Ever since she burst on the screen in Parineeta, bearing a smile as radiant as the sun, it was evident that Vidya Balan was not your everyday Bollywood heroine. Her wardrobe may never have been spot on, and her weight might have been on the heavier side, but bucket loads of talent ensured that for author backed, strong female characters, she was the undisputed choice. The Dirty Picture proved it, and Kahaani guaranteed it. No surprises then, for a character as unique as Bobby in Bobby Jasoos, the choice of Balan was a no-brainer. But can she make any movie great? No.Bobby Jasoos is the story of Bilkis "Bobby" Ahmed, a Hyderabadi aspiring to be a detective. Bobby is smart, talented and driven, and for the lack of opportunities- she spends most of her time solving trivial neighborhood cases in Mughalpura, Hyderabad. But her choice of career has its downsides. Her orthodox father does not speak with her, and there is a perennial cash flow problem. Well, at least till she chances upon Anis Khan (Kiran Kumar), who puts her on a well-paying, missing persons case. The rest of the plot focuses on Bobby solving this case, and also sorting out her love life. The good is mostly centered around the acting. Balan with her authentic Hyderabadi accent, colorful kurtas and bubbly charm almost pulls it off single handedly. Ali Fazal as her reluctant lover/friend is an excellent foil to the enthusiastic Bobby. The support cast consisting of Rajendra Gupta, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, and Arjan Bajwa are good too. The bad is the script- it is just not funny enough. Bobby Jasoos has an interesting start, a decent middle but an absolutely pointless Manmohan Desai style ending. Patchy screenplay, boring songs, forced melodrama further pull the film down. The character of Bobby Jasoos has shades of Veronica Mars? Bingo. And I feel this would be a great idea for a TV serial, of course, if only they could get Vidya in the small screen. Advice for debutant director Samar Sheikh - There is more to sleuthing that disguises. 5/10

This might turn out to be a different experience for those not from Hyderabad. I am. Lived my entire life over here. The accent used by most characters in this flick is better than perhaps the ones used by 'Well done Abba', but doesn't come close to the ones used by the nincompoops in 'The Angrez'. Pity, since that could have been the source of a lot of humor, along with people like us feeling at home with the characters, instead of being reminded that the cast had to take lessons/classes to pass themselves off as Hyderabadis.In terms of quality though, with most of the technical aspects, including paying close attention to small details (Bilquis' shoes all the way!!!), I would have to give it up to newbie Samar Sheikh. The background score's strong as well, and that sure was refreshing. Pity he did not have a better yarn to spin (one of the best portions for me was the reference to Karamchand, a carrot and Kitty) around all of this stuff that was greenlit by Reliance. All the performances are top-notch, including most of the supporting ones. A few highlights: Kiran Kumar gets to chew on scenery after a long time, and the screen needs more runtime from this great actor. Rajendra Gupta's good, but he does his concerned oldie schtick, and it has gotten pretty old - but I'm sure they're not giving him better options. Bajwa's pretty bad. Zarina Wahab doesn't have enough screen-time. Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi (with her progressively scarier make-up with each movie - I cannot believe I used to have a crush on her during her stint on TV in 'Jeevan Rekha / Lifeline), Ali Fazal are good, and make their mark in different sequences. Hyderabad, of ye old city, has been captured very well, and most of the lines are well-written. However, like how Alia Bhatt was miscast as a South Indian in '2 States', Vidya falters in the beginning, with her put-on Hyderabadi accent, but steadies herself as the movie went by, or it's that syndrome of our getting used to something just because its being repeated over the course of the movie's running time. Ah, the runtime! This has to be one of those frequent occasions where a movie with a 2 hour running time feels longer than it should. That's just because there's no meat on its bones.All in all, a feeble attempt at humor, going noir, and setting it in Hyderabad. The scope, for the detective humor/crime genre was immense, and even the city-dekho aspect just vacillated from Moghalpura to Avasa, with nothing in between. Even the biryani taste-kar sequence could've name-dropped a few of the familiar spots, but they missed that train too. While appreciating the focus on maintaining the tempo of the narrative and not digressing from the tale being told, the only problem is with the scope the tale chooses to limit itself too. Even in terms of denouement, a feeble whimper's all we get.A few sequences that showcase how street-smart our lass is, while also showcasing her smarts with trying to get out of a particular sticky situation kinda shows us that with more sequences as those, this one could've been something different, something kick-a$$. But....that's just those 2 sequences.Make no mistake, I welcome movies of this genre - it's just a pity that the attempt is not much to write home about. Worth 1 watch at the local multiplex for sure, but you wouldn't do badly if you chose the Home- viewing option either.

