Review of the film The Big Bull. Harshad Mehta's story gets a Bollywood twist thanks to Abhishek Bachchan's flick.

 Review of the film The Big Bull. Harshad Mehta's story gets a Bollywood twist thanks to Abhishek Bachchan's flick.

 

What are the disadvantages of making a film based on a well-known story? The answer is self-evident: it will be judged at every turn, with no mercy. You're in for some tough comparisons, especially after a lauded online series that can surely tick all the boxes for being the finest program of 2020. And when working on Kookie Gulati's The Big Bul, Abhishek Bachchan was well aware of it.Despite the actor's strong performance, the film, which is a fictionalized and Bollywoodized version of the narrative of the infamous stockbroker Harshad Mehta, falls short of Hansal Mehta's web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, at several points.

So the story begins in 2020, when journalist Meera Rao (played by Ileana D'Cruz) tells the narrative of Hemant Shah (played by Abhishek Bachchan), who revolutionized the stock market in the 1980s and 1990s, at the publication of her book The Big Bull.He takes on the established system with his brother Viren Shah (Sohum Shah) and a trusty aide (Sumit Vats), becoming one of the wealthiest people in the country in a very short amount of time and assisting many others in making money in the stock market.The narrative then shifts to the 1980s, when Hemant is still employed and lives in a chawl with his brother Viran and their mother (Supriya Pathak). When we're talking about a Bollywood story with a financial context, how can we not include a love angle?

Then we see Hemant Shah rapidly ascending the success ladder. Before we've had time to acclimate to Shah's life in the chawl, we see him already making money on the stock market and meeting some of the industry's hotshots. It's difficult to comprehend the change and align oneself with the story since it happens so quickly.Is, nevertheless, the film's momentum maintained throughout? No, no, and no. When Bollywood is included, the film slows down to allow for drama and emotional turmoil, which makes the viewing experience tedious.In scenic places in Delhi, we find Hemant Shah romancing his wife Priya Shah (Nikita Dutta). He also purchases an entire market of chaat in order to satisfy his wife's desire for golgappas. You think it's romantic, don't you? So there aren't any!