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Rajeev Masand's review:
Calcutta calling
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy
Rating:
April 03, 2015
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari, Neeraj Kabi, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon, Meiyang Chang
Director: Dibakar Byomkesh Bakshy
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, is a moody thriller set in 1943 Calcutta that unravels at an unhurried pace. Loosely adapted from Bengali crime fiction writer Saradindu Bandopadhyay's enduring literary series, the film is intended as the origin story of the famous fictional sleuth.
Banerjee's Calcutta is a city of secrets and shadows lurking at every corner. A terrific opening scene - in which mysterious sinister elements show up and thwart an opium deal in the dead of the night - sets the mood for the film's noir-ish leanings. With World War II currently at its peak, the threat of oncoming Japanese bomber-jets looms large. It is against this landscape that Byomkesh (Sushant Singh Rajput), a recent graduate on the verge of taking up a teaching job, lands his first investigating assignment.
A young writer named Ajit (Anand Tiwari) is concerned about the whereabouts of his father, a reputed chemist, who has been missing for two months. The police think he's run away, but Byomkesh is convinced that the old man has been killed. As he sets about prying into the mysterious disappearance of Ajit's father from a local lodge, our private eye protagonist stumbles into a much bigger conspiracy involving Chinese drug dealers, a Japanese dentist, a femme fatale from Rangoon, and a slew of assorted characters who may or may not hold clues to the case.
Far from the sure-footed, razor-sharp sleuth of Bandopadhyay's stories, Byomkesh, in Banerjee's film, is an amateur investigator slowly coming into his own. Slowly' is the operative word here, as Banerjee and co-writer Urmi Juvekar spend more or less the entire first hour setting up the plot. Sushant Singh Rajput nicely slinks into the part of the unibrowed detective who's clearly learning on the job. He has a fragile ego, he gets queasy at the sight of blood, and oftentimes he misses clues that are staring him in the face. Rajput has a boyish quality that serves the character well; he gets the Bangla mannerisms right, the body language down pat, and gives us a hero we grow to care for.
It's the snail-paced plotting, and the surprising lack of urgency and imminent danger that cripples the film. Story strands and characters are abandoned arbitrarily, only to be revisited later. The big reveal isn't too hard to guess - stick with your gut, don't let the red herrings distract you, and lo, you've figured it out. The climax too is a mess of hammy acting.
But despite these problems, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is a far more accomplished film than your average Bollywood offering. Every frame is crafted lovingly; the cinematography is stylish and evocative, Sneha Khanwalkar's mostly heavy-metal soundtrack terrific, and the film's production design simply first-rate. Aside from the odd clunky performance, by Swastika Mukherjee as the unintentionally hilarious seductress, the acting too is solid, particularly by Anand Tiwari, the Dr Watson to Byomkesh's Holmes, who brings stray moments of much needed lightness to a largely humorless film. Ship of Theseus' Neeraj Kabi also makes a big impression as a wise homeopath and the owner of the lodge where much of the action unfolds.
In the end the film has a lot going for it, even if it isn't as fully satisfying as Banerjee's previous works. This is a sprawling, ambitious effort with remarkable attention to detail; a film that deserves to be watched, especially for its masterful filmmaking.
I'm going with three out of five for Detective Byomkesh Bakshy. Give it a chance, prepare to be patient, and chances are that it'll stay with you.
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari, Neeraj Kabi, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon
By Saibal Chatterjee
No film from the Yash Raj Films stable has ever looked and sounded like Dibakar Banerjee's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!
It is a stylized, unconventional and wonderfully well crafted adaptation of a mystery tale that stays true to the spirit and the period of its literary source while sticking steadfastly to its own unique contemporary cinematic idiom.
Sushant Singh Rajput, in the role of the fictional detective conceived well over 80 years ago by Bengali litterateur Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, makes a marvellously understated and hugely effective hero.
The film presents private detective Byomkesh Bakshy at a point in his life when he is fresh from college and only just beginning to learn the ropes.
A college mate (Anand Tiwari) seeks his help to investigate the baffling disappearance of his father, a paan-addicted but brilliant chemist.
As he pursues the case, Byomkesh lands in the middle of a conspiracy hatched by an evil but unknown and unseen villain who is on the run from his former accomplices in Shanghai and is determined to keep his drug empire running in 1940s Kolkata.
