Review of Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015) by Nadhir A — 02 Feb 2016

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 of 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 nationalsim. '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 dialogues 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.