Spy Tales

For British documentary filmmaker Phil Cox,the character served as a catalyst to explore the booming private detective industry in India,in the process holding up a mirror to our changing society. Rajesh became the focal point of Cox’s latest feature documentary,The Bengali Detective,which makes its world premiere at the prestigious Sundance International Film Festival in Utah,next month. “During my recent trips to India I came across a number of billboards advertising private detectives. That’s how I came to develop the narrative. Their world turned out to be a reflection of modern India,” explains Cox,whose 95-minute feature is the only entry at the festival this year,with an Indian context.

Cox says he was not particularly looking to make a detective story. “I was in search of a character-driven story,” quips the 35-year-old. After shortlisting professionals like lawyers,surgeons,journalists,he settled on a private detective because ‘my character’s work had to affect people emotionally,” says Cox. A former video journalist,Cox was also the recipient of the Rory Peck Award and Royal Television Society Award in 2005. His interest in India is more than passing. His father was an Ayurveda practitioner in Britain and Cox went to a school in England that taught him the Upanishads. For two years he stayed in Kasauli and currently is a guest lecturer with PSBT in Delhi,besides being a visiting scholar at the Satyajit Ray Film Institute. “I am naturally drawn to India,” he laughs.

The film revolves around Rajesh as he solves three cases — of counterfeit,adultery and a triple murder. His clients are among Kolkata’s middle-class families. In between the task of pursuing every lead and following the case to its logical conclusion,the film side-tracks in to the protagonist’s affinity for dance. So during his free time,Rajesh dreams of winning a national talent show on television,a dream that comes dramatically true.

Cox says he has treated the subject with the empathy and restraint that it deserves. There are also profiles of clients,something that was only possible because of his persistence. “We needed to make them feel comfortable in our presence,since the very reason they visit a private detective is because of privacy. We have shown their stories in a non-judgmental,non-dogmatic fashion,and let the audience form their own opinions about the nature of the subjects as their concerns unravel before them,” explains Cox,who would stealthily film Rajesh’s outdoor investigations as he went in pursuit of suspected offenders.

The film,shot in a budget of less than 200,000 pounds travels to Berlin Film Festival in February. “I shall hopefully come to Mumbai next,” he signs off.