Byomkesh Redux

A year ago,Byomkesh Bakshi’s most famous predecessor,Sherlock Holmes,received a Hollywood makeover. A bunch of computer nerds bent over him for days and nights to bestow upon him all the advantages of a modern-day superhero— bulging biceps,a mean six-pack and the agility to swing atop London’s Tower Bridge. The pale,willowy and comfortingly asexual Sherlock Holmes of our imagination was lost in the London smog,it seems. The new rebooted Holmes came up trumps in hyper-kinetic action sequence and “bromanced” Watson in a brave effort to be more appealing to the X-box-wielding generation.

Thankfully,Anjan Dutt steers clear from such deviations. In fact,that makes his adaptation of Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s Adim Ripu a much braver attempt. By shifting the time period of the film by just a few decades from the original text,Dutt creates a meticulous,ruffle-free period drama. He takes great care to recreate Kolkata of the 1960s (film posters,jatra banners and a truncated charak mela sequence),but he also ensures that these little details don’t distract you from the main plot. Dutt’s Byomkesh Bakshi ( a very effective Abir Chatterjee),much in the mould of the Doordarshan (Basu Chatterjee-directed) Byomkesh Bakshi,is a quiet,affable bhodrolok who charms his clients with a cup of tea and a plateful of shingara. He hardly ever raises his voice (but raises his eyebrows every few minutes) and in true Bengali-fashion does much of the deciphering in an armchair. Every detective story is different and each one is same. The framework remains but the nitty gritties change. In Adim Ripu,Bakshi is approached by a middle-aged lady,Nanibala Devi,who is concerned about the safety of her son,Prabhat. Prabhat also happens to be the foster son of a rich businessman,Anadi Halder. However,Halder’s two devious nephews are eying his riches and harbour ill feelings towards Prabhat. Meanwhile,Anadi has nipped Prabhat’s budding romance with a Park Street crooner by objecting to their marriage. Things take a mysterious turn when Anadi is found murdered in his own home. Anyone who has seen an Anjan Dutt film must be aware of his need to convey a greater message through a story. His views and philosophies are almost always spoon-fed to the audience,at times pontifically so. In Adim Ripu the obligatory climax —a scene common to every whodunnit where the detective assembles everyone involved,and explains how the crime was committed and who committed it— is loaded with the director’s views on life and his philosophies. And thankfully,Dutt does not pontificate this time and the feminist in him is glimpsed through a very clever (and effective) monologue by one of the characters.

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s Byomkesh Bakshi stories are still read,and probably always will be. But through adaptations like this one,Bengal’s favourite sleuth will probably find a few more admirers in unchartered territories.

Byomkesh Bakshi is running at Inox (City Centre,Rajarhat)