The Big Bull Review: class act by Abhishek in gripping story of rise of middle class man to biggest stock broker in India 

By Rajesh Ahuja 

He bowled us over with his masterly act in Mani Rathnam's Guru in 2007 as the fiesty Gurunath Desai, who charts a meteoric rise from his humble middle class roots to becoming india's biggest industrialist by dint of his self confidence and never day die spirit. The remarkable performance by Abhishek Bachchan in the 2007 film is etched in the memory of cinegoers even today.

With the latest film The Big Bull, the story of rise of a middle class man Hemant Shah to becoming one of India's biggest stock brokers, the cinelovers and the fans of Abhishek Bachchan have been looking forward to another class act from the actor. 

As one watches the film, which is being streamed on Disney Hotstar, it seems amply clear that what one has watched is another class act from Abhishek Bachchan. 

The Big Bull is a gripping story of a middle class man Hemant Shah's rise to becoming the Biggest stock broker of India 

The Big Bull: synopsis

A chawl resident Hemant Shah (Abhishek Bachchan) , who makes his ends meet through odd jobs, comes to know that one of his neighbours has made quick money in the stock market using inside information about a company. Immediately, he decides to earn quick big bucks using his research about the company. Soon, he and his brother Viren (Sohum Shah) join hands to earn quick money using his research about the companies and intelligence about the stock market. As Hemant Shah moves on his journey to become one of India's biggest stock brokers by exploring the loopholes in the banking system, a journalist Meera Rao (Ileana D’Cruz), who begins to understand the methods used by Hemant to because quick rich, tries to expose the ways in which Hemant uses the banking system for this own profit. 

A fast paced screenplay 

One of the USPs of the film is its fast paced storyline which keeps the audience constantly engaged throughout and maintains their curiosity about the life of Hemant Shah. While the pace is slow in the first few minutes, it gathers rapid pace in the subsequent reels. Infact, the journey of Hemant Shah from a chawl resident to a rich person and the biggest stock broker in the country is covered within a short time . Episodes like Hemant Shah's love affair with priya(Nikita Dutta) , his marriage to her and his romance with her are dealt in a rather perfunctory manner so as not to hamper the flow of the story of Hemant Shah's rise to the top.

The Big Bull Review: direction and performances

As far as performances go, it is Abhishek Bachchan who is in the star of the film with another career defining performances after Mani Rathnam's Guru. 

Watching him enact the aggressive Hemant Shah, for whom there are no stops in his journey to become the richest man in the country, is a treat.

The swagger in his body language, the smirk in his tone , his self assuredness and his deafening laugh as Hemant Shah reminds one of the Gurunath Desai of Mani Rathnam's Guru. Infact, Abhishek Bachchan is the fulcrum around which the entire film revolves. 

Lending Abhishek Bachchan able support is Sohum Shah as Viren Shah. As Hemant Shah's brother, who walks along with Hemant Shah with a sense of trepidation and hesitancy, Sohum Shah comes up with a notable performance. 

Nikita Dutta performs well in the limited screen time given to her in the film.

Illeana D Cruz impresses in the role of a journalist who is trying to expose the ways in which Hemant uses the banking system for his own profit. 

The rest of the cast, including Saurabh Shukla, Ram Kapoor , Sumit Vats, Samir Soni and Mahesh Manjrekar lend able support. 

The director Kookie Gulati needs to be credited with keeping the  audiences engaged in the proceedings and getting goood performances from the cast.

The music of the film is nothing much to talk about though a song pucturised on Abhishek Bachchan and Nikita Dutta is melodious.

The Big Bull Review:  conclusion 

In short, The Big Bull is an extremely gripping story about rise of a middle class man to becoming the Biggest stock brokers of the country with a class act by Abhishek Bachchan. 

My rating: 3. 5/5- one for the story, one for screenplay and direction and one for the class act by Abhishek Bachchan and 0.5 for the impressive performance by Sohum Shah and Ileana D'Cruz.