Abhishek Bachchan has portrayed the role in a perfect way and one has to give it to him not to just correct the body language of an introvert who is trying to find his true bearing.
Man has lost his memory and his biggest plight is whether he is good or bad. The world hands him a gun with a silencer, he is forced to commit murders as a hired killer, he has a loving family at home who doesn't know about his true profession (remember , The Family Man?), he manages to get a good night's sleep only when he kills a troubled neighbor, and yet, as a spectator you root for him. He doesn't even come across as a psycho; It's just that he has been sent into this world for a certain purpose. He's doing what he's made for, morality he's damned!
That's Bob Biswas for you in this prequel to Kahaani, where Sujoy Ghosh's daughter Diya Annapurna Ghosh makes her debut by bringing up the spin-off character of Bob Biswas. A thriller shot in a realistic manner and given a slightly offbeat feel, it captures Kolkata in a way that only a Ghosh father-daughter can do, at least when it comes to Bollywood filmmakers. The matter comes.
The characters have their own quirks, be it evil pharma entrepreneurs, cops, youngsters, chow mein salespeople and most importantly, the chemist's shop owner who answers only those questions to the 'rules' Go and follow it. In the midst of all this, Bob Biswas does not make any accent. He can be the man of all seasons as he also talks less and does more, what if his main expertise is to point blank shoots on the forehead without hesitation at all.
Abhishek Bachchan has portrayed the role perfectly and one has to give it to him not only to perfect the body language of an introvert who is trying to find his true impact, but also in a personality that Getting involved is very different from that. Be it VFX, prosthetics or some actual work that he has done on himself but the fact is that Abhishek has completely changed his face as well as overall personality to become Bob Biswas for this film. He plays the character he looks like and that is a victory in itself.
As far as his family is concerned, especially Chitrangada Singh who plays his wife and Samara Tijori (Deepak Tojori's daughter) who plays his teenage daughter, they are perfect for the role. . There is something about Chitrangada that captures her on screen in such a captivating manner without revealing anything, and that makes her all the more endearing as Mary who has all the right traits. As far as Samara is concerned, you want her to come out of this mess called 'Blue', an attention-enhancing drug that is killing teens all over Kolkata.
Playing right through the narrative with a drug angle and Abhishek steps in as a 'family man', what anyone remembers is Amitabh Bachchan's don where the man has lost his memory and needs to find out. Trying who he was, what he did, and where he's headed. In Dawn, he was showing it all off. Now in Bob Biswas, is the son making it up or is he actually a victim of memory loss? Well, as the story progresses, you get to know about it.
Though one has to admit that some sort of patience is required to unearth the mystery, especially the first 30 minutes. Number of characters are introduced and some are interesting and some not, but what you want is to know about the true essence of Bob Biswas. It really takes a long time and since the character is such that he doesn't speak much, the story seems a bit dull and dull at times. It's just that the drama really begins when Abhishek Bachchan holds the gun for the first time. There's also a Quentin Tarantino, especially during the climax, when the bodies start falling down and although the midsections around the gap point are a bit predictable, you go with the flow.
What Diya does right is casting rights, courtesy of Mukesh Chhabra. There are many supporting actors and the one who makes the best impact is 80-year-old Paran Bandopadhyay who plays the owner of a chemist's shop. He is just brilliant and his relevance to the plot is also well established. Purab Kohli is very good as a drug peddler and does well in every scene. Then there is Tina Desai who plays a cop and makes a good inclusion. Two cops entrusting Bob Biswas with many of his tasks is enough and the man who plays his boss is enough.
Of course, there is a link between the story of Bob Biswas and Vidya Balan and you have to watch a two-hour film to reach the end of it. Yes, if it was 10-15 minutes shorter, the film could have made a better impression. Though as an entertainer, it manages to grab your attention for the most part, and you don't need 'blue' for that.