The Big Bull Movie Review: The Bollywood bull

The Big BullOn Disney HotstarUA DramaDirector Kookie GulatiCast Abhishek A Bachchan Sohum ShahRating NOT just saying this because of the crappy lsquomahavarirsquo Akshay Kumar Padman antismoking PSA missed by no one that shows up before this show starts But in a Pavlovian sort of way that really does prepare you for a theatrical screening to followExcept The Big Bull is unintentionally an OTT release But it is in every way a lsquoBollywoodrsquo film in terms of how yoursquod expectimagine the life of a top rsquo90s stock broker modelled on the infamous Harshad Mehta to play out Do I mean cardboardcartoonish Bollywood like Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara 2013 depicting the life of Dawood Ibrahim mdash hitting bullrsquos eye after bullrsquos eye with dialogues on a bow and arrow NopeWatch the trailer of The Big Bull right hereWould the reference to Mani Ratnamrsquos Guru as Dhirubhai Ambanirsquos biopic come closer Hard to say if Ratnam himself would make that film the same way anymore from whatever hersquos been up to lately Guess what Irsquom getting at is imagining a housefull of people watching this event pic collectively responding to its highs and lows and the drama and melodrama in turns A movie really is where therersquos a queue before the boxoffice counterThis is what the filmmakers wouldrsquove borne in mind scriptingexecuting this biopic for its toneform There is a lot of what yoursquod call mainstream stuff going on I know people whorsquoll cringe but I donrsquot necessarily mean it in a pejorative sense This caveat is also essential because Bombay Stock Exchangersquos Big Bull biography has only recently been picturised mdash as an astoundingly brilliant ninehour long tenpart series Hansal Mehtarsquos Scam 1992 2020 Which makes this film already a tough act to follow Indeed toughluck for those telling this story so soon after But the difference is altogether in the telling always isnrsquot itLooked at another way it also automatically drops your conscious expectations here As it did mine Also never heard of filmmaker Kookie Gulati And then yoursquore inevitablypleasantly surprised hearing yourself go ldquoNot bad at all huhrdquo As I did tooAnd thatrsquos because this truelife account itself of jugaad and jhol ambition and greed is so frickinrsquo compelling mdashfor its largerthanlife lead character but layered with contemporary politicalfinancial history its significance to current times and the times itrsquos set in mdash that you know what Why not catch another takeBy history of course wersquore referring to that line between pre and postliberalisation India 1991 The latter changing everything you see on Indian roads mdash from cars to hoardings products to clothing Itrsquos like India was reborn Step to the left of that imaginary wall and you have almost a fullblown period film Which is what The Big Bull is And treated as one tooThe Big Bull being Harshad Mehta of course although not directly named here We know he gave to Indian lexicon the word lsquoscamrsquo for a financial fraud Suspect he may also have been the first to introduce the word ldquorallyrdquo into desi stock markets mdash a continuous rise in scrip prices that gave many middleclass Indians an avenue to invest and reap serious profits from anything outside realestate and goldMaking him temporarily a messiah of sorts rather than any other lsquochawl to skyscraperrsquo story What The Big Bull attempts to trace without going overboard is also the motivation behind the man which is a shifting goal post mdash from getting the girl he loves to enriching his family then nation and eventually becoming Indiarsquos first billionaire Liked that simple touchFrankly this isnrsquot the first feature film on Mehta I remember watching Sameer Hanchatersquos Gafla 2006 in a theatre Sure this is better Even more recently for a lsquoBollywoodrsquo film on stock markets there was the Saif Ali Khan starrer Bazaar 2018 This is superior But like it or not unfair but inevitable the comparison to be drawn will be with Scam 1992 which is a series that allows for so much more space for all characters and subplots to evolve Something feature films canrsquot agree Itrsquos still the faithfulfine detailing that you loved that show for that you miss in the movie that irks you sometimesNot just with placing places or naming names or an authentic production design Thatrsquos creative liberty I mean it by way of even simple signage and reference mdash from a magazine cover masthead ldquoIndian Chronicalrdquo ldquoChief of Justicesrdquo for a list of CJIs on the courtrsquos appointment board western news channel talking in ldquocrorerdquo or just the way the journalist goes around collecting evidence for her story walking into the auditing room of a bankhellip The inexplicable laziness bothers you beyond a pointMercifully the same allegation does not apply to Abhishek Bachchan the man leading this film which might well be the first one hersquos shouldered on his own in about a decade In a thick moustache standing slightly hunched with a slight paunch and a gentle double chin mdash he sure walks the part talks the talk remaining understated all along but not so much that you feel distanced as an audienceTherersquos a lightly menacing laugh but otherwise he exudes a sincere demeanour It could be selfreferenced itrsquos not derivative at all Going on about Bachchan because this is also the best part hersquos been offered since a dream run of sorts a decade and half ago Sarkar Bunty Aur Babli Bluffmaster etc And he delivers A film of course can always be better

The Big Bull Movie Review: The Bollywood bull

The Big Bull

On: Disney + Hotstar
U/A: Drama
Director: Kookie Gulati
Cast: Abhishek A Bachchan, Sohum Shah
Rating: ***

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Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / The Big Bull Movie Review: The Bollywood bull

The Big Bull Movie Review: The Bollywood bull

The Big Bull

On: Disney + HotstarU/A: DramaDirector: Kookie GulatiCast: Abhishek A Bachchan, Sohum ShahRating: ***

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

On: Disney + Hotstar
U/A: Drama
Director: Kookie Gulati
Cast: Abhishek A Bachchan, Sohum Shah
Rating: ***