Of all the masala flicks that Bollywood produces each and every year, this one stands out as the suspense thriller that is in fact a suspense thriller, and not some typical Bollywood film. The story is great,the cinematography is beautiful,the 1940's Kolkata feels authentic. Sad that the film was a commercial flop. All of the cast was relatively unknown to me but all of them are incredible actors,Swastika Mukherjee leaves a mark and grabs your attention whenever shes on the screen. Sushant Singh Rajput as a detective is OK i guess but he does justice to his character. There is not enough character development of Ajit and Satyawati. The last act of the film feels lame in comparison to the tension that was built up during the entire film,it would have been better if they could have handled it differently. I'd recommend it as a must watch.

Murder mysteries or 'Whodunit' detective movies have never been 'The Box-office favourite' in the history of Hindi Cinema (particularly post the 70s). But being the first Hindi film made on the immensely popular Bengali sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi, created by the renowned writer Saradindu Bandopadhyay, the project did have the excitement factor going in its favour despite the extremely mixed responses to its trailer. However beginning with an explanation for the tag line stated above, firstly this is another SHANGHAI kind of product delivered by one of my favourite new-age directors Dibakar Banerjee. And by the statement I mean, a film that certainly would get much appreciation from a certain section of viewers looking into the technical and other finer aspects of film-making, but not from the masses who actually turn a project into a big box office success in real terms.Secondly, here you cannot draw any comparison between the Byomkesh we know from the original books /Bengali films (serials) or the famous Hindi TV series and the one depicted by Dibakar in his film, since they both surprisingly turn out to be completely contrasting personalities to say the least. For instance Dibakar's Byomkesh is not a brave person at all, who easily throws up seeing blood, open wounds and rotten dead bodies. He gets slapped by a unknown possible client in their first meeting itself, is not able to save himself from the attacking goons with his sharp presence of mind or reflexes, can easily get seduced and also gets caught by an old man within seconds for the few lies spoken about his false identity. It begins impressively showing the Calcutta of 1942 and the very first thing that makes an instant impact is the splendid recreation of the era having a very fine detailing in the backdrop with people, clothes, trams, shops, boards, posters and streets presented beautifully with the collective effort of its art director and the cinematographer. The reference of World War 2 and Shanghai-Burma- Japan in the build-up sets a fine premise of an exciting journey. And then the mystery of a missing father begins with a sex and political angle thrown in to add some extra spice to the big case taken up by the known Detective.Having said that, the overall pace and excitement level in the narration remains extremely low and it goes into an even more dull phase post intermission when many dark secrets get slowly revealed heading towards a quite over the top and hamming climax (clearly inspired from the west), not expected from the director like Dibakar Bannerjee. Putting it straight, in the final hour, he takes the movie into a completely different phase with few boringly long sequences, un-required action, exaggerated expressions and an open climax minus any thrilling moments making no impact whatsoever on the common man willing to see an exciting ending expected from a murder mystery.In fact it's quite shocking to see such a slow paced, uninspiring detective movie without any enjoyable high points from the director of entertaining films such as LSD, OYE LUCKY! LUCKY OYE and KHOSLA KA GHOSLA. Probably the SHANGHAI hangover of making classics for only a certain section of viewers is still there with the director moving far away from the masses. In the writing department, the sequences begin to drag pretty badly in its second half and the dialogues or language also remains inconsistent. For example, at one end you have a fabulous line 'Sach Ke Aaspaas Wala Jhooth Pakadna Mushkil Hota Hai' and on the other the sacred river Ganga is strangely referred to as 'Ganga Maiya' by a Japanese drug dealer too. Also in the background score, where the naturally added sounds excel, the westerns arrangements and rock tracks keep disturbing a lot. Moreover its always confusing to see the creative team working too hard on recreating the gone era in a period