Bomkesh Bakshi

Anjan Dutts Bomkesh Bakshi based on the story Adim Ripu (Basic Instinct) arrives like a ray of sunshine in a dark bereft-of- suspense sky of Bengali cinema. Dutt is loyal to the original except for taking a few cinematic liberties with the time-setting. The story is set in 1947 but Dutt brings it forward to 1963 where some sensitive pockets of Kolkata were rife with communal killings and arson between two groups. The opening frame begins with a communal killing that builds the ambience of the backdrop but does not really link to the main story and paints the sky in all shades of flaming oranges,yellows and reds.

Unlike the classical detective,Bomkesh is middle-class,educated and intelligent. His detective work is his sole means of livelihood. In Adim Ripu,he solves the murder of the uncouth,stingy and lecherous old Anadi Babu (Biswajit Choudhury) who is shot from behind while watching the fireworks from his balcony. Bomkesh (Abir Chatterjee) and Ajit (Saswata Chatterjee) trace everyone related in the remotest way to the murder. There is a bunch of colourful characters from Nanibala Das (Swagata Mukherjee),who has a mysterious relationship with the victim,Keshta,once Anadis partner-in-crime,lives off him through blackmail. He gets killed in a narrow alley. Have the two been murdered by the same man? Or are there two different killers? Bomkesh unravels the two murders in the usual drawing-room setting where he has assembled everyone to disclose the killers identity.

The adventures of Bomkesh do not really hold suspense for the Bengali audience because most of us have either read the stories or watched some episodes on television. Yet,Dutt is able to sustain the viewers interest. The characterisations,each one defining his/her own slot,his/her individual web of deceit,revenge,manipulation,seduction and suspicion are beautifully etched out and enacted. Rudraneel Ghosh runs away with the top prize for his portrayal of Prabhat,the diffident,timid,self-effacing adopted son whose anger simmers within. Saswata and Abir,dressed in pristine white kurta-pyjamas,exchanging witty repartees as they explore the incidents are very good indeed. Kalyan Chatterjee,Chandan Sen and Pijush Ganguly are living examples of how Dutt draws the best of their sadly-unexplored potential. Director Dutt does not permit Dutt the singer,music composer and lyricist to overshadow his directorial persona. Indraneels cinematography captures the orange-hued sky of Kolkata as beautifully as it captures a brief shot of Satyabati (Ushashie Chakraborty),Bomkeshs wife,in close-up,or the scene in the Park Street Hotel where Shiuli croons into a 1960s mike to belt out a hot number. The credit for the delicately etched-out production design goes to Gautam Basu – Prabhats book-cluttered shop,the old staircase that leads to his bookshop,and Bomkeshs room with its finely-polished wood take us back to a Kolkata of the 60s seamlessly. Bomkesh Bakshi does not offer a sordid and violent world-view of crime and criminals. It rather makes a subtle statement when Bomkesh becomes moralistic about and sympathetic towards the criminal when he is finally trapped. The communal strife backdrop is the sole drawback of the film. It is a superimposition that does not belong.

RATINGS : The film deserves a four-star rating – for direction,acting,cinematography and art direction. Bomkesh Bakshi is Dutts best film so far.