Bobby Jasoos, a film by Samar Shaikh, could have been another Vidya Balan hit with the very novel concept of a female detective, a very unconventional profession for a female to be in, but something is amiss which hasn't worked in its favour. Post 'The Dirty Picture' and 'Kahaani', Vidya Balan has set her own benchmarking level of performance quite high. Her 'Ghanchakkar' was super flop, and 'Shaadi ke Side Effects' could do only decent business. Bobby Jasoos probably faltered as far as the script is concerned; otherwise, its concept had all the elements of another blockbuster in Vidya's kitty. But yes, it is a movie, which prompts us to pursue our dreams irrespective of challenges. Bilkis Ahmed aka Bobby (Vidya Balan) is so passionate about proving her mettle as a detective against the wishes of her family. Only her mother Zebo (Supriya Pathak) supports her whereas father (Rajendra Gupta) and others at home are dead against her detective job. Her father has a conservative approach and he feels that the house shall not be run with the girl's earning. He also feels that Bobby is a disgrace to the family due to her profession. Zebo does bring smile to our face while she tries to defend Bobby and her detective activities.Bobby keeps trying her luck at G-Force detective agency in spite of facing rejections from the agency again and again. She starts her own detective agency after challenging the agency. She handles insipid cases like worried parents, suspicious spouses etc. A tea shop person Munna (Aakash Dahiya) does help her to get clients. She dons variety of looks viz. that of a beggar, palmist, bangle-seller, astrologer, peon, a TV producer etc. as part of her solving cases effortlessly. She approaches every case on the basis of her intuition and gut feeling and chooses strange paths to crack the same. Her familiarity with the streets of Mughalpura Mohalla of old Hyderabad fetches her a strange case from Anees Khan (Kiran Kumar) to find out two missing young girls with strange birthmarks, followed by search for a guy as well. She is paid hefty amount. Anees just wants Bobby to do her job without raising any question about his motive in looking out for these missing people. Bobby goes ahead following her mind and heart, but then, she starts doubting the motive of Anees behind his search for the girls. The story moves ahead from there. Indeed, suspense is maintained till the very end. Shetty (Prasad Barve), Munna, Sohail (Tejas Mahajan) act as perfect aides of Bobby Jasoos. They do add lot of comic elements to the plot. Ali Fazal as a TV anchor Tassavur Shaikh has given a very sweet performance. He is ambitious and does not want to settle down with girls of Mughalpura. And to escape from the marriage proposals brought to him by his father (Vinay Varma), he takes the help from Bobby to explore some stories about them so that he could conveniently deny those proposals. It is interesting to see Bobby and Tassavur together and how their relationship goes to the next level. There is a nice scene, where Bobby is guiding Tassavur over speaker/earphone set to speak to his father in regard to his disapproval to marry Bobby. Bobby's sister Noor (Benaf Dadachandji), Kausar Khaala (Tanvi Azmi) and Zarina Wahab as Afreen's (Afreen is Lala's love interest) Ammi have also added value to the movie through their presence. What events unfold in the lives of Bobby Jasoos? Lala (Arjan Bajwa) as a local gunda plays a significant part in the movie and what is that? Does Ali and Bobby come together? What is the motive of Anees Khan? How does Bobby explore the same? Is Bobby able to win her father's approval and love?Cinematographer Vishal Sinha has captured the hustle-bustle of Hyderabad, Charminar, the very aroma of Biriyani also very nicely. Hyderabad is reflected well through Bobby's accent. Vidya has really worked upon her Hyderabadi accent.

Bobby Jasoos wastes no time. The very first scene introduces us to the antiques of this talented private detective who wishes to make it big but as of now is only making small money on petty cases - like snooping on lovers and working on extra-marital cases. Set in Moghalpura, Hyderabad, Bobby Jasoos is the story of a woman who wants to become a famous detective. Equipped with sharp mind, polished by detective shows on TV, things are never easy for Bobby. She is a woman after all! More so because a father who is disapproving of her conduct.Read more on - http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/14163/bollywood.hindi/bobby- jasoos/4738/review.htm