Review of Detective Byomkesh Bakshy

Byomkesh Bakshy is a very familiar fictional sleuth for Bengalis all over India and so many directors have tried their own adaptation of Byomkesh from TV series to movies in Bengali. But for the non-bengali audiences the only reference point to Byomkesh is the old TV series featuring Rajit Kapoor as Byomkesh , the smart detective from Calcutta in dhoti kurta. But most of the today's generation have hardly seen that old TV series on DD National. Yashraj films and Dibakar Banerjee have taken a good initiative to bring back the old detective from the pages of literature to the big screen in theaters.

But one thing should be made very clear that although the makers have taken rights of all Sharadindu Bandopadhyay novels about Byomkesh but for the first movie they have used only the backdrop and some leading characters from the original text the rest of the story is not based on any of Byomkesh novel. Dibakar banerjee and Urmi Javekar has written a totally new story in the backdrop of Calcutta in 1943 during the world war II season.

The story traces the journey of Byomkesh Bakshy of becoming a detective from a just passed out college graduate. Unlike other Byomkesh stories, here Byomkesh is not a professional detective rather he is looking for a job of some lecturer to settle in his life. But all of a

sudden, a wannabe author Ajit Banerjee (Anand Tiwari) comes to him with a case of his missing father Bhuvan Banerjee. With some initial curiosity Byomkesh agrees to take the case and starts his investigation. During his investigation he meets lots of suspect persons among them some have some connection to the disappearance of Bhuvan Banerjee. Byomkesh have to figure out among the persons in his suspect list who are actually connected with this issue and how. Doing his further investigation Byomkesh senses the big danger around this conspiracy, it is not just that a person is missing only, their is some large conspiracy around that like opium smuggling, threat from Japan and safety issue of Calcutta. How he solves the mystery and saves his city is the climax.One thing should be told about this story that it is a murder mystery but the revelation at end lacks shock value as if you are a regular to the mystery movies then you can sense who is the culprit much before than Byomkesh. Moreover it deals with so many issues and characters specially in the second half that it becomes too much complicated to keep track of each character so finally when the truth is revealed you are not much bothered about the fate of all the persons associated with it. Still that could have been overlooked if it would have been a bit faster and if there would have been some interesting twists in between. Although the mystery is  not that gripping but it is interesting at some points specially in first half where Byomkesh explains how he got his clues the audiences will like the guessing game. Another good thing is that throughout the film it has been maintained that Byomkesh is a learner,he is intelligent, smart but still he too makes mistakes, even he is not very much comfortable to see blood and this scenes are justified with his character.

As a director Dibakar Banerjee has done a wonderful job. Directing a detective story that too set in a periodic era is a new thing for him and he has shown his brilliance as a director in this new territory. He has carefully created the era and the characters. And we are thankful to him for showing Calcutta in a fresh way unlike the cliche way other Bollywood directors normally shows.

Among the actors it is Sushant Singh Rajput in the title role who has steal the show. After his debut film two years ago Sushant has once again proved himself. His body language, mannerisms are too perfect for the role of Bengali young guy of pre-independent India. With

his wonderful acting he has made his character of a novice detective more believable. Just like his character Ajit who is kind of assistant cum friend to Byomkesh , Anand Tiwari has given superb support. He too has perfectly adapted the old age mannerisms. Anand Tiwari is a very good actor and he hardly gets chance to show his talent in Bollywood films, after his wonderful job in "Go Goa Gone" few years ago, he is superb once again in this movie. We are hopeful if their would be a Byomkesh franchise then we will be able to see more of him. Another actor who shines very well is Neeraj Kabi. Though he is comparatively newer in mainstream movies but he has done a fabulous job as Dr, Anukul Guha, the owner of the hotel where Bhuban used to stay before his disappearance. His performance is very natural except for last few minutes where he unnecessarily does over the top acting. Although it is indeed a mystery why such a good actor need to do such over acting.Bengali actress Swastika Mukherjee has made a confident debut in Hindi movies as the seductress Angooribala Devi. She is very confident in doing skin show and adds glamour to the story. Acting wise she has not much to do but she impresses with her sexy avatar. Another new find Divya Menon has nothing much to do as Satyabadi and she is just functional may be in the next installments we can see more of her as Byomkesh's wife. There are some other actors from Bengal, China, Japan and America who have been perfectly cast as per their role and does a fair job.

The technical team has done a commendable job to recreate the era of 1943 so beautifully.

The research has been done very well and it shows.The story totally syncs with that era and the backdrop or the look and feel never looks like that it is too loud and attention seeking. The cinematography done by Nikos Andritsakis is wonderful. The production design by Vandana Kataria is very realistic, each and every prop has been used wonderfully to give the look and feel of old Calcutta. The costumes designed by Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharama looks very authentic and the research work shows. Also not to forget Manish Malhotra for giving Angoori Devi the seductive look. The visual effects by Prana studios have also played an important role in recreating the periodic era.

The music which has been mostly used in background is good and goes well with the movie though the experimental use of hard rock in the background may not work for all but its nice to hear something different and experimental.

Overall it is well made film with superb periodic details. The story lacks punches but still with the good performances by the leading cast it can be overlooked. But if you are a die hard fan of Byomkesh created by Sharadindu Bandopadhyay then you should give it a miss as it will be tough for you to accept this version of Byomkesh.