Satyanweshi

Why, why, WHY was this allowed by any self-respecting Bangali to see the light of day? There sure is a crime involved in this story - and that is the brutal and vicious murder of one of the greatest icons of Bengali literature, Byomkesh Bakshi. It is also a highly irresponsible and arrogant act of ripping apart one of the best detective stories written in Bengali. What infernal right did Rituparno Ghosh have to do any of this? Most of the characters in the film cannot even pronounce Bengali words without a spurious "English" accent, Sujoy Ghosh (who is he??)included. No one can act to save their lives. Even the veteran actor playing Kaligati delivers his lines with unnatural pauses between words, in a singsong voice, reminding you of high school plays. Anindya as Ajit is tubby, insipid and only marginally better than the rest. And Sujoy Ghosh as Byomkesh makes you want to cry.

When I watched Shubho Muhurat a long time ago, I was amazed by the taut screenplay, wonderful adaptation of the Agatha Christie story, and the handling of the mystery by the director. I can go back to that movie again and again to watch Rakhi, Sumanta Mukherjee and character actors like Rajesh Sharma. It is tragic to see the same director deliver something like "Satyanweshi." This film has scarred me for life.

The 2012 Byomkesh film Anjan Dutt made with Abir Chatterjee and Saswata (based on Chitrachor) was an infinitely better film. That's because Anjan Dutt chose not to deviate from the story unnecessarily, wrote a really smart screenplay, and chose people who knew their business - i.e. acting. Although Abir lacked the polish and finesse of Saswata, he looked right and was competent if not scintillating. Keeping the narration in was a great idea too. Probably this movie worked because the director, for once, was not trying to be smart. Sometimes, it pays to acknowledge that you are not God but just another film director, who is capable of making bad movies as well as good ones.

A bad film is a bad film. An awful film is an awful film, and it is not wrong to say so. Even if its director is dead, even if it is his "swan song", even if he has made some good movies in the past. And I think it is high time we grew up and stopped idolizing our "famous" Bengalis. Rituparno had potential, he made some good movies, and he made some bad movies. That doesn't make him any less. And it certainly does not make him God.

Satyanweshi, apart from being the last memorabilia of Rituparno Ghosh, it is also one of those movies which humanizes an overtly intelligent and suave detective. Rituparno's Byomkesh Bakshi is not a person who gets extraterrestrial hints on the case but places the cleverly observed facts to solve the jigsaw puzzle. He abstains from smoking until he succeeds in solving the case and offers bribe to a Rajbari servant. There is corruption and there is confusion. BB is not restricted to a particular shade of black or white but is given the essential traits of grey to make him more understandable by the lay man.

This time it is the Rajbari in a problem. A person is missing out of nowhere and nobody has a clue. He has been searched everywhere but in vain. Finally, the Raja, Raja Himangshu calls upon the famous sleuth aka Satyanweshi to look into the matter. Ajit and Satyanweshi are welcomed to the kingdom of Balwantpur. Things are obviously not in place and it is only possible for BB to sort out the problem.

Sujoy Ghosh is no doubt an appropriate fit for the role, given the fact how effortlessly he manages to play the eager Bakshi. Anindya, Arpita and Indraneil were judiciously excellent in their respective roles too. Satyanweshi is a must-watch for two reasons:

#1. Ritu Da's latest and last. #2. Sujoy's BB play!

Perhaps the most vital thing for a film to work is a combination of script and casting. Unfortunately, the casting was totally off-center and the script fell weak.

The emphasis, knowingly or unknowingly, was more on marital discord and Byomkesh Bakshi was reduced to a mere character. If you can ignore that, then this could be a watch at home.

The pace of the film is another issue. Sometimes crippling and sometimes, just chugging along. Being the anal-eye that I am, the was throwing up with the computer graphics.

You would, however, not take back anything from this film, other than the tunes composed by Debojyoti Mishra.

Movie is dull. Casting was awful. Direction is pathetic.

While there is a whole new wave of same old sleuth, private/consulting detectives being created worldwide, it is very likely to expect Byomkesh in a rejuvenated format. The re-incarnation of Sherlock created by BBC or our own Feluda by Sandip Ray has raised the bars. Byomkesh could not cross this hurdle. Even the two Byomkesh movies played by Aabir (I don't remember the names) was better.

Even more irony - Ajit looked smarter and sharper than Byomkesh.

You can refrain from watching this movie even if you are a die hard Byomkesh fan. No harm done. Nothing to lose.

Byomkesh Bakshi suddenly became a darling of our film industry and when Rituparno Ghosh decided to do Satyanweshi, I had to take note. His choice of director friend Sujoy Ghosh as Byomkesh was already interesting and like everybody, I too had a lot of expectations. Whatever flak this film got thereafter has to do with the untimely death of Mr Ghosh as I feel if he could have completed this movie, it would not have been a disaster. It was a hurriedly finished project after his demise, the last few scenes and the CGI used were horrific. I will not even consider this as Rituparno's work, as anything which is even 90% finished can't bear your name till you give the final touches. 6/10