The Bombay Stock Exchange index rose by an impressive 347 points to close at 36,652 points while the National Stock Exchange rose by 100 points to close at 11,067.45 points on Tuesday (25 September).
The trailer of filmmaker Nikkhil Advani’s Baazaar was flagged off at the BSE, a first in Indian cinema history. Now, Baazaar certainly wasn’t instrumental in the Sensex rising for the day, but the film's team would certainly take it as a good omen and hope their theatrical revenue rises the moment the film hits the screens on 26 October.
Gauravv K Chawla, who has been Advani’s chief assistant director for many years, directs his first feature film with Bazaar. In a first of it’s kind, the business at the stock exchange becomes a base for a filmmaker to tell a fictional tale. The film is aptly titled Bazaar. No this is not a tale of the late controversial stockbroker Harshad Mehta, but Chawla’s Wolf of Dalal Street is one Shakun Kothari (Saif Ali Khan).
For Kothari life simply revolves around bulls and bears. Money, profit is his world and there is simply no place for losses. Kothari has risen from humble beginnings and is now on his way to become the king of the stock market. Life is a marathon, and no 100-meter sprint, walk slowly, Kothari’s friend Dipu advises him. The shrewd mind that he has, Kothari is quick to ask his friend, “Name me the world’s best marathoner? The friend is clueless, but when Kothari asks him who is the best 100-meter sprinter, and Dipu blurts, “Usain Bolt’. “No one remembers those who participate in a marathon,” Kothari says, making his point.
This is a great beginning to the trailer, wherein Chawla introduces his lead characters with just one sentence. You are instantly hooked to Kothari. Your stock has risen up first thing in the morning, and from now you hope it will only rise further. Just like our volatile markets, the Bazaar trailer takes a dive the moment Rohan Mehra’s character Rizwan Ahmed is introduced. Here is a guy from Allahabad University who has one big dream — work with Shakun Kothari. At a job interview, the interviewer spits in a cup and asks him to drink it. Ahmed stuns all by drinking that coffee. That’s enough to tell how ambitious this man is. Ahmed is ready to do any dirty trick just to fulfil his dream.
The man does get his opportunity, but it appears he’s made some mistake. Has Ahmed tricked Kothari? Ahmed throws a glass of whisky from the open window of the plush office. If one looks carefully, there is a human body on the shattered car too. Who is that person? We don’t know yet.
Radhika Apte’s character is a smart woman who knows how to rise up the ladder. Chitrangda Singh is, perhaps, playing Kothari’s wife. She doesn’t have much footage in the trailer.
The trailer is made of two parts, one that gives us a glimpse into the life of Kothari, while the other is the story of Ahmed. The trailer is nearly three minutes long, but Chawla also brings in other characters and you only get to see few shades of Kothari and Ahmed.
Late actor Vinod Mehra’s son Rohan chooses an unconventional subject to launch his career, but with what is visible in the trailer, you are not really convinced by his talent. If the first impression is the last impression, then Rizwan Ahmed, too, doesn't really move you.
The one man who drives this trailer is Saif Ali Khan. He had played a Gujarati in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) but this is like never before. He hasn’t dyed his hair all white, but we just see a shade of it. Khan uses the Gujarati accent very subtly, it's only prominent when he mutters the Gujrati punch line.
Kothari oozes class, but at the same time he comes across as a sophisticated, unforgiving character. The spirit, the ambition of Kothari is best described in the dialogue where Kothari says that there is just a bunch of 5-6 families who are running this country — Tatas, Birlas, Wadias, Ruia. In Kothari, Khan is perhaps playing his most intriguing character in years.
Overall, Baazaar trailer is fairly impressive. Like a day in the stock market, the trailer experiences its ups and downs, but if you invest in this film, Kothari promises some returns as well.
Watch the Baazaar trailer below and tell us if you think the film will be a hit at the box office.