Abar Byomkesh (2012)

 

Directed By - Anjan Dutta

Starring - Abir Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Ushashie, Kaushik Sen, Chandan Sen, Arindol Bagchi, Swastika Mukherjee, Biswajit Chakraborty, Kunal Padhi.

In one of the most elegantly shot scenes, the audience is given a sudden jolt when the lights go off and a flashlight reflects the figure of the professor in the room. The scene is not of much importance in the mystery and pretty much sums up the entire film. The mystery is pretty simple to crack but Anjan Dutta laces the film with exceptional detailing and elegant shooting.

'Abar Byomkesh' based on Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's "Chitrachor" is about Byomkesh Bakshi who is recuperating in the hills along with his beautiful wife Satyabati (Ushashie) and trusted sidekick Ajit(Saswata) after a terrible bout of  a life threatening illness. The period is 1960's (evident from the Times magazine with John F Kennedy on the cover, for anyone who knows me knows that that had to catch my eye) when major changes were happening around the world and most particularly in Bengal (communal harmony was being restored). As luck would have it Byomkesh encounters a weird mystery wherein a thief is stealing every possible copy of a group picture taken a while back. The characters in the picture are obviously the characters in this screenplay and they beautifully introduced in a party scene early on in the film. There's the rich industrialist (Biswajit Chakraborty), his widowed yet flamboyant daughter (swastika), the doctor who is love with the daughter, the unhappily married man (Pijush) whose guest house the detective is residing in. Apart from this subplot, the characters in the other subplot are an enthusiastic banker cum Byomkesh fan (Kaushik sen), the arrogant District Magistrate (Chandan Sen) , the ever helpful SP (padhi). Each character has something to hide and the mystery reaches its height when a drunk vagabond, with a flair for drawing potraits from memory, is killed. As usual, anything more is a giveaway. 

To start with, the screenplay. Chitrachor is one of the byomkesh thrillers where the mystery is easy to crack especially for seasoned mystery writers. Frankly, it has a promising premise but ultimately is a weak detective story. I believe this is one of the things that must have struck Anjan Dutta. He laces the film beautifully to cover up the loose ends and keeps the viewer hooked while at the same time stays true to the story. A quality that another bengali filmmaker, Sandip ray, lacks. Personally one of the main reasons for me drifting away from Feluda is the way Sandip Ray handles the genre, Over the top and amateurish. This is one department where Anjan Dutta scores. The director has brilliant knowledge of how to keep the adrenaline pumping and is able to handsomely rise above the weak storyline. Dutta uses the narration of Ajit to take the story forward making it almost feel like that we are reading a novel. Every frame and evry detail bears evidence that Byomkesh is very close to Dutta's heart and he makes the film like an enthusiastic and hungry reader would. The man desrves the praise and more. 

Of the cast, Ushashie puts in a refreshing performance as the detectives wife. The subtlety's of marriage is well potrayed by Ushashie and Abir. notice the sequence where they are fighting over morality while Ajit smokes in the background confused as to whose side to take. The entire hall giggling was ample proof of the scene's brilliance. Kunal padhi as the SP has precious little to do along with Swastika. Pijush Ganguly puts in a winning act as the disillusioned and unhappy Professor. Kaushik sen puts in a fantastic act as the eager fan cum banker. The sore thumb in the film is Chandan Sen. He, in my opinion, is over theatrical in his expressions and most of the times ends up looking as if he is trying too hard. Abir Chatterjee reprises his role as the married detective (as Ajit exclaims that one is not likely to find any detective who is married, it does add a precious angle to characterization). One of the greatest strength of abir's performance is that he does not ape Uttam Kumar (who played Bokshi in Satyajit Ray's national award winning Chiriakhana) nor does he imitate Rajit kapur (the Bokshi on TV). Abir plays Byomkesh exactly the way he wants to and in the end creates a unique character who will not and cannot be compared to the ones the eariler legends created. But the best act comes from Saswata who plays the able sidekick Ajit. Chatterjee makes a stupendous transition from the cold blooded and smooth Bob biswas to the quintessential bengali middle class man Ajit. His act is worth a salute. He proves with each scene that he is an actor of the highest stature.

In all the film works because Anjan Dutt is able to rise above the simple mystery tale and is aided by spectacular performances by the leads.

Rating -8.0/10