On 22 September, actor Abir Chatterjee took to Twitter to share the official
trailer of Byomkesh Gowtro. Paying a tribute to author Sharadindu
Bandyopadhyay, who created the character of Byomkesh, Abir wrote: “Here
goes the Official Trailer of #ByomkeshGowtro, our tribute to
#SaradinduBandyopadhyay on his death anniversary. In Cinemas 12th
October.”
Byomkesh Gowtro is a much-anticipated suspense thriller in which Abir will be
reprising his role as the titular character, Byomkesh Bakshi.
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s Byomkesh, who preferred to call himself a
“satyanveshi” (seeker of the truth) and not a detective, first made his screen
appearance in 1967. Popular Bengali actor Uttam Kumar played the first
Byomkesh on screen, and the movie, Chiriyakhana, was based on a story by the
same name.
Bandyopadhyay wrote a total of 32 Byomkesh stories, besides an incomplete
one, and all of them have been made into films or TV serials. There have been
radio and stage adaptations also of the stories featuring Byomkesh Bakshi.
Byomkesh Gowtro is based on the story, Rakter Daag (Stains of Blood) penned
by Bandyopadhyay. Directed by Arindam Sil, the film deals with a ‘love
triangle’ that gets serious requiring the Satyanveshi to intervene.
Rakter Daag, the original story published in 1956, had taken up a bold subject
for the time, showing some pivotal characters as victims of the lifestyle
observed during the post-World War I period that had brought a wave of
liberation. Modern women, child outside marriage, a wealthy indulgent father, a
spoilt brat – Rakter Daag has all the masala for a hit potboiler. And that’s the
reason the storyline has served as the plot for more than one Byomkesh outings
on screen and stage.
Rakter Daag has a dramatic beginning, with Satyakam, the young scion of a
wealthy family, coming to Byomkesh and making full payment upfront to
investigate his own death – a prediction that surprisingly turns true shortly. The
story retains the drama with twists at every turn.
Satyakam’s character has many vices. He is a notoriously spoilt brat, a habitual
drinker, a gambler, and a womaniser who has many enemies. Who among them
could have killed him? Setting out on his mission to find the answer, Byomkesh
unravels many mysteries surrounding the young character and in the end faces
with the dilemma of whether to out with all the secrets or not.
It is not known if director Arindam Sil has stuck to the original story or has
made alterations to it, a recent Byomkesh Bakshi series on Bangla web
streaming platform Hoichoi has featured the same story retaining the original
plot.
Sil is however confident that loyal film goers will not prefer a web series based
on the same work over a big-screen venture.
“Film audiences of a thriller like Byomkesh, which has its own grandeur, will
never shift their loyalties to any other media and flock to the theatres,” Sil
recently told the media.
Sil has earlier directed two hit Byomkesh films in Bengali, and his latest venture
has everything on a grander scale, according to him.
Byomkesh Gowtro is fascinating when it comes to exploring the sins of mankind.
The elements of jealousy, greed and lust that navigate almost all the characters,
keep this film engaging for the most part.
Arindam Sil’s Byomkesh Gowtro is one of the few detective films, in which the
detective gets overshadowed by the antagonist. The dramatic portions of the
film are more delightful and engaging than the ones involving the investigation.
The director has also taken certain creative liberties in the story based on
Sharadindu Bandopadhyay’s Rakter Daag and has delivered a visual treat with
cinematic finesse.
The story is originally set in post-Independence Calcutta of 1956, while the
director has taken the entire plot to Mussoorie, which still retains the colonial
era flavour. The antagonist of the film Satyakam (Arjun Chakraborty) is rather
glamorous. Not only are his movements and lifestyle dramatic and larger than
life; his dialogues are crisp, catchy and full of sarcasm and cynicism as well.
Casanova Satyakam from Mussoorie visits Byomkesh Bakshi (Abir Chatterjee)
and asks him to investigate his murder, which he believes to be inevitable.
