“The Big Bull” Draws A Big Lull

Disney+ Hotstar’s latest Bollywood film “The Big Bull” is inspired by the life and story of Harshad Mehta, who was infamous for the scam in the early ‘90s that shook the Indian banking system to its core and forced it to become heavily regulated. Produced by Ajay Devgn and directed by Kookie Gulati, the movie changes the names of the people and dramatizes certain aspects of the characters and story.

One can’t help but compare it with the critically acclaimed Indian web series ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story,’ which released towards the end of last year on SonyLiv. Call it bad timing or bad planning, “The Big Bull” just doesn’t live up to expectations due to the standard set by the captivating series.

Abhishek Bachchan as the protagonist Hemant Shah is not as impressive as one would have hoped for him to be. Even in scenes where his character’s unstable behavior is evident and overly dramatic, it fails to create the intended impact of fear and concern. We all know ‘Junior’ Bachchan is capable of versatility and has received critical acclaim for his roles in movies such as “Yuvaa” (2004) and “Guru” (2007). But he falls short in his performance in “The Big Bull,” despite playing such a powerful character.

This could, in part, be attributed to subpar directing and a poor script. Weak dialogues drastically tone down what could have been impactful scenes, and intentional yet amateurish choppy editing is indicative of an incompetent crew.

To add to the mix, the movie derails early on by focusing on the protagonist’s love story and has romantic songs too. (SMH) Blessed will be Bollywood when Indian filmmakers give enough credit to the maturity of audiences who don’t need to see song and dance in every film, especially the ones that are based on true events because the story is enough to create a desire to watch the film and captivate our attention.

It is better to skip this one for sure.