film with all those fabulous sets, costumes, special effects and spoken language. But they repeatedly forget or deliberately ignore to recreate the music of those times too coming up with a similar sound and arrangements using the relevant musical instruments. Incidentally that reminds me the last time, music actually took me back in the late 40s was in HEY RAM composed by the maestro Illaiyaraja or in the latest YRF's Dumb LAGA JE HAISHA too reminding us of the musical 80s and 90s.No doubt here we have a worth praising production value adding a lot to the film's overall look and feel, a splendid cinematography (though many might find it too dark) and 'an appreciable risk' taken by the courageous director, post his unsuccessful venture SHANGHAI. But if only Dibakar had made it entertaining enough for the end user instead of getting lost in his own creation, the film would have provided a great viewing experience to all Byomkesh Bakshi die-hard fans for sure.Coming to its weakest point dealing with performances, though Sushant Singh Rajput tries hard and his level best to portray the iconic role, he simply couldn't deliver due to the badly written character largely deviating from the original persona of the detective as known to the (Hindi) viewers who still remember Byomkesh as Rajit Kapoor with his innocent sweet smile dressed in a simple white attire. On the other hand, Anand Tiwari plays his role with a comfortable ease along with Meiyang Chang and more posing as the co-residents of the lodge. In the female lead both Swastika Mukherjee and Divya Menon get nothing much to do, whereas Neeraj Kabi impresses a lot if only you can ignore his loud acting towards the end.In all, as was the case in director's last venture SHANGHAI, this too has its technical excellence right there as an impressive merit. But the film stumbles a lot in its overall execution, a feature we do not usually associate with the name of Dibakar Banerjee.

Loads and loads of hit-and-run masaalaa bollywood films have created a sort of aversion to bollywood cinema. For me, there is a psychological barrier which I've to cross before I can actually muster up effort to go and watch a bollywood movie. This barrier is usually broken down with help of strong recommendations from close friends, good ratings on aggregator websites and positive reviews from selected sources. 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy (with an exclamation)' happened to be the film which I watched and thoroughly enjoyed.This film belongs to top percentile in the corpus of films produced by an otherwise banal and shallow Bollywood. The film delivers on both abstract and practical level.* Abstract Level:> 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!' (DBB henceforth) has a healthy component of escapism, which is essential for any cinematic experience. The ingenuity of its script lies in flawlessly welding actual historical events to fiction which gives rise to an entertaining narrative. Indian history - ancient, medieval and modern - is one of the most under-represented areas in bollywood cinema. We do have several films on revolutionary nationalism and freedom struggle but not a single one of them is half a match for 'Saving Private Ryan'.> This film duly locates India among the contemporary nations II World War period. This is a novel and appreciable attempt. There are Chinese, Japanese and Burmese connections in the script. Indian popular culture usually shies away from integrating India into global affairs. We either have films like 'Chandni Chowk to China' or the ones which caricature Indians as subservient to westerners. Recently 'Airlift' is a good attempt in this area but as Indian MEA said, "Airlift takes too much artistic liberty". > DBB is an elegantly made period drama at a time when there is sincere dearth of period dramas in Bollywood. There is no film on Mundhra scandal, for instance or a veritable story on emergency period. In DBB there is a genuine effort to capture the cultural undercurrents of the 1940s' Bengal.> The film gives due importance to female presence on screen. Calcutta was the hub of Indian feminism for several decades in pre- and-post independent India. Women also participated actively in revolutionary nationalism. 'Chittagong' is another film which captures this aspect.* Practical Level:> The depiction of period of 1940s' Bengal is meticulous. I really liked it. Bollywood is maturing towards elegant period dramas. The Calcutta tram, vintage cars, the costumes, the contemporary popular culture - all are given due importance.