The Big Bull review: Has its moments but falters in the end

In life, as much as in sports or comedy, timing can be critical. And that is where Kookie Gulati’s The Big Bull (2021) slips.

The film could not have come at a worse time. Not because of the raging COVID-19 second wave in India, but because barely four months ago viewers savoured Hansal Mehta’s Scam 1992 (2020), a web-series based on the exact same story.

Scam 1992 was highly acclaimed for its presentation. Besides, with its cumulative runtime of nine hours, the series, headlined by the fantastic Pratik Gandhi, left little if anything for The Big Bull to explore.

Of course, unlike Scam 1992, which was made as a biopic of the late stockbroker and scamster Harshad Mehta, The Big Bull is only based upon his life story and doesn’t claim to be a biographical film. It does not use the real names of the protagonist or those around him.

The film begins in the 1980s in old Mumbai’s Kalbadevi locality where Hemant Shah (Abhishek Bachchan) lives a typical middle-class existence with his parents and younger brother Viren (Sohum Shah). Hemant works at a dance institute as an accountant but wants to earn big bucks. He gets lucky once with the stock market, making a hefty sum and decides to continue to try his hand at the markets.

Soon Hemant's stature grows, mostly by crook. He becomes an invincible player, earning the nickname The Big Bull. Making big money quickly also enables him to marry his childhood sweetheart Priya (Nikita Dutta).

But now there is no end to Hemant’s greed. He commits more white-collar crimes as he wants to become the "richest Indian". Viren advises him to slow down and be content with what he has, but Hemant is in no mood to listen to sane advice. Then an obstacle arrives in his path in the form of journalist Meera Rao (Ileana D’Cruz) who gets her hands on evidence of a huge scam involving Hemant.

The strongest point of The Big Bull is the faithful recreation of the bygone era. The Bombay of old is believable in every scene, which is aided by the camerawork. Yet, there are slips, like the announcement of the next station inside a suburban train in the 1990s. That facility was only introduced in the 21st century.

But when it comes to the narrative, however, the ride isn't smooth. For instance, Hemant’s rapid rise at the start isn’t established organically. To maintain the film's tempo, the writers have done a hurried job of an important plot point. 

The narrative gets a new lease of life in the second half when the screws start tightening on Hemant. It is at this moment that Abhishek Bachchan comes into his own and his performance makes an impact. Bachchan has brought his own mannerisms and attitude to the character of the scamster, making it difficult to compare his act with Pratik Gandhi's. At times he does remind you of his role in Mani Ratnam's Guru (2007), especially in his body language. But other than that, he makes the character of Hemant Shah believable and carries the film on his shoulders.

Sohum Shah is convincing as Hemant’s caring younger brother; someone who says a lot without saying much. Ileana D’Cruz and Nikita Dutta are adequate for their parts.

Ram Kapoor makes his cameo appearance memorable. It helps that he appears in possibly the most powerful scene of the film, Hemant Shah's press conference.

Unfortunately, for viewers who have seen Scam 1992, it becomes difficult to keep the web-series away, particularly during the final moments. Scam 1992 had a hard-hitting end. The Big Bull's is lukewarm despite the build-up having set it up for a powerful closure. The film is also hurt by the lazy handling of the all-important scene of Meera meeting Hemant alone for the first and last time.

With the benefit of hindsight, The Big Bull would have been better served if it had been released a year ago, pre-empting Scam 1992.

The Big Bull is now available on Disney+ Hotstar..