The action unfolds in the midst of World War II, and Byomkesh encounters an array of shadowy characters that only make things difficult for him.
Among them are a boarding house owner and part-time medicine man (Neeraj Kabi), a seductive singer-danseuse (Swastika Mukherjee) and a freedom fighter's sister (debutante Divya Menon) for whom Byomkesh develops a soft spot.
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! isn't what one could describe as a thrill-a-minute action film, but it is engaging fare nonetheless if one stays clued into its subtleties.
The pace is deliberate, the soundtrack is laden with contemporary indie music sounds, and the acting is subdued all the way through.
The film has been shot beautifully by Nikos Andritsakis, who delivers smoky, dimly-lit interiors with the same flair with which he composes the authentic street scenes.
The production design is absolutely top notch. It captures the period ambience with an unfailing eye for detail, lending the film its distinctive texture.
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is primarily a genre film, but it does not resort to the conventional narrative methods of the form.
It is bound to repay the patience of intelligent and demanding moviegoers who seek more than just song-and-dance and blustery heroics from their cinema.
In the end the film has a lot going for it, even if it isn't as fully satisfying as Banerjee's previous works. This is a sprawling, ambitious effort with remarkable attention to detail; a film that deserves to be watched, especially for its masterful filmmaking. I'm going with three out of five for Detective Byomkesh Bakshy. Give it a chance, prepare to be patient, and chances are that it'll stay with you.Visit Site for more
The film also plays with contrasts to great effect. The characters wear desi outfits of the period, but stylistically the film has the look and feel of a modern international thriller.The eclectic background score composed of contemporary songs and sounds that sound anachronistic but enhance the visuals.Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is a cinematic delight that deserves a sustained run in the multiplexes.Visit Site for more
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is possibly India's best-looking sleuth flick till now. A chilling climax masterfully ties up the tale - but 30 minutes less would've given this a much firmer knot. Still, DBB! is a fun watch presenting another mystery - how Sushant looks good, despite a uni-brow?Go solve.Visit Site for more
On the whole, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is an ordinary fare which does not give the audience the thrill of a murder mystery. While it will be liked by the classes, its acceptance among the masses will be limited. It will, therefore, not do good business at the box-office.Visit Site for more
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is the best looking and least captivating of the current lot. And, as said earlier, he didn't like to be called detective. Defective Byomkesh Bakshy, then.Visit Site for more
But this is also one of those films that makes up for the principal actor's deficiencies by the performances of those who surround him. Anand Tiwari's second-fiddle act is first-rate, and Neeraj Kabi, as the deceptively and determinedly good-natured doctor who runs the shabby-genteel men-only' lodgings where much of the action takes place, is so good you forgive his last-minute exaggerations.You can say the same thing about the film.Visit Site for more
A classic whodunit thriller which holds the suspense quite firmly till the end. This is an excellent effort of bringing to life India's detective figure Byomkesh Bakshy and with this film, Dibakar Banerjee forms a strong base for a crime-mystery franchise. Characters are strong and the suspense build-up is bang on.Visit Site for more
As far as the film is concerned, even though it's a whodunit thriller, the thrill of watching a thriller gets lost midway through the film. In the name of a whodunit genre, the film goes overboard totally, thus, resulting into the film falling flat on the face. On the whole, DETECTIVE BYOMKESH BAKSHY! can be skipped, without any regrets.Visit Site for more
Don't miss it. Even if just to go back to the magical world of n
By Team Showtym | Apr 3,2015,04:08 PM IST
Movie: Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon, Neeraj Kabi
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Rating - ***1/2
What the movie is about:
The movie is set in 1940s Calcutta and tells the tale of the famous Bengali literary character, detective Byomkesh Bakshy and his very first case. The film starts with a few Chinese smugglers being brutally murdered by a shadowed man who sends the message to a boss in Shanghai about his return. The Chinese suspect that this person a former associate who they thought was dead. The movie jumps to a young man whose father had disappeared two months back. This man named, Ajit Bandyopadhyay (Anand Tiwari) is looking for Byomkesh Bakshy (Sushant Singh Rajput) to help him find out about his father. After some altercations, Byomkesh decides to help Ajit and sets out to uncover the truth. The young detective then encounters meetings on this journey with other key characters ranging from a politician, an actress, a freedom fighter, a dentist, a social activist to the dangerous shadowed man. In this process, several other secrets are revealed and the story leads you to an climax which keeps you guessing right till the end.
