Abar Byomkesh [2012]

Singer-songwriter Anjan Dutt, who began his tryst with Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s iconic literary character Byomkesh Bakshi with his adaptation of the brilliant novel Adim Ripu, has continued his journey with a novella this time, viz. Chitrachor. This was a smart move on his front one might say, given the inherent cinematic value of this novella. The super sleuth and private investigator (played by Abir Chatterjee), who preferred calling himself ‘Satyanneshi’ (‘one who seeks trutch), in order to recover from an illness, has come down to the Dooars in North Bengal with his wife Satyabati (Ushashie Chakraborty) and his trusted friend, aide and chronicler Ajit (Saswata Chatterjee). There, he doesn’t just get acquainted to motley characters representing diverse personalities and professions, he also becomes aware of the theft of a photograph. Given his self-anointed sobriquet, curiosity gets the better of him and he appoints himself to solve the case which quickly spirals into a rather murky affair with dark family secrets, rabid jealousies, extra-marital affairs, grievous bodily harm and even murder thrown along in the way. Given the larger canvas and the string of interesting performances, this was an engaging watch and a better job vis-à-vis the earlier effort; however, it still failed by some margin in matching the kind of literary brilliance that Dutt attempted translating to the celluloid – the rather insipid climax, too, didn’t help much in that regard. Abir yet again falls short in capturing Byomkesh’s depth and intelligence, but Saswata has once again shined as the cynical Ajit and a clear stand-in for the writer himself.








Director: Anjan Dutt
Genre: Thriller/Detective Film/Mystery/Ensemble Film
Language: Bengali
Country: India