Bobby Jasoos
Year: 2014
Director: Samar Shaikh
Cast: Vidya Balan, Ali Fazal, Rajendra Gupta, Kiran Kumar

Kahaani was arguably the pinnacle of Vidya Balan’s acting career. Coming in the wake of successive fantastic performances in films like Ishqiya, Paa and Dirty Picture, that Kahaani portrayal ensured Balan’s place in Indian cinema’s proverbial Hall of fame. But her career’s post-Kahani phase hasn’t really panned out well. Her last two films Ghanchakkar and Shaadi Ke Side Effects were pure letdowns and did no justice to her talent. So as a movie-buff I was naturally curious to see how her latest outing Bobby Jasoos had shaped up. More than anything else, I was waiting to see if Vidya could reclaim her form back!

What’s the plot?

Bobby aka Bilquis (Vidya Balan) is a spirited girl harbouring a dream of becoming a private detective, despite facing daily jibes from her conservative Muslim family. Besides what she has read from crime fictions, Bobby has no formal training in the profession. Donning various disguises and using crude methods of deduction, she has been trying to establish her business, solving petty cases in Mughalpura, a congested lower middle class locality in Hyderabad. Her fortune takes a positive turn when an elderly rich man offers her large sums of money to find out some missing persons. As she dives headlong into her mission, she realizes that she knows practically nothing about her mysterious client. Who is he? Why is he trying to find these people? Will Bobby manage to solve these puzzles with the help of her another client, a popular TV anchor (Ali Fazal), who is reluctant to marry anyone?

What’s hot?

·        Interesting second half nicely blends suspense, romance and family drama.

·        The supporting cast is excellent. Rajendra Gupta as Bobby’s father; Supriya Pathak as her mother; Tanvi Azmi as her aunt and Prasad Barve as her friend are particularly impressive.

·        As the male lead, Ali Fazal comes across as a likable and natural performer.

·        Vidya Balan shines in emotional scenes. Hers is an author-backed central role and she is efficient as ever.

·        Samar Shaikh’s direction constructs some scenes very well.

What’s not?

·        The first half takes a lot of time to warm up and delivers an annoying mix of cheap gimmicks in the name of comedy! The entire ‘Get into a disguise and find the missing persons’ amateur sleuthing part is quite childish and cloying.

·        The melodramatic climax is bound to disappoint many viewers expecting a tauter conclusion for the well-developed suspense.

·        In many scenes, especially in close-ups, Vidya Balan looks old and tired in front of her romantic partner!

Verdict

Bobby Jasoos is a mixed bag experience. The plot build-up is slow and silly; the middle part interesting and intriguing and the climax somewhat disappointing. Yet it scores enough brownie points in the acting department to deserve a viewing.

So, has Vidya Balan rediscovered her form? Well, for me, she had never lost her acting form. A great actor is always a great actor. It is her physical form, which seriously needs to be rediscovered. A fitter, fresher-looking Vidya would certainly add more dash to her already impeccable acting persona. Finally it is showbiz, a business of ‘Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment’!

Come on Ms. Balan nee Mrs. Roy-Kapur, you can certainly do it. Indian cinema still needs you to play many more lively youthful roles. The mature, older roles can wait for a while!

Rating

2.5 stars