Detective Byomkesh Bakshi – the almost Indian Sherlock

First up, I confess that I have not watched the endearing Byomkesh Bakshi TV series. Blame it on a lot of reasons but nevertheless when Dibakar Bannerjee’s Byomkesh Bakshi came out I was keenly looking forward to catching it. I’ve been a fan of DB. He makes good movies. They have an element of noir, intensity in characters and, probably the best part, Nikos Andritsakis. His genius becomes evident in LSD and he doesn’t disappoint in Byomkesh either. The 1942 setting of Kolkata is worth the watch if you want to catch this movie. There are several reasons to see this one but not if you want a gripping detective tale.

I am a big fan of detective stories both on screen and off it. And I was truly disappointed with the way the story got narrated in Byomkesh Bakshi. Into the second day of the movie several movie lovers are dishing out their opinions. I even heard one woman tell her friend right when we were exiting the movie hall as to how this story is a mash up of two stories from the book. The mash up somehow didn’t blend well or to put it down simply, it just didn’t have enough gripping sequence of events.

A good detective tale relies on a convincing red herring. The story might then drift off to make you believe in several red herrings finally closing in on the culprit who, you might or might not, have guessed. This movie in this regards is very hotchpotch. The story follows some sequence and on some occasions the plot is lost on you. You keep coming back to where you left the story in a very random unconnected way confusing the audience thoroughly. Although the end of the movie brings in a culmination of sorts where the attempt is made for all the missing pieces to come together and connect, the movie becomes just a tad predictable and flat.

But like I said there are several reasons to watch this movie. Nikos’ cinematography is par excellence. He brings to you scenes in their natural setting of a 1942 Kolkata making it look surreal. Sushant Singh Rajput is one of my favorite modern day actors and he does a great Byomkesh Bakshi. DB will ensure great performances from his team of actors and they all do a brilliant job. The background score offeres by Sneha Khanwalkar is excellent.

My only hope is that we see more of Byomkesh Bakshi and this time in a much better avatar.