Vidya Balan is a fantastic actress. She is possibly the only
Indian heroine who has had four back-to-back heroine dominated films that set
the box office registers ringing. Ishqiya,
No One Killed Jessica, The Dirty Picture and Kahaani – all hits, all without heroes, all with strong stories,
all with fabulous characterisations. Kahaani
was followed by Ghanchakkar with
Emran Hashmi and Shaadi Ke Side Effects with
Farhan Akhtar and both flopped. Clearly Vidya Balan with a traditional hero did
not work.
Bobby Jasoos was
exciting because it was a Balan-centric movie. It heralded the Return of Vidya Balan.
Alas! It failed in its promise. It is not Balan who has failed, though – she
has performed well; it is the film that fails.
Balan is Bobby (Bilkis Ahmed) a wannabe detective who seems
to be surprisingly struggling and having plenty of clients at the
same time. Her services are not offered cheap either. She has a couple of
regular on-going jobs which pay her regularly too. In fact, she is shown to
refuse jobs that come her way. This is an unfathomable flaw in
conceptualisation.
Bobby has some die-hard acquaintances who set their jobs and
lives aside to be at her beck and call. She in turn does not seem to offer any
friendship, support or emotion to them. Ditto her relationship with her mother
and the hero. The poorly etched out relations are a flaw in emotion.
Bobby, the detective, is amateur at best. Her methods are
random and frankly, quite silly. There is no method to her madness. Yet she
seems to solve her cases with childish ease. This is a flaw in research and
depth.
Plus there are issues in flow and narration.
The first half is a wannabe comic caper which takes an
abrupt about turn mid-way. The second half flounders towards a tepid climax.
There is only one truly funny scene in the whole movie: Bobby dragging her mom,
aunt and sister to find a biryaniwalla. They
don’t know that she is sleuthing under
the guise of finding just the right biryani
for her wedding and they have to eat biryani
till they are in tears while she is doing her job all the while.
Yet, Balan’s talent saves the film from being a washout. She
is enthusiastic and endearing – but comedy is not her forte. All others have
precious little to do. Would’ve said that this movie should be avoided but
Balan makes it watchable (not riveting like Kahaani
though).
