Byomkesh Encore

Then,something happened. With the end of Chatterjee’s serial,India’s love affair with the Bengali sleuth waned. He ended up being an embodiment of nostalgia,a reminder of good old days much like forgotten soft toys and dog-eared diaries.

Cut to spring 2009. Byomkesh Bakshi is the toast of the creative circles of Kolkata. There are three under-production films based on the cases of on Byomkesh cases,an English translation of his work has just been released and a play inspired by the detective is on anvil. Coincidence you say? More like perfect timing insists film director Swapan Ghoshal who is adapting a Byomkesh novel himself. “Everything happens with a reason in this industry. The recent success of the revived Feluda franchise proved to be too big a temptation for Tollywood filmmakers. They wanted a piece of the pie too. But they can’t,obviously,make a Feluda film because of copyright issues so they chose the next best thing,Byomkesh Bakshi,” asserts Ghoshal. And how does Ghoshal defend his film? “I’ve made a Byomkesh film for television a few years ago,” he says.

Abir Chatterjee,who plays the sleuth in filmmaker Anjan Dutt’s adaptation,cites different reasons for the renewed interest in Byomkesh Bakshi. “These novels were always meant for cinema. Even as a kid,when I read these novels I would imagine the sequence of events in a very cinematic manner. This adaptation is a natural progression. Not a deliberated step,” insists Chatterjee.

The argument would probably got uglier,had Rituparno Ghosh,who was also supposed to adapt a Sharadindu novel with Tollywood star Prosenjit as Byomkesh Bakshi,not withdrawn from the arena. “I can only feel happy for those who followed my footsteps. Had I not given away the rights none of these films would have happened,” quips Ghoshal.  

Mud-slinging apart,the spate of Byomkesh Bakshi films,translations and plays attest one undeniable fact—Bengalis love their crime fiction. Since the 19th century,Bengalis have first been avid readers and indeed writers of crime fiction. Feluda,Kiriti Roy,Byomkesh Bakshi,Hukakashi,Bimol-Kumar and Joyonto-Manik are just some of the names that most Bengalis have grown up with. “And of these names Byomkesh Bakshi and Felkuda are the most prominent. Why then should it be a surprise if they are being adapted?” asks Srijit Mukherjee who is directing a play which,he claims,is a tribute to Byomkesh Bakshi.

The brouhaha surrounding Sharadindu’s hero,has also translated to renewed interest in his works among young readers. The launch of The Mystery of the Fortress and Other Stories – A Byomkesh Quintet,a translated collection of Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s works at Crossword Bookstore,was attended an unprecedented number of youngsters. “We were surprised to see so many young faces in the audience. Recent media interest on Byomkesh Bakshi must have inspired them to come down,” says Somik Mukherjee of Crossword Bookstore. The sales of Bandyopadhyay’s works too have picked up in the last few months. “We have sold more copies than ever in the past few months,” says Mukherjee.