Moreover, he states that he knows who might try to kill him, but refuses to
disclose the suspect’s name to Byomkesh Bakshi. He is unabashed about his
addiction to alcohol and declares that ladies love him. His audacious nature
irritates Byomkesh, his confidante Ajit (Rahul Banerjee) and Satyabati (Sohini
Sarkar); however, he pays Byomkesh’s fees beforehand as he might not get the
chance to pay him after his murder.
ABIR CHATTERJEE AS BYOMKESH BAKSHI
In Mussoorie, starting from the local police inspector Pandeji (Harsh Chhaya),
the sheltered relative Sitangshu, to his father Ushapati Das (Anjan Dutta) - all
harbour maddening rage for Satyakam. However, Sitangshu’s sister Chumki
(Sauraseni Mitra), Pandeji’s daughter (Bibriti Chatterjee) and cabaret dancer
Emily (Priyanka Sarkar) are enamoured by him, despite being aware of his
frivolous nature.
As soon as Byomkesh reaches Mussoorie, he senses that a lot of people are after
Satyakam, but the latter doesn’t bother and behaves as if he has taken a vow to
outrage all his enemies till the last moment of his life. Eventually he dies,
leaving the sleuth curious about his outrage and deliberate indulgence. During
the investigation several suspects warn Byomkesh to stop the investigation and
all appear to protect the criminal. However, undaunted, Byomkesh gets to the
bottom of the case.
Sil has evidently invested a lot in the creation of the character Satyakam. He is
even shown to be attracted to Satyabati. However, Byomkesh’s cold reaction to
such behaviour just for the sake of proceeding with the case doesn’t make much
sense. Sil has also carefully sketched the other characters with a lot of drama,
while leaving the character of the Satyanweshi solely on Abir Chatterjee.
The film generates more suspense till Satyakam dies than during the
investigation. With the threats from the suspects, the identity of the criminal
becomes quite apparent before the climax and the plot loses its intensity as well.
While the first half seems extremely twisted, the storyline of the second half
appears to be rather linear. The sequence in which Byomkesh tries to guess the
position of the victim and the murderer could have been improved.
ARJUN CHAKRABORTY AS SATYAKAM
Arjun Chakraborty shines as the spoilt child from an affluent family. He is
conceited, brash and a flirt but at the same time, in his dialogue 'I was born to
destroy families', he subtly hints at a certain helplessness on his part. He brings
out the complexity of his character, who is true to his words when it comes to
paying fees or being generous towards his love interests.
Abir Chatterjee seems rather insipid as the detective who is originally well
aware of his intelligence and believes in his senses more than any external
influence. In the film, Rahul Banerjee as Ajit sometimes appears to be more real
than the sleuth. Rahul Banerjee is quite natural and spontaneous as well. Sohini
Sarkar, too, delivers an endearing performance.
Among all of Satyakam’s love interests, Sauraseni Mitra stands out. Priyanka
Sarkar fits the image of the sensuous cabaret dancer, though her expressions in
the song 'Bisher Dhoan' fall short of the necessary seductiveness.
The actor who essays the character of Sitangshu brings out the inherent
frustrations well. Harsh Chhaya gets into the skin of the character of Pandeyji.
Anjan Dutta proves his brilliance as the mysterious Ushapoti, who never really
wishes to give out much information himself for good reason.
The character of Satyakam’s mother is shown to be quite indulgent in her youth
(Anindita Bose); however, in the present she (Baishakhi Marjit) doesn’t carry
the trace of her glamorous lifestyle at all. Marjit is not really allowed to show
the supressed emotions of her character in the film.
Sil and Padmanabha Dasgupta’s efforts behind creating the drama around
Satyakam and Arjun Chakraborty’s performance are well aided by Shubhankar
Bhar’s cinematography and Sanglap Bhowmick’s editing. They also
magnificently capture the essence of the colonial hangover in the entire drama
amidst the charm of Mussoorie, without making it superficial. The moments of
flashback are never lengthy and the crisp scenes of silent eavesdropping and
secret observance that are essential in detective films are composed with
finesse.
Byomkesh Gowtro is fascinating when it comes to exploring the sins of
mankind. The elements of jealousy, greed and lust that navigate almost all the
characters, keep this film engaging for the most part.
