By REEMA CHHABDA
Film: The Big Bull
Director: Kookie Gulati
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Ileana D’Cruz, Sohum Shah, Nikita Dutta, Saurabh Shukla, Samir Soni, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ram Kapoor
Rating: 2 stars
Story:
Of course, with Scam 1992 we all know the base of this story. Abhishek Bachchan’s The Big Bull didn’t offer anything new. The film starts and we see 1993 Taj Hotel Bombay, where some officials are threatening Sohum Shah’s character, Viren Shah, as his brother have to return 5000 crores to the bank. Here enters Abhishek aka Hemant Shah aka The Big Bull, dramatically, wearing a red robe.
Cut to 2020, where Ileana D’Cruz as news reporter Meera Rao is narrating the story of The Big Bull. The film takes a good run at the start however, it breathes heavily in the middle and struggles to reach the finish line in the end.
Its unnecessary plotline, romantic angles and songs makes it even boring. The story of the film comes out in a way that a moment you start liking the film, it starts to drag for no reason.
Direction:
Kookie Gulati, unfortunately, serves us disjointed sequences at times which makes no sense. The Gujarati flavor in the film is the biggest missing part. Although Vishnu Rao’s cinematography of showcasing an amazing vintage Mumbai is a win-win.
Writing:
The story of The Big Bull had the potential to be a classic film but it is ruined by its slow-paced screenplay by Kookie Gulati and Arjun Dhawan.
This is one of those films which could get bigger with good dialogues and there’s not a single that Ritesh Shah made me take back home.
Music:
The songs of The Big Bull are only the fillers and had no means to clutter the already boring narrative.
Performances:
Abhishek’s performance is the biggest takeaway from the film. However, he tried hard but it’s just not enough because of the lazily written character.
You know a film is not up to the mark when even characters like Sohum Shah, Ram Kapoor, Samir Soni, Saurabh Shukla, Mahesh Manjrekar, and half a dozen of other actors fails to create the desired impact. These actors are famous for their critically acclaimed performances but when you watch them here you just feel their talent here is wanted with the lazy character writing. There are a few scenes that keep you hooked, but that’s about it.
Nikita Dutta is just a filler in the film as her character didn’t have much to offer. Ileana D’Cruz’s character had too much potential. However, it was the poor writing that made her character fail.
Verdict:
The Big Bull is definitely not your weekend treat. Watch it if you have nothing else to do.
