Saturday, April 04, 2015
Detective Byomkesh Bakhi
Heart Of Calcutta
This
film is a triumph for the production designer and cinematographer. It is very
rare in mainstream Hindi films to see such meticulous attention to period
detail—even though the music is anachronistic.
Dibakar
Banerjee’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is
set in Calcutta of 1943, a city battered by World War ll; even then overcrowded
and grimy. Impressive to see trams, old cars, period costumes and props.
Byomkesh is Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s much loved fictional detective, who has
been the subject of quite a few films and a TV serial.
The
film is based on characters and stories written by Bandopadhyay, but Banerjee
has given it his own stamp and worked hard to sign it with a cinematic
flourish. When Byomkesh (Sushant Singh Rajput) is introduced, playing carom by himself, for a few minutes
his face is not seen—an unnecessary gimmick. Ajit (Anand Tiwari) has come to ask for help to trace his missing father
and Byomkesh is so blunt that he ends up being knocked down by his angry
‘client.’
It
is not clear why Ajit goes to Byomkesh, he is not yet a detective, this seems
to be his first case, and far from being the preternaturally brilliant
Holmes-ian type, he is a bungler, often going ‘oops’ since he has missed an
obvious clue. Anyway Byomkesh heads for
the boarding house where the missing man lived, a grungy lodge run by Dr Guha
(Neeraj Kabi), who gets dragged into the case too, as do the other
strange-looking inhabitants.
Byomkesh
and Ajit run about Calcutta trying to piece together clues, and frequently trip
over red herrings, but also fortuitously find a crucial blueprint carelessly
carried in a pocket.
The
case is so convoluted—Chinese opium dealers, Japanese spies, a slinky Burmese
seductress, British cops and Indian freedom fighters are tossed together into a
plot that is devoid of thrill or humour.
Not once does the stomach clench or pulse quicken in what-is-going-to-happen-now anticipation; all you can do is admire the look of the film as
it moves at a sluggish pace. When it
ends, there isn’t much of a revelation anyway, but there is the promise of a
sequel. Hopefully, it will be more fun than this all atmosphere-no adventure
film.
Sushant
Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari and Neeraj Kabi make the best of their underwritten
parts; the two females, Swastika Mukherjee as the temptress and Divya Menon as
Byomkesh’s love interest, are not given much to do. The cast is full of very
peculiar faces—where, for instance, did they find the actor who plays the put
upon servant in the lodge?
Labels: Cinemaah
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