Review of A Detective from Bengal (2011) by Alexander R — 02 Mar 2013

This documentary follows the life of a private detective Rajesh Ji, joining him on several adventures. It wasn't clear to me watching the film as to what the subject matter really was. Is Rajesh Ji a villian, a saint, or just the inevitable result of the poor conditions in India? Is this a documentary about detectives, India's judicial system, or one person? It seems as if the director wasn't sure himself, lost control of the subject matter he was trying to capture and ended up editing a bunch of unrelated topics together.

Overall, the film is only held together by the sheer force of Rajesh Ji's personality, which would be just as bizarrely interesting no matter the locale.