Baazaar a tale about a small town rookie stock broker Rizwaan Ahmed whose theory is ‘’I’ve come here to fly not fall’’ is striving for success in the city of dreams – Mumbai; who finally gets the opportunity to work with his idol, a millionaire trader Shakun Kothari.
The protégé (Rizwaan) finally succeeds with his mentor (Shakun Kothari), but falls into the traps of this ruthless ‘’big business boss man’’ with nothing but quick money on his mind.
Shakun Kothari a Jain Gujarati played by the suave Saif Ali Khan wants to add his name amongst the Tatas, Birlas and Ambani’s smells vulnerability at afar and finds his prey in Rizwaan Ahmed played by Rohan Mehra an impressionable twenty-something your old who leaves his home in Allahabad is almost willing to sell his soul to the corporate world for the plush life in South Mumbai, who takes a good stab at his part with some pop out scenes.
A big problem with this film is that it is completely predictable, the twists were recognised from afar and there are way to many song numbers that consumes a lot of the plot. The film makers also struggle to bring a jaw-dropping or ‘sitting on the edge’ moment to convey the anxiety and pressures of a trading floor and fluctuating stock prices.
Radhika Apte who plays Priya Rai an urban, driven and an ambitious go-getter is willing to go above and beyond to make her dreams a reality. UK Bollywood Correspondent Supriya Davda caught up with Radhika said that she was onboard even before reading the final script and delighted to be working with Saif Ali Khan post their Netflix Series – Sacred Games. Radhika although an unusual choice for this role, said that she was happy to be playing Priya Rai who sets aside from her previous character portrayals.
Mandira Parikh nee Kothari played by the graceful Chitrangda Sinha plays the role of Shakun’s wife which didn’t require too much command.
Baazaar wholly belongs to Saif Ali Khan, he plays the role of the unethical and shrewd Shakun Kothari convincingly well and although some of the scenes work well, the film lacks that vigour and punch that perhaps the film makers were trying to achieve with similarities and comparisons with The Wolf of Wall Street.