Detective Byomkesh Bakshy- he went missing in the movie, go find him!!

                                                         (Pic Source: Wikipedia)

My first encounter with Byomkesh Bakshy, the bengali detective novel/stories was watching the televised version of it over Doordarshan as a child. This Indian Sherlock homes took over most Indian households in early nineties. I guess many of us, if we ever saw Rajit Kapur anywhere, would call him Byomkesh Bakshy first, such was his screen presence and the mannerisms of his character- the smirks, the contemplative look and the classic pauses just before he would reveal the mystery of each case. 

Fisrtly, Kudos, to the production & art design department, the movie does take you back to the Calcutta of the 1940’s with every minute detail you could imagine being spot on. I could imagine all the effort and the monies gone in to creating a few of the sets. They have really researched that era so well, the cars, the trams, the buildings, etc. and recreated the pre-independence Kolkata beautifully

The plot of the movie revolves around young Byomkesh Bakshy’s (Straight out of college)trying to solve a case for a friend whose father goes missing, however this plot intensifies and goes broader with murders, the national movement, opium drug dealers, Japanese invasions,etc. Is it a muddle? yes it is. Unfortunately there is too much there to show in one movie, that you can’t really savor one aspect of the movie completely and it really moves to the next- really fast. When you recreate something that has already been famous- you have to keep a certain essence intact, or perhaps enhance it, for instance mannerisms of Rajit Kapor clearly made a mark on the audience, but same doesn't hold good with Sushant Singh Rajput. Do I blame the actor for this? No!. Its 2 things really here, one is the casting itself- Sushant Singh Rajput does not look Bengali to begin with- this could have changed,  if perhaps he would have put on some weight, maybe a little dialect training, the unibrow couldn't alone suffice. Secondly, it is the job perhaps of the director or the script that have to give room for building and highlighting those “mannerisms” that give a clear outline to the actor to create those onscreen. 

The movie goes quickly from one twist to the other, the actors from one emotion to the other, so much so that, I personally couldn't absorb it that fast. I agree that the character of Byomkesh Bakshy was supposed to be young (24yrs or so) and hence you expect some naivety, not the very confident and calm older TVwala Byomkesh Bakshy. Yet, for some reason I could feel more swiftness, rebel and restlessness in protagonists’ character that takes away the wit, intelligence and prudence which should have been showcased more prominently. Yes, he had those eureka moments played well while solving the mystery at each step, but the emotion from where the wisdom came from remains uncaptured.  At the end of the movie Byomkesh proposes to Satyawati and you think- what? When did he fall in love? You really feel the proposal came from nowhere!...

This was a family movie for us, with it being my Dad’s Birthday eve. The birthday boy didn't get the movie at all, while I was thoroughly warned by my brother not to write one bad thing about the movie since it clearly was a lot of effort on directors and crews part – which it was and it should be really watched for that only. The script doesn't give you the time to wonder/guess which is the primary fault – cause the audience loves playing detective too, until the mystery is solved- leykin yahan par time hi nahi miltha. I could be so square too!! I missed my TVwala Byomkesh Bakshy at every step ;) and really wish the pace of the movie could have been a little slow!