> Acting is elegant. I highly laud the role played by Neeraj Kabi (Dr. Guha). His character resonated of antiheros of the likes of Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men). It's high time that Bollywood start developing its pantheon of adorable antiheros which could replace Amrish Puri and Ranjit of yesteryears! Anand Tiwari (Ajit) was spot on as the faithful sidekick. He was close to Dr. Watson played by Martin Freeman in TV Series 'Sherlock'. On the critical side, I would point out following shortcomings in the film.* As the Indian version of Sherlock Holmes, the lead character certainly needs to have more oomph. Sushant Rajput did a good job but something seemed to be missing. I can't put a finger on it but the vacuum was all over the place. I don't know if Sushant was involved in script writing or not but it seemed that he was not. Character development of the lead was also missing. We get to know the pedigree of Byomkesh in one small conversation (in front of chemical mill). Romantic life of Byomkesh boils down to yearning looks at old photos. It has to be better than that.* Things are made too explicit at times. Let audience run their imagination. Indian audience are literally spoon-fed the story by directors. In a crime thriller leave an elbow room for connection of dots. Leave the top spinning a la 'Inception'.* Inject a bit more situational humor. I didn't have one hearty laugh throughout the movie. Make the dialogs a bit more informal without transcending into vulgarity. Byomkesh need to have a funnier component in his personality.* Last but not least, we can all do with a little less gore and little more of instrumental background score. Keep the bloody scenes to the essentials. Indians did not lead gory crusades in distant past and nor we have a fundamental right to carry guns. So, stop emulating Quentin Tarantino. As a liberal film-maker, appreciate Gandhiji's thought. Also the background score can do without English hard rock. India has gifted musicians who can easily liven up thriller chases and fight sequences. Use them liberally.In the end, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is a refreshing experience - escapism, entertainment and thrill, all bundled into one. I'm eagerly waiting for the sequel.

Taking a look around Netflix UK for titles from 2015,I spotted a Bollywood Noir which I had heard a lot of praise for,which led to me getting ready to investigate Detective Byomkesh Bakshy.The plot-1940s Calcutta:After not hearing from his dad Bhuvan for weeks, Ajit Banerjee decides to hire private detective Byomkesh Bakshy to track him down. Traveling to the outskirts of Calcutta,Bakshy discovers a hostel that Bhuvan stayed in.Whilst he has not been seen for weeks, Bakshy learns from fellow hostel guest Dr. Anukul Guha that Bhuvan worked in a factory.Going to the factory with Guha,Bakshy finds the factory to be shut down,but guarded by two security guards and a mysterious femme fatale keeping a close watch.Outwitting the guards,Bakshy and Guha break into the factory.Finding a strange smell in the building,Bakshy soon discovers a burnt up body,which leads to Bakshy suspecting that something about Bhuvan is being kept hidden at the hostel.View on the film:Capturing the city being in a tug of war between the British Empire and Japan,co-writer/(along with Urmi Juvekar) director Dibakar Banerjee & cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis soak the title in a frosty Neo- Noir atmosphere of fear and dread,as deep shadows and Film Noir posters hang around every corner of Calcutta. Diving into the era, Banerjee & Andritsakis investigate every decaying street with elegant tracking shots which hit 40's cars grinding grit into the title,and smoked covered drug deals taking place in sly whispers.Bringing Saradindu Bandopaddhyay's pulp character to the big screen (with no songs!), Banerjee & Urmi Juvekar closely work with editors Manas Mittal & Namrata Rao in their excellent adaptation,as dazzling flashbacks are splashed across the screen that deconstruct the mystery and allow the viewer to put the clues together piece by piece.Injecting a jet- black dark Comedy side into the title,the writers brilliantly use the comedic shots to sink Bakshy deeper into the rotting Film Noir world,as Bakshy finds himself stuck in the middle of drug and gang wars,which lead to a thrilling kung-fu final scream coming from the ruins of the burnt up Calcutta.Offering Bakshy helpful "advice" Neeraj Kabi gives a wonderful performance as Dr. Anukul Guha,thanks to Kabi giving Guha a jolly,warm glow,which he tears apart with a wickedly sinister grin.Looking past the burning lights of the city, Sushant Singh Rajput gives a fantastic performance as Bakshy,whose playful swagger Rajput reveals to be a cover to dive into the harsh underbelly of Calcutta's underworld,as Bakshy uncovers the secrets of 1940's Calcutta.