Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! [2015]

Language - Hindi
Director - Dibakar Banerjee
Run Time - 2 hours, 28 minutes
Genre - Drama/Thriller
Starring - Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari

Dibakar Banerjee is amongst the very few Bollywood director's whose every movie I've at least liked, if not loved. Although he has returned to Bollywood after a gap of 3 years [discounting Bombay Talkies], he has returned with a bang. Mystery thrillers are scarce in Indian cinema, and thus Banerjee has stepped up to fill that scarcity. He brings to life the famous Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, a.k.a the Indian Sherlock Holmes.

This movie is set in the 1940's, during World War II, when Kokatta was almost regarded as the capital of India and boy do we draw a comparison between this city and its detective and Sherlock Holmes and London. This city, is portrayed perfectly, down to its dynamism and the hustle bustle. There exists a very high level of authenticity.

The film is shot beautifully, and you have to give Dibakar Banerjee this, that he was making a film-noiresque movie, which again are not abundant in the Indian film industry. This movie is FRESH, like other films by Banerjee. Be it LSD, Oye Lucky, Khosla ka Ghosla or Shanghai, Dibakar always manages to bring something new to the table. And that is what I like the most about him.

Sushant Singh Rajput plays the titular character, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy or as called in the film, 'Byomkesh Babu' who is set to find out the mystery behind the disappearance of Bhuvan Banerjee, who has been missing for the past two months. Well, he is able to discover what happens to Mr. Banerjee, buts also uncovers a a sinister plot which affects the city as a whole. It is intriguing to see how the plot goes, and what will happen next. Although sometimes it was easy to predict.

But, hats off to Banerjee for making this delightful film, and to Kudos to Sushant Singh Rajput, for tremendous acting. I feel he will be amongst the best actors of the next batch of Bollywood superstars. His performances feel much genuine and convincing than the likes of Siddharth Malhotra or Aditya Roy Kapoor.

One thing that the movie could have improved upon was the flow of the plot. Too many characters and too many sub-plots. It would get quite complicated and confusing at times. But there is a plus point to that ass well, as it leaves the audience wondering even more.

In all, a pretty good movie. Don't miss out on it.

My Rating - 7.6/10