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The name is Bobby, or the never-used Bilkis Ahmed—detective in the making fitted in a comic-book noir frame. From the name of the movie to its title song, it is there for everyone to see who the movie is betting on. Bobby (Vidya Balan) is pulp fiction heroine, amateur 'jasoos' who takes up odd cases ranging from stalking suspected lovers and getting rid of marriage proposals for the groom, to listening to the woes of confused I-pill consumers.
Make no mistake, this ride is fun! She is the rebel from a close-knit Muslim household, who's on probe 24/7. Her father (a suave Rajendra Gupta), dead against her roaming around in the city trying to be a sleuth and not giving in to marriage, resorts to ignore her presence in the house. Ammi (a superb Supriya Pathak) is the pacifier, trying to keep the home together. Tanvi Azmi also makes her presence felt, being a member of the family.
So Bobby sprints, jumps and even does the Tarzan act of swinging from one bar to another, all in Moghulpura, in Hyderabad. She's all spunk and no nonsense. Her sidekicks, Shetty (Prasad Barve) and Munna (Aakash Dahiya) whip out some 'funny' with impeccable timing. Among her acquaintances, there is the TV journo Tasawur (Ali Fazal), who's getting her to thwart all his father's attempts to get him to tie the knot. You guessed already? Well, it runs on a slightly different trajectory though!
And in comes the mysterious man, Aneez Khan (Kiran Kumar), sly and sinister, who offers Bobby lump sum amounts to find certain young women. Bobby plunges in, but later realizes that she's slowly getting embroiled in something big. And that mystery shrouded in another mystery becomes her quest.
What's most impressive about Samar Shaikh's direction backed by a smart screenplay is that Bobby Jasoos doesn't resort to keeping up with stereotypes. Bobby isn't defined by any gender norms, and she definitely doesn't try to be 'the man'; she does all her sprinting in her salwar-kameez but she isn't romantic, nor does she wants to run a household. It's Bobby who sneaks out and gets to Tasawur's house, and asks him to calm down when he panics.
It's again Bobby who runs after a goonda and holds him down until he spat out some details. But she points out that she's no superwoman with her parting shot—“Kasrath kar” (do some exercise) to him! Ammi covers up for the rebellious daughter to abba. This is smart writing. In some small ways, the customary hero is slightly subverted here, but it's given such a quirky dimension that you can't help but laugh joyously at it.
Ali Fazal fits the bill; his reactionary persona gives way to a lot of smiles. The drolleries and misadventures in romance are enjoyable; Vidya and Fazal quite charmingly make it interesting. The casting is fantastic, and that is what the movie straddles on. Hyderabad is enticing in Vishal Sinha's camera, and Shantanu Moitra stops with two hummable songs and bankable BGM.
The movie could have benefitted with a better ending; the mystery completely fizzles out and you'd probably think you missed something while you were blinking in incomprehension at the pace with which it all concluded. Nonetheless, Jasoos girl entertains, along with an unusual script and befitting performances. Paying homage to Holmes, Hitchcock and all of those that inspired, take a reel check with Bobby Jasoos!
Rating: 3.5/5
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