Bob Biswas review: Abhishek Bachchan delivers an excellent performance in the Kahaani spin-off, but OG Saswata Chatterjee is hard to forget

When Bob Biswas was announced, almost all Kahaani fans probably weren't quite happy with the fact that the character, made popular by Bengali actor Saswata Chatterjee, would now be played by Abhishek Bachchan . Sure, Abhishek is known more to the pan India audience who has now been seeing him for several decades, but it felt like a backstab. Bob Biswas- his 'nomoshkar, ak minute' became iconic because of the Bengali star, and this just raised question on whether brand value is more important than an earnest performance. Needless to say, Abhishek came on board with some immense baggage and he must have known the amount of scrutiny he would be subjected to for becoming Bob. Now, after watching the film, I can safely say that the man did put an earnest performance, and was a revelation here in the film, but by the end of it you can not not miss Saswata, despite trying your best to do so. And that probably is proof what prowess as an actor the man possesses.

Well, now that we have established a Saswata Chatterjee supremacy, and the fact that he impressed us with an eight-something-minute role and left an everlasting impressing, we can now probably come back to Bob Biswas, the film by Diya Annapurna Ghosh. Here, Bob is a man who has woken up from a coma after eight years, with his memory erased. As he tries to put together pieces and get his life back, we find him constantly questioning 'main accha aadmi hoon, ya bura?'. As he navigates through the question, and joins the pieces of his life together, he also has to come face to face with the evils of his past. Will he be able to reconcile and be the Bob we had gotten a glimpse of in Kahaani? Parallelly, as the city is gripped with the menace of a drug called ' Blue ', will Bob be able to deal with it when it hits him close to home?

To begin with, Bob's character in the film is mellowed down to quite an extent. Sure, he has his own internal struggle and trauma that he is dealing with, but where is that charisma, that aura, and that effortless evil that can send a chill down your spine and make your throat go dry? Here we see the ruthless Bob questioning what he is doing, and having a conscience. With a loss of memory, we see this man having a complete change of heart, and he can not justify the wrong he did to even himself. The character dilemma is captured well. Abhishek Bachchan has the mammoth task to mellow himself down, unlearn and play a character stripped of any glamour whatsoever. A man with a balding head and a protruding belly that may looks like your average 'bangali badhrolok' but has a gun hidden in his bag. Abhishek Bachchan does an excellent job at that, especially with the baggage that he has been bearing. He is earnest as the man who is trying to come to terms with himself. He has a job that he doesn't remember, but reflexes that assure him that he has done it before. He goes from loveable to ruthless to vulnerable in the film and would make the audience want to root for him.

But, and this but is important here, you would fall in love with Abhishek Bachchan's Bob only if you had somehow miraculously managed to not watch Kahaani. Having stepped in Saswata's shoes, shoes that can prove too big to fill. you constantly find yourself comparing AB Jr. to the Bengali actor. SO, what AB misses here is the sleekness in Saswata's portrayal, the aura that would make it hard for you to gulp. While you can call Abhishek cute as Bob, I don't think that adjective could have gone with Saswata's portrayal and that's something fans of the original can miss, as I did. 

Diya Annapurna Ghosh tries to take on the character that his father had immortalised in his film. However, the constant sepia tone is a distraction in many parts. It is her debut film, and well she has a long way to go before she can match her father. What we miss here are the impactful side characters. Except for Kali da (played by Paran Bandyopadhyay) and Dhonu, we do not have characters who would create any mystery. Bob's wife Mary does not really add much to the narrative, even though there was so much potential and we wish she had a better character arc to herself. Tina Desai also seems to be a weak link in the film. Samara Tijori, who debuted with Bob Biswas, is good as Mary's daughter and shows potential.

The music too, at some points, let us down. In fact, in a sequence that is morbid, a funny music gives a completely different twist. What I really loved is the cinematography and the editing in the film. Also, I absolutely loved the fact that the film, set in Bengal and about Bengali characters, had most actors who are a part of the Bengali film industry. And well, we some some seasoned actors for sure.

You would really really love Bob Biswas if you have not seen Kahaani. And if you have, you may have your disagreements, and love for OG Saswata Chatterjee, but this film would prove to be an okay watch.