What we think:
Set in the beginning of World War II, director Dibakar Banerjee shows Calcutta as a colonial drug hub with lots of colour and history. The character of Byomkesh Bakshy was originally written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay in the 1930s but is quite different from its adaptation in the movie. The character in this 2015 movie has been recreated to be reachable by the audience today. Dibakar showed us the wonders of his fabulous imagination when he made that era of Calcutta and those characters retain the appropriate fantasy with being tangible. The set is exactly what we would imagine Calcutta being like in that time, the tram, the people, the despair of victims during the bomb siren wail, all have been captured with utmost subtlety. And that is exactly what Dibakar Banerjee is famous for. The story being a suspense thriller, has lots of twists and turns that have your attention glued to the screen for every small detail. Giving in to our human nature, we keep guessing based on what we see but the canny director has all of us in a constant state of doubt until the ending. The beauty with which the noir secrets have been captured is the reason why Dibakar is considered one the greatest film-makers today.
Sushant Singh Rajput, take a bow! The actor just has two films in his kitty along with a special appearance in one, but he has now proved his absolute potential with this character. Sushant very aptly plays the titular role and becomes a Byomkesh that is a mixture of the original character and himself. His acting skills, along with his expressions are not over the top, not underwhelming but just right. The star developed the accent fitting enough to make us know that he is a Bengali but no so much that the lingo becomes difficult to understand. Sushant very easily slides into the role of a character who is not a truth seeker like the original Byomkesh but a blunt, egotistical detective showing the signs of Sherlock and Poirot. The scenes with Byomkesh and Ajit trying to piece out this puzzle and having a conversation in their room is a perfect example of the control Sushant has on his act. When the shot is followed by the one where, in the middle of the night Byomkesh shows Ajit the art he made on the wall in a drug haze, gives the audience goosebumps and confuses them even more. The story of the movie unfolds with Byomkesh struggling on this quest not because he wants to do a good deed but to find the truth to settle his own curiosity. Sushant's fearless acting, cocky stances and unflinching expressions all completely cater to this interesting character sketch.
The two ladies in the movie, Swastika Mukherjee and Divya Menon, both make their Bollywood debut with this film. The actresses do not have more than supporting roles, but the importance of their characters in the movie makes their limited screen time quite significant. Swastika Mukherjee is a reknowned Bengali star, but fails to wow us in the role of a famous heroine and a mistress. Even though her character of Angoori Devi has many shades, she doesn't use that potential to prove herself. The role of Ajit is successfully essayed by Anand Tiwari. The actor has been seen in many movies playing the second fiddle but his work in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is outstanding. His scenes with Sushant Singh Rajput are perfectly timed comical reliefs that were needed in between the engrossingly serious movie. Being him hitting Sushant or fighting with thugs or the last shot with his matter-of-fact attitude after a gruesome scene, Anand rightly plays all the parts. Neeraj Kabi may not be a known name but he too has been a boon for the movie and made us fearfully believe in the essence of his character.
There are no typical songs in the movie except in the background. Music director Sneha Khanwalkar has done a fabulous job with the opening song, with it catching the flavour of Bengal. The background score of the movie was just as chilling as it should be in a thriller, where the titillating music leads upto the suspense scenes.
Dibakar Banerjee did impress us with his direction, but the climax, though interesting, was a little underwhelming for the build up that had notched up higher and higher throughout the film. But we have to applaud his thinking in leaving the ending open for a chance of sequel and we sure hope that he makes it.
Our Verdict:
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is a one of kind thriller movie which is rare in Bollywood. If you want to give your mind a little thinking exercise and don't mind a couple of gruesome scenes, then you should go watch this movie, if not for anything then atleast to appreciate Sushant Singh Rajput's talented acting and Dibakar's spectacular vision.
Originally posted by: BeingAnonymous
^^How was occupancy and overall rezction Afsara
That sounds nice , i hope ppl like the movie and WOM is goodOriginally posted by: SSRfanForever
Anshi I went for evening show ... It was housefull .. !! And yeah the reaction was positive... Fully positive... I had one Bengali colleague with me who is not much into art films like this... He also commented Sushant was excellent and the best choice for the role 😊😊 That was really a moment of proud for me..
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