Detective stories in Hindi films are rare. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is
one of the rarities. Dibakar Banerjee’s creation is entertainingly gripping – a
must watch.
The name’s Bakshy... Byomkesh Bakshy. Someone who knows the legendary detective character will know his name is pronounced Bomkesh, not Byomkesh. And that he is the Truth Seeker or Satyanweshi. It intrigues me to see Saridindu Bandyopadhyay’s character from pre-independence era still has star power. It takes guts to take up a detective story of this enormity and make it into a large screen wonder in the present Hindi cinema scenario.
Dibakar Banerjee is probably obsessed on making the
unbelievable believable. His latest offering to hit the theatres this Friday, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, brings alive
a character which most non-Bengali viewer knew only from Basu Chatterjee’s
television series in the early 90s, Byomkesh
Bakshi (notice the spelling change). For Bengalis, Byomkesh has appeared on
silver screen frequently just for them. Satyajit Ray’s Chiriyakhana (The Zoo) starring Bengal’s Uttam Kumar is the epitome
of everything Byomkesh. In recent times, Anjan Dutta has come with two of
Byomkesh films, starring Abir Chatterjee rightly as the detective. Ghosh's last
offering was a Byomkesh Bakshi film titled Satyanweshi
starring director Sujoy Ghosh. There are few other versions too. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy can be in a
way the first of its kind in Hindi films.
The journey starts in pre-independence Calcutta – 1942 to be
precise. Young Ajit Banerjee (Anand Tiwari, the best casting ever) meets
Byomkesh Bakshy (Sushant Singh Rajput, perfect casting Part II) to find his
missing father, Bhuvan Banerjee. An initial hiccup later, Byomkesh goes to
Bhuvan Babu’s lodgings for investigation where he meets the intriguing lodging
house owner Dr Anukul Guha (the very unrecognisable Neeraj Kabi), Kanai
(Meiyang Chang), & others. He slowly realises Bhuvan Babu’s dealing with
opium thanks to being a genius chemist, a chemical factory & the very sexy
actress/dancer Angoori Devi (Swastika Mukherjee, ooo la laa). More characters
get involved – the factory owner & a leading politician Gajanan Sikdar, his
nephew & rising political enemy Sukumar & niece Satyawati, the
Shanghai-based Chinese gang drug dealing Greenwood, their Calcutta based mysterious
biggie Yuan Guang, the Japanese dentist Dr Watanabe. A simple case turns into
an international drama o involving drugs trade, nationalism and Sino-Japanese power
change in India.
A true Byomkesh fan would throw a fit for the slight changes
in the storyline and mixing two stories into one. The Inquisitor is where Byomkesh meets Ajit and solves a case of
drug trade. Where There’s A Will is
regarding the death of a rich man and everyone in the family being under
suspicion, including his niece & nephew, Satyawati & Sukumar. Kudos to
Dibakar & writer Urumi Juvekar for combining the two well & creating a
Byomkesh story which is different and yet the same. This is the gamble well-played
played. You see a Calcutta which is the centre of WWII action. The film does
not go astray from its main purpose: a detective story. If you have seen Guy
Ritchie’s take on Sherlock Holmes, Dibakar does the same here with much
success. The film is a classy take on the detective story. The only point of
concern is the film’s pace. One wishes he would have wound up in 2 hours instead
of 2 hours 16 minutes.
Dibakar’s first point of success is in the casting
department, courtesy Honey Trehan. While some might speak about saleability,
one is happy to see Sushant Singh Rajput be Byomkesh and let his character be
the real hero (which he is). Sushant’s Byomkesh is young, intelligent, hyper
(much like the beagle) and quirky. His quirkiness allows a certain humour to
seep in, apart from putting the energy in the story’s pace. His Byomkesh is a Smart
Alec at times, but never over smart getting on one’s nerves. Whether trying to
convince Ajit his father is dead or trying to prove his theories, Sushant is
his own in becoming Byomkesh. It works well that Anand Tiwari creates an Ajit
Banerjee worried about his father but does not lose his consciousness. He
retains Ajit’s innocence but never slips into stupidity. He becomes Byomkesh’s
better half in every way.
The surprise element here is the casting of Neeraj Kabi as
the devilish Dr Anukul Guha. What an actor! You literally feel a shock wave go
through your spine when you realise this two-faced devil is the same actor who
played the monk’s role in The Ship of
Thesus. He unleashes the evil in him to literally scare you deviously. The rest
of the cast (mostly unknown to most) is superbly cast. Meiyang Chang as the
opium trader Kanai, Divya Menon as innocently intelligent Satyavati and
Swastika Mukherjee as the cunningly sensual Angoori Devi stays in your mind.
Swastika in particularly will have a lot of male hearts panting with her subtle
sexuality. Of course, as an actor, she shows her mettle.
Dibaker has brought together a technical team which keeps
the film running at a good pace. His regular cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis makes
each frame the detective’s canvas. Calcutta and the era never looked better. Of
course, he is ably supported by the art department under whose command 1942 Calcutta
comes alive. You live that period. Special congratulations go to the make-up
and costume department which completes the perfect look. Though you wish the start
could have crisp, the editing is rock solid most of the time. The very talented
music directors keeps the era’s felt intact with their music but adds a certain
twist with some unique pieces. See & hear the score used in the showdown at
the end.
In recent times, few can be entertaining with a difference. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is surely one
of them. It’s engaging and keeps you on the edge. One wishes the 16 minutes
could have cut. But we are cool, otherwise.
Photo Credit: http://cdn.chitramala.in/ &
