Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!

 

As a child I could never get enough of suspense movies or TV shows, and as a matter of fact it is still my guilty pleasure, so generally as soon as a new suspense movie is announced I become restless with increased heart rate and start counting days till its release.

Detactive Byomkesh Bakshy! got my attention with its very first promo, the movie looked visually stunning, and with world war II as backdrop it created the desired on intended audience.

However it is difficult to review a suspense movie without divulging details of storyline. The movie is about Byomkesh Bakshy who is approached by Ajit (his future sidekick) requesting him to investigate disappearance of his father. What starts as a simple case of blackmail, starts getting complicated with each passing minute.  

My friends who are privy to western entertainment won’t miss the similarity between the characterization and style of Byomkesh Bakshi and Sherlock Holmes, either by way of being mercilessly logical with limited amount of emotion, but what however distinguish them are the human touches given to the character by the director. For instance just after Byomkesh finds his first dead body he vomits. Story of the movie is first rate, but the culprits are editor and director, the failure to develop chemistry between the lead pair and friendship between Byomkesh and Ajit is poor work considering the fact that at the end of the movie Byomkesh proposes to a girl while there has been no emotional connect between them till that point. But the biggest letdown is the fact that interval if far more thrilling experience than the climax when real culprit is revealed. This happened due to desire of the director to create thrill in those parts of the movie where it was not needed.

Notwithstanding the above mentioned criticism it must be said that the director and writers did a fantastic job for most part, the dialogues pinch you like needles, every angle of the story has been explained, proper logics given most of the time, and add to it the performances of actors and the occasional humor that pops out unexpectedly in the most extraordinary situations, special mention needs to be given to the scene where Byomkesh and Ajis asks for tea while sitting in a house filled with dead bodies.

The story is complicated and requires some intelligence so people drawn towards Ekta Kapoor serials are strongly advised to avoid this movie, rest of the crowd who appreciate whodunit stories (with some avoidable flaws) are advised to watch it, it is no ‘The Usual Suspects’ or ‘The Sixth Sense’ but still leaves you craving for more, and on the most important note, a sequel if intended will be more than welcome.

Rating **1/2