SHAH LATIF IS the first James Bond of colour. Or at least he is, briefly, at the very beginning of Bait. The ground-breaking role is in Shah’s hands for what turns out to be an audition, which is swiftly ended when he forgets a line.

But in Bait (which is London slang for obvious or attracting attention), Shah (played by Riz Ahmed, in a series he originated) doesn’t want the chance to slip away from him. He exits the building in front of the paparazzi, hoping that given the fervour around the role he’ll soon be in the papers.

He’s correct, and it’s what happens next that propels Shah and Bait forward. He’s intent on becoming the first British Pakistani James Bond, but almost everything is standing in his way. But then again – is this role really something he wants, deep down?

The fact that a pig’s head is thrown through the window of his family home after his photos appear in the media really throws Shah. Bait celebrates the immigrant experience in London (multiple languages are spoken throughout, including Urdu and Hindi), but it wants to show that at any moment, joy can be interrupted by someone else’s hate. The negative attention that Shah’s audition receives would be amplified if he got the role, so understandably he’s left shaken by it all.

Dark comedy

At its core, Bait is a dark comedy. Laughs are provided by Shah’s cousin Zulfi (Guz Khan), a burly taxi driver with dry wit, a malleable face and a taste for fame. He’s got Shah’s back, and some of the funniest lines in the series.

At one point, he describes Shah’s red carpet face as a “horny meerkat face”. Without Zulfi’s energetic presence, the series would be missing a certain zing. When he’s not on screen, you miss him.

Shah himself is a melange of emotions. He’s both overly confident and insecure, ambitious but unsure of how to reach his ambitions, annoying in his self-absorption but a little tragic in his attempts to wheel and deal.

Riz Ahmed as Shah Latif in Bait Courtesy of Prime Courtesy of Prime

Meanwhile, Shah’s family members keep dragging him back to earth. They’re tantalised by his fame but don’t want him getting a big head. And as the series moves forward, we realise he’s not all that fun to be around himself. It becomes clear that Shah is caught in an existential crisis, which comes to a head at an Eid celebration.

Discombobulation

Shah is constantly negotiating his role as a Pakistani Londoner in a mostly white professional world. His repeated use of a racial slur to describe himself shows how embedded racism is in his life. Flashbacks show scenes of bullying, where the slur is thrown at him by his aggressors. It’s no surprise that grappling with all these emotions begins to affect him.

Throughout Bait, Shah’s discombobulation is reflected by scenes filmed with a wide angle, and a camera that’s often dancing about. His mind only gets more confused as things progress, and a chance meeting with his ex-girlfriend Yasmin (the great Rita Aryu) provides us with both comedy and revelation.

Yasmin has written an article accusing Shah of using a filter on his IMDB page to look more white, and her criticism makes him question his motivations. Their scenes together are smattered with noise and colour, and their journey through a Brick Lane restaurant evokes the iconic Goodfella’s scene, but with added chaos.

Bait is less about the big question it appears to be about – could a Muslim actor be hired to play James Bond – than about the pressures on Shah across career and family, and his inability to balance it all. 

One of the challenges facing Bait is that its star, Riz Ahmed, is a star in real life. Undoubtedly he’s drawing on personal experience when playing Shah, but we know in actuality he might well be in the running for being Bond himself – though perhaps Bait shows that he’s likely to say no.

Yet on the strength of Bait, perhaps it is better if Ahmed is let do his own thing on screen. No Bond could be as complicated and interesting as Shah.

While some of the parts of this series are stronger than others, it’s when Shah’s surrounded by his vibrant, fast-talking family that Bait feels at its most enjoyable. It raises important, urgent questions about the acting world, race, and latent racism, and yet it never gets too serious. Energetic and intriguing, Bait is a thought-provoking watch, with bright moments of silliness punctuating its darker moments.

Bait is streaming on Prime Video now.