The Big Bull doesn’t glorify crime, says producer Anand Pandit

Ever since the trailer of the Abhishek Bachchan-starrer The Big Bull was released, people have been drawing comparisons between the lead character and the real-life stockbroker Harshad Mehta. More so, since the latter was nicknamed the Big Bull in the 1990s. 

The project’s producer, Anand Pandit, spoke in detail about the film’s subject. “The Big Bull is a story of rags to riches. It is the genre of corporate intrigue where scams, rivalries between business tycoons, manipulation in business are rife. This genre is getting a lot of appreciation now and people are understanding its nuances. Sure, there can be parallels for those looking for some. It is a story of a brilliant, street-smart Gujarati gentleman who wants to buy and sell dreams in a newly aspirational India. He wants to be the country’s first billionaire and grow from ‘rags to riches',” said Pandit in a statement. 

It was Bachchan’s performance in Guru (2007) that played a role in him bagging this film. Pandit said, “From the time I saw Guru, I knew Abhishek Bachchan was going to be The Big Bull. But no, there is no glorification of a character who misused his brilliance. The story clearly demonstrates that he ventured into a muddled moral space where people got hurt by his deception. His inner compass was askew. Abhishek has nailed the trajectory of a man who did not know when to stop playing the odds.”

Throwing more light on the journey of the protagonist, Pandit said, “Our protagonist Hemant Shah begins with hope and ambition but at some point veers into a space where right and wrong become blurred. Writer Arjun Dhawan, Kookie [Gulati] and Abhishek have created a world that is compelling, immersive and complex. But never does the film lose sight of the fact that this was a man who lost his way. His journey is both tragic and cautionary. Abhishek has created on screen, a character that has many dimensions and is not just another caricature.” 

Also starring Nikita Dutta, Ileana D’Cruz, Sohum Shah, Ram Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla, The Big Bull will be released on Disney+ Hotstar on 8 April.