Bob Biswas: Director Sujoy Ghosh opens up about Abhishek Bachchan replacing Saswata Chatterjee

Saswata Chatterjee, who played the contract killer in the 2012 movie Kahaani, is quite a striking figure for all of us. But for the spin-off to the movie, Bob Viswas has found their new Bob in Abhishek Bachchan in the Diya Annapurna directorial drama Bob Biswas.

In a recent chat with IANS, Kahaani director Sujoy Gosh opened up about the replacement. Citing the example of Satyajit Ray recasting the same character in different films, he said he would have retained Chatterjee if he was directing. Since Diya is on board now, he thinks it is completely up to her choice. “Our idea is to create a new film, in which the world of Bob is different from what we have seen in Kahaani,” he added.

The director further revealed that the casting replacement was a very conscious decision, as he wanted the film to be different from Vidya Balan starrer Kahaani. This new film is intended to create a new perspective and world for Bob Biswas with a fresh story, according to him. 

He further revealed that was the main reason why he didn’t direct the film. Bob had only an eight-minute screen presence in Kahaani and now, there is a whole film for him.

Abhishek Bachchan has played the role of a mentally-challenged person/criminal earlier in Breathe Breathe: Into the Shadows. He would be reprising the role of the person suffering from split personality in its sequel, which is currently in the works.

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Meanwhile, Bob Biswas is backed by Re Chillies Entertainment, and it also features Chitrangada Singh, Paran Bandopadhyay, Tina Desai and Ditipriya Roy, among others. The movie is slated to be an OTT release, which will premiere on December 3, 2021, on ZEE5.