What Is the Story About?
ZEE5’s ‘Bob Biswas’ is a spinoff of the dazzling 2012 film, ‘Kahaani’. It centres on the iconic character of Bob Biswas from Kahaani. It gives us a deeper, more intricate look into Bob Biswas – his life, loved ones, and what he was before the ruthless, cold-blooded assassin he presented in Kahaani.
Bob Biswas is written by Sujoy Ghosh, the creator of Kahaani. It is directed by his daughter, Diya Annapurna Ghosh, and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Sujoy Ghosh.
Performances?
Abhishek Bachchan brings his own unique take on the character of Bob Biswas, made iconic by Bengali actor Saswata Chatterjee in Kahaani. Bachchan is sincere and earnest in his performance, but lacks the chillingly placid menace that Saswata Chatterjee exuded so effortlessly in Kahaani. Suffice to say, Bobby Biswas is far from Abhishek Bachchan’s best performances. The fault, though, is not the actor’s, but the writer’s. Bob Biswas, as depicted in this iteration of the character, is insipid, listless and downright boring.
Chitrangada Singh is average as Bob Biswas’ wife, Mary. Newcomer Samara Tijori catches the eye as their burdened teenaged daughter, Mini. Ronith Arora is super cute as their son, Benny. The rest of the cast is passable.
A very special mention is needed for Paran Bandopadhyay’s character of Kali Da. Kali Da is one character in Bob Biswas that walks away with all the attention, much like Saswata Chatterjee’s character did in Kahaani. Despite barely five minutes of screen time, Kali Da manages to imprint his presence on the larger canvas of the film. He has the best scenes and dialogues in the film, and hogs all the limelight.
Analysis
If there’s one thing from Kahaani that has remained seared in our memories even after all these years, it is Saswata Chatterjee’s iconic Bob Biswas. Try as one might, one simply cannot forget the scene just before the interval, when Saswata Chatterjee’s Bob Biswas pushes Vidya Balan’s Vidya Bagchi in front of a fast-moving train. It was pure, unadulterated evil! For the very same reasons, it was always foolhardy to even attempt to recreate that classic character after so many years – and with a different actor altogether. Sujay Ghosh and company should have and must have anticipated that comparisons with the original would be inevitable, and every follow-up iteration would be found wanting. That is the sad truth of Bob Biswas.
Comparisons aside, Bob Biswas fails spectacularly in one crucial department – the writing. Kahaani boasted a taut, tightly coiled script that commanded every nanosecond of audience attention. Bob Biswas simply pales in comparison in every way. The plot is meandering, the situations, mundane. The antagonists seem laughably harmless despite their trigger-happy ways. We find our attention wavering every now and then, owing to the uninteresting storyline. Even a twist, when it comes, is too late and too inconsequential to make any difference to the lacklustre quality of the plot.
The climax boils down to a revenge run so lame that it would put a B-grade eighties’ potboiler to shame. A North-East Indian character is so insignificant to the plot that one wonders why the writers deemed it suitable to waste precious screen time on it. The muddled narrative adds to the dissatisfaction of the viewer. None of the antagonists is compelling enough to warrant interest. Each one seems to waddle in and out of the story with no apparent motive, stake or equity in the proceedings.
To sum it up, Bob Biswas is a Kahaani spinoff that had no business getting made. And if at all it did, then it should have had Saswata Chatterjee reprising his memorable contract killer. Anything else is an exercise in vain, as Bob Biswas has proved to be.
Music and Other Departments?
Gairik Sarkar’s cinematography in Bob Biswas fails to capture the essence of Kolkata the way Kahaani had done. Going by the cinematography, the setting could have been any Indian city and not Kolkata specifically. Yasha Ramachandani’s editing is fine. Clinton Carejo and Bianca Gomes’ background score is one of the highlights of the film. It is apt for the narrative. Vishal-Sheykhar’s ‘Tu Toh Gaya Re’, sung by Bianca Gomes, is catchy and alluring.
Highlights?
Paran Bandopadhyay’s Kali Da
Drawbacks?
Meandering plot
Weak writing
Uninteresting antagonists
Did I Enjoy It?
Not much
Will You Recommend It?
Watch once, if only for Abhishek Bachchan
Bob Biswas Review by Binged Bureau
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