OTT Round Up - Abhishek Bachchan Delivers Again With The Big Bull, Raat Baaki Hai, Ajeeb Daastaans And Bisaat Next Week

What also works in favor of 'The Big Bull' is the fact that it can be watched with the entire family and that by itself is a welcome relief on OTT space.

Abhishek Bachchan Delivers Again With The Big Bull

By Joginder Tuteja

The Big Bull has turned out to one the biggest direct-to-OTT release of 2021, the other being Drishyam 2. Though last year saw a dozen odd high profile films arriving straight on the digital medium, right from Gulabo Sitabo to Coolie No. 1, 2021 has been rather quiet with just a select few films making the cut. No wonder, all eyes were on how The Big Bull would turn out to be since it was originally designed for a theatrical arrival and with the advent of pandemic, it was picked up by Disney+Hotstar for an OTT release.

While the plan was being executed, Sony LIV came up with Scam 1992 and everyone got to know 'the Harshad Mehta story'. The makers decided to waited for a while before bringing on their The Big Bull and the good part is that its release is coinciding with IPL. While viewers would be hooked to Disney+Hotstar, the OTT platform's captive audience would also be introduced to The Big Bull through ongoing promos, and that would help the Ajay Devgn and Anand Pandit produced film gain added eyeballs.

As for the film, it has gained mixed appreciation. While it hasn't been panned unlike a few releases of last year, the feedback has ranged from decent to good which means the Kookie Gulati directed film can expect continued audiences for itself in days and weeks to come. It may not have set an 'opening record' per se but is the kind of drama that would be watched at leisure by viewers over an extended period of time. What also works in favor of the film is the fact that it can be watched with the entire family and that by itself is a welcome relief on OTT space.

Of course it's the man of the moment, Abhishek Bachchan, who has made the film special. Notwithstanding the forced maniacal laughter which has been interspersed into the narrative, the fact remains that he has come up with a controlled performance despite the aggression, arrogance and overconfidence of the character that he is required to enact on screen. Last year he won quite some appreciation for Ludo and this year he has covered a larger distance in a commercial set up by delivering all over again as an actor. Give the film a watch and you will enjoy.

Coming soon

It is going to be an exciting week ahead with a variety of content in the offering on the OTT space. While there is an anthology drama [Ajeeb Daastaans] coming up soon, there are also murder mystery thrillers [Raat Baaki Hai, Bisaat] which will keep the viewers engaged.

Raat Baaki Hai is a made-for-OTT film which was originally planned for release last year. However, now ZEE5 is bringing it out on 16th April and by the look of this Avinash Das directed film, it is a kind of murder mystery that would keep the audiences guessing. The cast is interesting too with Anup Soni, Paoli Dam, Rahul Dev, Dippanita Sharma and Sameer Malhotra coming together, hence promising a credible stuff. ZEE5 has seen a couple of successful murder mysteries already [Nailpolish, Silence...Can You Hear It] so this could well be a hat-trick for them.

Bisaat is special since it has Vikram Bhatt coming in as a director. The veteran filmmaker was one of the first to step into the OTT bandwagon and while he already has over half a dozen offerings to his name over the years, this one looks like an entertaining web series which would be streaming on MX Player from 15th April. Starring Sandeepa Dhar [Abhay] and Omkar Kapoor [Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2] in the lead along with Khalid Siddiqui, Leena Jumani and Jia Mustafa, this one promises to be a visually striking affair.

Ajeeb Daastaans is a Netflix offering which releases on 16th April and boasts of a good promo. Coming from the house of Karan Johar, this one looks really good with rich talent that ranges from Konkona Sen Sharma, Shefali Shah, Aditi Rao Hydari, Abhishek Banerjee, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Inayat Verma to Jaideep Ahlawat, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Armaan Ralhan and Manav Kaul. The directors come with a sensibility of their own with names as diverse as Shashank Khaitan and Raj Mehta to Neeraj Ghaywan and Kayoze Irani. One keenly awaits this anthology.

Release dates (for next week)

Bisaat - MX Players - 15th April

Ajeeb Daastaans - Netflix - 16th April

Raat Baaki Hai - 16th April - ZEE5

(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal)