The Big Bull is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed and written by Kookie Gulati, based on stockbroker Harshad Mehta who was involved in financial crimes over a period of 10 years during 1980âÂÂ1990. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Ileana D'Cruz and Nikita Dutta. It entered production in September 2019, and was digitally released on 8 April 2021 on Disney+ Hotstar. The film received mixed reviews, praising Bachchan's performance, but criticized in comparison to the much acclaimed Scam 1992, released the previous year, which was also based on Mehta's life.
Based on the life of Harshad Mehta, the movie follows the rise and fall of the stock market broker who rose from the chawls of Mumbai and became one of the big players of the Bombay Stock Exchange in the early 1990s, while the country was undergoing major changes in its economy (Economic liberalisation in India).
In 2018, it was reported that Ajay Devgn will produce the film with Abhishek Bachchan playing the lead role. The film is directed by Kookie Gulati and shows the financial crimes and life of Harshad Mehta. Nikita Dutta and Ileana D'Cruz were brought in to play supporting roles.
The shooting commenced on 16 September 2019. Many shots of the movie has been filmed in Gautam Buddha University.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was released for streaming worldwide from 8 April 2021 on Hotstar.
The film's music was composed by Gourov Dasgupta and Mehul Vyas with lyrics written by Kunwar Juneja and Anil Verma. The rap single "Yalgaar" by CarryMinati, with music by Wily Frenzy, served as the theme song. Sandeep Shirodkar composed the background score.
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars commenting that âÂÂthe film's problems are rooted in the screenplay, stilted dialogues and arbitrary character arcs.â Writing for Film Companion, Rahul Desai called the movie a âÂÂrushed portrait of a slow-burned legacyâ further adding that âÂÂAbhishek BachchanâÂÂs version of Harshad Mehta is far more compelling than the story it defines.â Jyoti Kanyal of India Today gave the movie 2.5 out of 5 stars calling it âÂÂan interesting watch, which often oscillates between boredom and excitement.âÂÂ
Ronak Kotecha of Times of India graded the film with 3 out of 5 stars and asked not to let the 'stock of expectations rise too high'. He opined that Abhishek Bachchan 'delivered a decent performance'. In conclusion of review he wrote, "Overall, The Big Bull is a decent attempt to tell a dramatic story of one of IndiaâÂÂs biggest financial scams, orchestrated by a man, who seemed more like a common man than a con man."