Bait Review: Brown Bond For The Win!

Riz Ahmed's new series Bait delivers a bitingly humorous, and topical commentary on a British-Pakistani actor's audacious journey auditioning for James Bond, challenging traditional casting norms and exploring complex themes of identity and representation.

A brown Bond may not be on the British bingo card... Until Riz Ahmed challenges the status quo as a struggling British-Pakistani actor auditioning for 007, following Daniel Craig's departure in Bait's six episodes of marvelously meta, humorous and unabashedly topical commentary.

There are no shortage of actors vying for the role of the 'white neo-colonial MI6 agent', including Idris Elba and Regé-Jean Page.

Exploring Identity and Representation

Ahmed's aspirational pursuits aren't exactly crusading for this representation paucity but they are.

His myriad experiences as Shahjehan 'Shah' Latif range from immigrant identity to cultural assertions while packing in a whole lot of magical realism, familial pandemonium, troll culture, social media manipulations, unfinished romantic business and self-loathing across its genre-bending ride at breakneck speed.

Subconscious and self-aware in equal measure, the writing talents of Ahmed, Prashanth Venkataramanujam, Karen Joseph Adcock, Azam Mahmood, Ben Karlin and Dipika Guha ensure that Bait's subversive ideals capture the existentialist concerns through Shah's veneer of confidence and cunning.

The Backlash and Inner Turmoil

Desperate to advance from a translator in Homeland's seventh season, an action figure reduced to a car doll in his burly cousin Zulfi's (Guz Khan, the deadpan dynamite) taxi service and running joke Dev Patel's doppelganger, Shah leaks his Bond audition for media chatter only to invite bitter backlash -- Jihadi, Apu, Refugee Bond, you get the drift.

Breakdown makes way for a bonkers heart-to-heart after a beheaded pig in Patrick Stewart's exuberant accent shows up at his door giving a tragicomic glimpse into Shah's inner pathos and shame. Add to that an Eid celebration -- hosted by one of Shahs show-offish aunties (Soni Razdan), much to his mum Tahira's (Sheeba Chaddha) dismay. It intensifies an already hyper family's interactions to feverish effect against Bait's breathless camerawork.

Cinematography and Performances

Bait's cinematography is its own beast -- a chameleon that changes colour in accordance with the mood of a scene and lends itself diligently to the show's diverse atmosphere as groovily as its soundtrack choices.

Between the neon-lit neighbourhoods and frantic chases at the London tube though, it's the playful, gossipy equation between Shah and his lovingly clingy mother that hits closest home.

It may be an out-and-out Riz Ahmed show (and, boy, is he good) but Sheeba Chaddha is just as first-rate. The scene where she scoffs at a British know-it-all, 'One layover over in Dubai, thinks he knows our business' is a fine showcase of her effortless act.

Cultural Nuances and Unaddressed Threads

The series brilliantly separates the South Asian, from the Muslim, from the Pakistani in a strictly British landscape.

Bait's colourful, multilingual tone moves swiftly between desi to Cockney adding to the bubbling wit of subplots about Shah's sibling tussles, childhood demons, fellow Brown rivals and recording an apology for an engagement-hungry influencer.

The ribbing is racy, relentless and Bait's sass extends to its politics in the occasional ISIS and Mossad jibe.

Some story threads, like the history of mental health issues in Shah's family, are left unaddressed.

The fizzy bromance between Zulfi and Shah, too, is tossed aside to focus on Bait's grand tonal leaps. Still, what makes it truly fun is how authentic the show feels even when it bites more than it can chew. Or exactly because of it.

Bait streams on Amazon Prime Video.

Bait Review Rediff Rating: