The Bull Of Dalal Street Review: Iqbal Khan’s Captivating Performance And Terrific Writing Makes This Web Show A Must-Watch

Web Show - The Bull Of Dalal Street 

Actors - Iqbal Khan, Ashmit Patel, Kunal Varma, Priyal Gor, Aparna Sharma, Naina Chhabra

Producer - Vibhu Agarwal

Rated - 3.5 Out Of 5 Stars

The Ullu app brings up sexual content in an unabashed manner, time and again. The makers of the web shows on the app are absolutely unapologetic about it and why should they be? Let’s face it, Sex sells! People watch ‘em and it literally has become good business!

However, the latest web show on the app is perhaps one of the best that has been produced so far, it almost seems as though the makers are in for an image change! Well, The Bull Of Dalal Street features some known television actors – Iqbal Khan, Ashmit Patel and Kunal Verma in pivotal roles.

The web show tells the story of an underdog, a wannabe entrepreneur who ends up becoming one of the strongest bulls of the stock market! He literally breathes, eats and lives finance and economy! Well, Iqbal plays Harshal Mehra who trips on the way to supremacy but survives the fall only to learn the tricks of the trade from his female manager who he eventually gets married to. The app has just come up with 4 episodes of this gripping series. This is also the reason why Ashmit Patel’s character has not yet come to light! Well, we definitely see his glimpses in two episodes but for an extremely brief period of time. All the current four streaming focusses only on Iqbal’s Harshal.

To begin with the performances, Iqbal surely is getting a stronger grip at his craft. His performance as Harshal in the first four episodes isn’t just gripping, it is actually interesting in a way because we get to see two shades of his personality juxtaposed together. The first shade belongs to the time when he was a rookie juggling between doing odd jobs and funding his education and the other shade belongs to the time when he is already established and has the entire stock market at his feet. So much so that a violent streak of jealousy results in his near-death experience.

Not to forget there are certain traits of Harshal on which the show (at least the first four episodes) hugely rely on. One such characteristic is his habit of not doing anything for free. He doesn’t mind being labelled a gigolo but even if he has to sleep with someone, he won’t do it just for libido’s sake! Harshal retains this characteristic and therefore again he falls for a lady who shares the same trait and eventually gets married to her.

Coming to the premise of the show, well, all is not gold in it, there are moments when I felt, the inclusion of a sex scene or two was absolutely unnecessary. But again, as I said in the beginning, sex sells and therefore it has been unapologetically crammed in and mind you, a good dose of it! So, for all those coming to watch the show to satiate your carnal cravings, well, good for you!

There are some scenes which didn’t quite fit in, in the jigsaw. For instance, in the first episode we see, Harshal suddenly stops thrusting into the street-walker and on being asked, he says, I don’t do anything for free and she gives him the money tucked in her petticoat. In the next episode, we see, the exam results are out, and the girl who so long had the hots for Harshal gets to have a hot session with him after a wee bit of seduction! Well, I completely understand, the high of scoring big in the exams and the so-long repressed sexual urge finally finding a good time and vent. The thing is, after all the huffing and puffing are over and one with, Harshal pulls out a Rs 100 note and holds it in front of the girl to give it to her saying, “EK Baat Yaad Rakhna, Kabhi Bhi Kuch Free Mein Nahi Karna.” Okay! I thought, that was his philosophy and now he tries to impart that education or sense to some one else being absolutely oblivious to it himself? Why didn’t he ask for the money? Why did he do it for free this time? Was it an act of affection? And there are many more questions!

Having said that, this is surely a good job done. Iqbal Khan’s baritone too works in his favour. But at times, it is a downer as well, especially in scenes where he is expected to be mellow, his baritone prevents him from doing it!  The screenplay, in particular, is very interesting because it is non-linear and yet has a smooth flow. The episodes are written in a manner which has a subtle beginning and an end and this was possible due to the non-linear narrative. The interactions that characters had with each other (positive or negative) in the past vis-à-vis the present. The camera work, the lighting, the production design have all been taken good care of. Just one thing could be of more help if the colour correction would have been in an earthy tone so that the age the web-show is set in could have been a little more apparent. The dialogues too are a pretty good job done and so is the background music. Again, the office setting looks a little contemporary and don’t seem to look from the bygone era. For instance, the first office in which Harshal gets a job (the office from where he is abruptly fired) looks more like a set of the era gone by. One look at it and you come to terms with that kind of office setting in the era shown and again in the stock market office, one sees a huge difference with glass partitions all over which is a very now office design. These are the small things that the makers could have put some attention to.

Besides all that, this show surely is a must-binge-watch only because it is so captivating. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it one of the best shows on the app. And yes, I cannot wait for the rest of the parts to stream on the web platform.