'Bob Biswas' movie review: Abhishek Bachchan is excellent in this crime drama filled with emotions, suspense

Movie cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Chitrangda Singh, Tina Desai, Paran Bandopadhyay, Samara Tijori and others

Director: Diya Annapurna Ghosh

Where to watch: ZEE5

Duration: 2 hours 11 minutes

Ratings: 3 1/2 stars

Synopsis: A middle-aged hitman-for-hire tries to remember his identity, while he recalls his criminal past and experiences moral dilemmas after coming out of a prolonged coma.

'Bob Biswas' movie review

In 2012, popular Bengali actor Saswata Chatterjee enthralled the audience with his performance as a cold-blooded assassin, Bob Biswas in Sujoy Ghosh's cult thriller 'Kahaani'. Though he appeared on the screen for just eight minutes, it was one of the most memorable performances of the past decade.

Nine years later, Sujoy Ghosh has decided to revisit this character in 'Bob Biswas', his latest production. Abhishek Bachchan has replaced Saswata Chatterjee as the contract killer in this spin-off film and delivers an earnest, mature performance. Abhishek has been choosing interesting, varied scripts since the actor made a comeback after two years in 2018 with 'Manmarziyaan'. In 'Bob Biswas', he takes up the challenge of essaying an already famous character portrayed by a senior colleague and makes it his own. Junior Bachchan is unrecognizable as the contract killer, Bob Biswas. He has worked immensely on the character's mannerisms, gait, and speech and has completely immersed himself into the role.

Sujoy's daughter Diya Annapurna Ghosh makes her directorial debut with 'Bob Biswas', while the 'Kahaani' filmmaker himself has penned down the story, screenplay, and the dialogues. Giving her own twist to the story, Diya has full control over the narrative and has delivered a smart, intelligent crime drama as her debut feature.

Set in Kolkata in 2020, the film begins with an opening montage showing how the student community in the city has become addicted to a new attention-enhancing drug called 'Blue'. We are introduced to the drug kingpin Ustad and his accomplices in the illegal business. Without wasting any time, we meet our protagonist Bob Biswas and his family - Chitrangda Singh as his loving wife Mary Biswas, Samara Tijori as his teenage step-daughter Mini Biswas and Ronith Arora as his school-going son Benny Biswas. Bob has just woken up from a prolonged coma after eight years ('Kahaani' was released eight years back in 2012) and remembers nothing from his past life including his own family and his criminal past as a contract killer.

As Bob Biswas is trying to join the scattered puzzle pieces of his own life, he is hired by two special branch officers who assign him his new deadly missions. He is asked to eliminate the people involved in the 'Blue' drug trade in the city. Meanwhile, the drug has entered his own home as his step-daughter Mini, who is preparing for her medical entrance exams, takes the help of the blue pill to increase her attention span and focus. Things take an interesting turn when Tina Desai enters the film as a police inspector Indira Verma solving the mysterious murders in the city that have been committed by none other than Bob Biswas. As Bob gradually discovers his consciousness and wishes to rectify his old mistakes, the film becomes a roller-coaster ride of suspense and emotions.

'Bob Biswas' will keep you on its edge till the end credits but its 130 minutes' lengthy runtime is where the film suffers. The film could have been easily trimmed by 10-15 minutes cutting out on a couple of unnecessary subplots. The climax, on the other hand, seems quite rushed where more emotional depth was required. While the script is engaging, some sequences with convenient writing spoil the fun. The plot also gets a bit messy and complicated after a point. These factors don't let 'Bob Biswas' become another 'Kahaani'.

Talking about other performances, it feels great to see Chitrangda playing a full-fledged role in a mainstream film. Her nuanced performance as Bob Biswas' caring wife, Mary Biswas should definitely get her more projects in the industry. Paran Bandopadhyay, the veteran Bengali actor, shines as Kali Da sharing his wisdom pearls with Bob and guiding him through his mythological tales. The new star kid in the town, Samara Tijori impresses in her acting debut as the daughter of Mary Biswas and her first husband David Matthews, coming to terms with her step-father Bob Biswas. She is the daughter of Deepak Tijori, who famously played supporting roles in 90s Hindi films. Another Bengali actor Kaushik Raj Chakraborty is seen as the antagonist Ustad, managing the drug empire in the city.

'Bob Biswas' rides on Abhishek Bachchan's captivating performance and must be seen for its gripping plot, effective direction, original story, and a towering leading act. Watch out for the last scene in the film!

Verdict: A potent follow-up to 'Kahaani', 'Bob Biswas' is Abhishek Bachchan at his A-game. It is a well-directed crime drama that should serve as the origin story of the titular contract killer leading to more films in the future.