Bilquis ‘Bobby’ Ahmed isn’t an average woman – and neither is Vidya Balan, for whom Bobby Jasoos feels like a natural extension.

Balan is at a career zenith and her roles don’t always warrant a high-priced leading man. Like the modern woman, she can do quite well by herself.

Her Bilquis, though grounded in traditional values – some overbearing, most of them strictly necessary – is an independent minded, brilliant mix of the brave and the bold, so much like Balan’s on-screen radiance, it’s impossible to not fall for her.

A scene from movie, "Bobby Jasoos". – Courtesy Photo
A scene from movie, "Bobby Jasoos". – Courtesy Photo

But that’s not the only reason to give Bobby Jasoos a thumb’s up.

The screenplay by Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh, directed with good eye for subtleness by debutant Samar Shaikh, has Bobby in Moghalpura, Hyderabad, in a family of six – two sisters, a brusque aunt (Tanvi Azmi), a temperate mother (Supriya Pathak), and a tetchy dad (Rajendra Gupta). And no, her dad isn’t gruff because of petty things like not having a son – the story is above all that. It’s because Bobby is an amateur detective – a fiction-inspired ‘jasoos’, fascinated by the idea of stealth and disguise.

Balan plays dress-up in most of her locality-bound cases. An imam with a hunchbacked posture, a balding, bucktoothed palmist, a ‘quite ordinary’ orderly, a television producer with impossible bosoms, and several low-key burqas help her in nailing down culprits like sons who smoke, adulterous spouses or snooping facts on eligible marriage proposals.

Scenes from movie, "Bobby Jasoos". – Courtesy Photo
Scenes from movie, "Bobby Jasoos". – Courtesy Photo

Until one day, she is hired by Anees Khan (Kiran Kumar, excellent), a shady character who wants her to track a girl named Nilofer, with only the age and a birthmark in her hand as a lead.

Bobby’s fancy inventiveness on tracking down case is on show here, and Balan makes her as distinct and infectious a character as possible.

The story, which mingles Bobby’s personal life, a couple of side-characters, a recurring sub-plot of a local hood and his lovelorn problems with the already engaged girl-next-door, provides enough divergence from the main plot to make the two hour running time a light-hearted escapist affair.

A scene from movie, "Bobby Jasoos". – Courtesy Photo
A scene from movie, "Bobby Jasoos". – Courtesy Photo

The songs – there are three, with music by Shantanu Moitra – and the cinematography by Vishal Sinha stay out of the way; they are inconspicuous, but do their job well.

The other show-stealer, apart from Bobby, is the production design and the sensibility of the Hyderabadi lifestyle.

Samar Shaikh, who graduated from Assistant Directing (Dhoom, Badmaa$h Company) and storyboarding (Chakde! India, Dhoom 3), has a gift of keeping things in check without letting cliché step in – and that is a feat by itself.


The final word


With gripping screenplay, brilliant performances and hilarious situations, the film is a must-watch. Producer Dia Mirza should be proud: it’s not every weekend you get good, family-friendly entertainment, that’s not a sin to the senses.

Read this review in Urdu here.


Released by Reliance Entertainment, 'Bobby Jasoos' is rated U. There's a lack of anything off-putting.

Directed by Samar Shaikh; Produced by Dia Mirza and Sahil Sangha; Written by Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh; Cinematography by Vishal Sinha; Edited by Hemal Kothari; Music by Shantanu Moitra; Production Design by Tariq Umar Khan.

Starring: Vidya Balan, Ali Fazal, Arjan Bajwa, Anupriya Goenka, Arjan Bajwa, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, Prasad Barve, Aakash Dahiya, Zarina Wahab, Rajendra Gupta and Kiran Kumar.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.