Sushant S Rajput - Byomkesh Bakshi- In theaters now - Go see it :) - Page 5

Not a single place in the city, not even in the old northern part, retains the pure look of the 40s.

In some places, he says, the houses still remain the same, but either a modern multi-storied or a shopping mall has sprung up beside them.

"You can no more spot a single place with that typical 40s look," Dibakar, who has recently bought the rights of all 33

Byomkesh Bakshi stories written by Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, told reporters while taking a tram ride from Esplanade with some of his cast.

He, however, did not entirely abandon the locations, which are mentioned in the book, and said that his team would partly shoot there and the rest would be taken care of by graphic imagery to recreate the era when Kolkata was in the grip of World War II.

"Despite having a dated look, my Byomkesh will be targeted at the contemporary Indian audience and the generation next,

and it will not be endowed with typical Bengali traits generally associated with other Bengali movies on Byomkesh," the director said.

On roping in Sushant Singh Rajput of Kai Po Che fame as the main lead, Dibakar said, "My Byomkesh will be a young and sharp guy who will be accepted as a sleuth by a pan-Indian audience.

"Also Byomkesh will ideally be in his 20s and be someone who has healthy interests in life and love the company of women. That made Sushant the ultimate choice. We even want to take Byomkesh to the global audience," Dibakar said.

With the co-producers being Dibakar Banerjee Production,

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy will be shot from January next year. We hope to wrap up shooting in a year's time," the director said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dibakar-banerjee-regrets-missing-kolkata-of-40s-for-detective-byomkesh-bakshy/1152814/0

Kolkata, August 15 (Washington Bangla Radio): After the success of 'Love, Sex aur Dhoka' and 'Shanghai', director Dibakar Banerjee is going through the recce period for his next film, 'Detective Byomkesh'. Now it is the time for Sushant Singh Rajput to play the character of Byomkesh Bakshi in the Hindi Version, a character which has been well executed by Abir Chatterjee in Tollywood. "The film will be made especially for the Hindi audience as well as the Pan Indians. It will be available in all languages except Bengali simply because I don't want to deprive the Bengalis from the Bengali Byomkesh", said the director as he met the media along with his lead actor. The man himself has bought the copyright of all the thirty stories from the writer's family for Rs.8 crore.

According to Dibakar, the film is based on one of the stories of Saradindu Banerjee's 'Byomkesh' and the viewers were given the task to identify which story the film had been derived from. But it will not be exactly similar to that of the Saradindu's story. "I am sticking as well as deviating from the main story", said the director to the media. He also declared that a handsome budget has been set for this film and those who appreciated films like 'Kai Po Che' and 'Barfi', will find 'Detective Byomkesh' of the same level.

For Sushant, this will be a debut in a detective genre and will be another important milestone of his career. The actor who had a great debut with tremendously successful film 'Kai Po Che' said at the press meet "I am trying to understand the Bengali Culture. I have been in Kolkata for the past 4 to 5 days and observing the various aspects of the Bengali customs. Everything here is very different from that of Bombay", the unforgettable 'Eshant' told the media. To him a good detective should be intelligent and have the observing quality. Therefore, he is on his way to adopt all these techniques. "After the role of 'Eshant' in 'Kai Po Che', 'Byomkesh' is very challenging. But to me, all the characters are challenging and I am trying hard to accept and fulfill this challenge with full confidence", Sushant exclusively told WBRi.

'Hindi Detective Byomkesh' will delineate the backdrop of Kolkata. Saradindu's Kolkata that included Chitpur, old-thin roads and lanes as well as lots of communities will be incorporated in the film. Kolkata as it was at the time of 'Second World War' is going to feature a major part of it. The story is based on '1942 Calcutta'. "I am making this film as I wanted to make it since I was 14 years old. Saradindu's 'Byomkesh' has every aspect of humanity. It's so deep, layered and humorous, prompted the director.

Sushant will portray himself in 'Dhoti' in 'Detective Byomkash'. The viewers will get to see a brand new image of him. When he was asked about his familiarity with the character, he replied, "I am researching a lot to fit myself into the character. I have seen Satyajit Ray's Chiriya Khana as well".

The film is not going be a 'regular detective thriller' type. The director has put some essence of romance in it. The romance of a newer detective who is a young guy, recently passed from his college, can be sighted in the film. The director was inspired by Saradindu's way of digging out love angles in his 'detective'. Dibakar's detective is a young boy who has not yet got his name or fame as a detective; rather is aspiring to achieve that dignity.