BOB BISWAS
Producers: Gauri Khan, Sujoy Ghosh and Gaurav Verma
Director: Diya Annapurna Ghosh
Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Chitrangada Singh and Samara Tijori
Written by: Sujoy Ghosh and Raj Vasant
Streaming on: Zee5
Bob Biswas (Abhishek Bachchan) is married to Mary Biswas (Chitrangda Singh) and has a son Benny (Ronith Arora) and daughter Mini (Samara Tijori). 8 years ago, Bob met with an accident and has been in a coma since. He regains consciousness but suffers from amnesia and doesn’t remember anything from before the accident, not even his wife or children. Bob after that is recovering with love and support from his wife and the kids. He learns that Mini is his stepdaughter and that Mary was earlier married to David (Karanuday Jenjani). Bob married her after David passed away in an accident. One day, two police officers, Jishu Narang (Bhanu Uday Goswami) and Kharaj Sahu (Vishwanath Chatterjee), take Bob Biswas to a hideout. They inform Bob that he is a contract killer and he’s worked for them in the past. They give him contracts of people to kill. He is apprehensive but he takes up their offer. When he goes to kill one of his initial targets, he starts getting flashbacks of his past life and he learns that David didn’t die in an accident but he was killed. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
The film serves as somewhat of an origin story of the character Bob Biswas. The film, although quite predictable, it is entertaining enough with the well etched out screenplay. The film has a few elements which seemed to have been inspired from different films on the same subject and the treatment seems a bit same too, but despite that the film is quite enjoyable in parts.
Technically, the film is good. Cinematography by Garik Sarkar is superb. Editing by Yasha Jaidev Ramchandani is not slick enough, for a thriller like this one. Music has been woven well but the film would have been better off without it. The writing is nice. The dialogues are sharp. The production design and the costume design are simple and realistic.
Performance wise the film is great. Abhishek Bachchan is brilliant in his portrayal of Bob Biswas. He steps into the shoes and fits the role perfectly. He gets everything right. Chitrangada Singh is a delight to watch on the screen. She has a brilliant screen presence and she plays her role effectively. The rest of the cast offer good support.
Director Diya Annapurna Ghosh does well, considering she makes her debut with this film. She gets the look and the treatment of the film just right!