Art & Entertainment

Bobby Jasoos

Its easy, languorous pace and unhurried story-telling reminds one of the old detective serials of Doordarshan, like <i>Karamchand</i> and <i>Byomkesh Bakshi</i>.

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Bobby Jasoos
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Starring: Vidya Balan, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, Ali Fazal, Arjan Bajwa, Zareena Wahab
Directed by Samar Shaikh
Rating:

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Bobby Jasoos with its easy, languorous pace and unhurried story-telling reminds one of the old detective serials of Doordarshan, like Karamchand and Byomkesh Bakshi. The only difference is that the Jasoos here happens to be a girl next door clad in a cotton salwar kam­eez and sports shoes—Bilkis, aka Bobby. A role that Vidya easily slips into. But even more than her, it’s the veteran women on the periphery—Supriya Pathak as her mom, Tanvi Azmi as her khala and Zareena Wahab as her friend’s mother, who steal the show. Their roles may be minuscule but their pre­sence is charming to the hilt. The romantic track, in which the hero and heroine discover their love for each other, is heartwarming. So is an ingenuously handled bir­i­yani-eating sequence. But the ultimate winner is the old Hyderabad itself against which the story unfolds. The Char­minar, Ramzan, Iftaari, Id, food...all help in bui­l­ding up an atmosphere that’s more delicious than the suspense itself. In fact, there’s hardly any mystery at the heart of Bobby Jasoos and the tepid climax proves to be very disappointing. The film ends up as an emotional, didactic, social issues-­oriented, father-­daughter film in the guise of a detective story. The songs irk; they could well have been avoided. Also, the Hyderabadi accent of the entire cast seems to be too self-conscious and worked at. But, for a change, it’s still good to see Hyderabad on screen than the usual Dilli-Bambai pictures.

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