhyay) always tries to be pally with her. Here Bob is traced by two special branch police personnel and forces him to continue his contract killing job. As a cover he restarts his job as an insurance agent and keeps killing people as a part of his principle job. In Kolkata, a drug menace is prevalent and ‘attention deficiency’ drug named Blue is in demand especially with students as they believe that it helps them concentrate more while studying. Bob’s step-daughter Mini too falls for it and when Bob finds out about it an altercation happens. Viewers may remember, while watching the movie, the drug cases involving celebrities on national television. The mystery around Bob Biswas thickens as he goes on a murder spree.

The scripting is not taut enough to make viewers to sit on the edge of the seat. The timely gongs required in the screenplay are missing. The story unfolds straight forwardly which is unable to instil fear in viewers’ minds. This time around Sujoy Ghosh did not direct the film but his daughter Diya Annapurna Ghosh has taken the mantle. She is good but experience of Sujoy could have made the film more tighter. The writing doesn’t delve into the psychological aspects of Bob’s character not it offers explanation for his behaviour. It’s a good attempt to focus on drugs menace spreading to youngsters and it has been picturised effectively. The music is good, especially the song ‘Tu To gaya…’, played wherever Bob ventures out to kill. Background is excellent and sound designing is world class. Cinematography too is excellent. Dim lighting is used effectively to portray the tone of the scenes.

Abhishek Bachchan who plays Bob Biswas had an added responsibility of matching up to Saswata Chatterjee’s menacing demeanour from Kahani and shedding his star image. He has worked hard for the characterisation and convincingly looks the part. He has picked up typical mannerism while in different situations. Abhishek delivers a fine performance and emotes well. This could be his one of the best performances. Chitrangada Singh looks beautiful and justifies the character whom everyone around her wants to marry her. She too impresses in the limited screen time. Others have delivered fine performances but two of them require special mention. An Assamese actor Pabitra Rabha as Dhonu and Bengali actor Paran Bandopadhyay as Kali Da. Pabitra has played his intricate character with ease and Paran sir is a delight to watch on screen. His characterisation, dialogue delivery and presence are excellent and no one will be surprised if Kali Da is brought in as a lead character in Kahani 3.

All in all, Bob Biswas (pronounced Bob Bishaas), is thriller worth watching.

Rating: ***