Detective Byomkesh Bakshi - Slow, but Smart!

Movie: Detective Byomkesh Bakshi
Starring: Sushant Singh Rajput,  Anand Tiwari, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon, Meiyang Chang, Neeraj Kabi
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Cinematography: Nikos Andritsakis

Dibakar Banerjee has always had a flair for the unconventional and had never bothered about stereotypes. He finally returns to his motherland, Calcutta for this historical adventure and in an interesting casting of sorts, casts the young Sushant Singh Rajput as the detective. The rest of the cast is relatively unpopular for Bollywood standards and that is perhaps what a suspense movie requires: that nobody has any preconceived notions about anybody in the movie.

The comparisons with Sherlock Holmes movies are inevitable since they are also set in the past and are about how Holmes and Watson save the day with the help of Holmes' mercurial deductive reasoning. However, much credit must be given to Dibakar Banerjee for showing us the formative years of the deductive: he is not a detective because he trumps everyone else with his wit, but only because he thinks he is good to be one. He is amateurish at times and even foolhardy in some sequences, trying to outsmart the villain. That is one nice twist, since we are getting to know that Bakshey is not invincible as a Holmes and is refreshing to watch.

The story is set in 1942 in Calcutta and this is one of the most authentic renditions of that age. Hope the makers of 'Hawaaizaada' have a look at the costumes and the set pieces used in this movie and realize how to actually be authentic in a movie set in the past. When Ajit Banerjee (Anand Tiwari) approaches Bakshey to request him to help out in finding his missing father, Bakshey realizes soon that his individual disappearance is not a one-off event and connected to a major plan by the Japanese army, Chinese drug lords and a secret political party. 

He eventually comes across a smart doctor Anukul Guha (Neeraj Kabi) who seems better than the detective himself with his reasoning abilities, a film star Angoori (a sensual Swastika Mukherjee) who seems to be attracted to Bakshey and a fiery Satyawati (a small role for an elegant looking Divya Dutta) who all seem something on the inside and seem to have their own hidden secrets. Whether Bakshey spoils the nefarious plans of the unknown perpetrators and whether Calcutta is saved from imminent doom forms most of the story.

The story gets really interesting around the first hour when people seem to be mysteriously dying around Bakshey as he tries helping Ajit - who eventually sort of settles into a sidekick - into finding out what happens to his father. The charm of the story lies in the fact that Dibakar Banerjee doesn't shy away from showing Bakshey as a shy, frightened or instinctive in a bad sort of way. He seems to be falling easily to the trap of the seemingly smarter villain and realizes that only too late into the movie, after a lot of others die around him.

While the movie itself is engaging, one sore point is the lack of pace in the latter part of the second half before the climax where the movie - like Bakshey - takes it's own sweet time to establish the motive of it's villains. While anybody could have guessed who the villain was, the revelations of why and how are the biggest turning points of the movie and the shock element seems a little lacking during the final reveal.

The technical department is mostly spot on. The editing is taut and to the point, except during the second half where the story seems to be dragging on. The cinematography is beautiful, especially in the fight sequences at late night towards the end, which are a delight to watch on the big screen. Thankfully, there are no irritating song sequences and only sequences which merge with the theme of the movie.

Nevertheless, the biggest takeaway is that Byomkesh Bakshi is not another Sherlock wannabe; Dibakar Banerjee has ensured that Byomkesh is a riveting stand-alone movie with an Indian sensibility and an excellent possibility for future sequels: this is one movie where I found myself immersed and interested in how the fate could turn out for it's different characters after the end. Let's hope they make a good sequel; I'd die to watch one.