Will A. Bachchan Make us Laugh ?

Friday is the release of “Bol Bachchan,” a comedy by Rohit Shetty said to be inspired by Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s beloved “Gol Maal” (1979). With Ajay Devgn taking over for Utpal Dutt’s staunch and cranky patriarch, Abhishek Bachchan is on deck for a double role as a character trying to trick an intimidating foil.

Although the younger Bachchan hasn’t done many films that could be classed as all-out comedies, particularly in recent years, I have great faith in his comedic talents and believe he is more than up to the challenge of mustache-based shenanigans in this bright, brash take on Mr. Mukherjee’s more gentle and contained original.

The leap from Mr. Mukherjee’s “middle cinema,” neither full-tilt masala nor art-house fare, to Mr. Shetty’s self-labeled “commercial potboilers” is a big one, perhaps even a sacrilegious one to some fans of the original film. I’m optimistic about “Bol Bachchan” for the simple reason that I cannot wait to see Abhishek Bachchan in a comic role again.

It’s a risky proposition to watch a film simply because of who is in it, especially if you’re wary of the writer, Yunus Sajawal, whose recent credits include “Golmaal 3,” “Singham” and “Rascals,” all featuring Mr. Devgn. But I find it hard to resist Bachchan Junior, following him into generally unloved films like “Drona” (2008) and “Naach” (2004) and cameos in dreck like “Neal ‘N’ Nikki”  (2005).

The dual role in “Bol Bachchan” has the potential to be fun and to showcase his strengths as an actor. His best comedic performances to date have all essentially been dual roles, characters pretending to be someone they’re really not. The success of those stories has depended in part on his ability to develop multiple personalities within the context of the same character, convincing the audience that at least one of those personalities is genuine while simultaneously creating other versions that make sense with the deception practiced within the film.

In “Bunty aur Babli” (2005), a cons-on-the-run story, his character Rakesh’s dreams of self-made fortune are so vast and so strong that he defies his parents and runs away from home. Rakesh soon discovers he has a knack for inventing new personas who tell gullible people with deep pockets what they want to hear, and with his partner Vimmi he sets off on a string of cons perpetrated by a fellow he calls Bunty. What’s so lovely about this film is that during all of Bunty’s successes, the core of Rakesh is not erased, seen first in his devotion to Vimmi and later in a grudging bond with the police officer on their tail. The actor has a lot of fun with Bunty’s different disguises, voices and physical mannerisms, but he shows Rakesh’s earnest heart at all the right moments. Mr. Bachchan never lets Bunty overwhelm Rakesh’s true self.

“Jhoom Barabar Jhoom” (2007) also involves a gentle hero, Rikki, grappling with a fantasy life that stems not from dreams but from self-aggrandizement and, as the lies stemming from his imagination get harder to conceal, self-protection. Rikki’s fantasy version of himself is more of an exaggeration than a pure invention, a man who is a little more suave, a little more respectable, a little more accomplished in wooing classy women. As in “Bunty aur Babli,” the hero cannot be genuinely successful until the personas he has constructed give way to his real self, who is of course a better embodiment of masala values such as romantic love and family stability.

The film that makes me most hopeful about “Bol Bachchan” is “Dostana” (2008). This is the comedic performance by Mr. Bachchan that is most in danger of toppling over the edge into overblown, shallow caricature. But both the script and the actor’s portrayal keep things just this side of ridiculous.

Going by the trailer, it seems likely that Friday’s release will have at least some broad humor as lies get more complicated and characters scramble to keep up. As similar forces lead toward the climax of “Dostana,” Mr. Bachchan keeps his character at a level of likeability that’s impossible to resist, even though the mess he finds himself in is entirely his own fault. Even in “Bluffmaster” (2005), he creates a sort of hero-clown, a character you don’t mind laughing at but also feel hopeful for once he is revealed to be the subject of a very elaborate ruse.

That, I think, is one of the reasons why I enjoy the actor so much in comedies. He consistently comes across as a nice and essentially normal guy, which is no small feat given how often films insist on reminding us who his father is. There’s seldom anything typically filmi-heroic about him. On the few occasions when he has tried more traditionally heroic roles, they simply haven’t worked. I think most of us would rather forget the damp squib revolutionary in “Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se” (2010), the mopey “Drona” (2008) and his dull, irrelevant police officer in the otherwise giddy “Dhoom 2” (2006). He is better off without the burden of “film hero” on his shoulders and being encouraged to use deftness and versatility to create people who the audience actually cares about and can maybe even relate to. 

My fingers are hesitantly crossed that “Bol Bachchan” will give him the opportunities to be a new generation of Amol Palekar’s silly but essentially normal Ramprasad and Lakshmanprasad from the classic “Gol Maal.” Maybe he’ll be just a regular guy who, unfortunately, finds himself in a Rohit Shetty film.