“Call the cops there’s a crime!
Better yet call the private eye if you have the dime!
Looking for clues is an art!
Which is why even Batman is a class apart!”
Without support it does not work! Nothing does…
A sure way to get the TRP were the detective series! Oh how we used to wait for them eagerly! The most important character which I later realised though was the sidekick! They were the ones who used to be ‘normal’ and bring out the best!
read on!
One of the earlier ones was karam Chand! I still remember Pankaj Kapoor with his carrot and his Quirky but innocent assistant Kitty!
She would innocently ask Karamchand how he guessed the crime and he would tell about what he observed!
Then there was the master director of thriller movies like Jewel Thief starring as a detective! That was called Tehkikaat ( transl. Investigation) is a Hindi language crime drama series starring Vijay Anand as Sam D’Silva and Saurabh Shukla as Gopichand. Each episode used to start with a murder or a mystery and Kallu mama would fumble and most of the time think what we all audience used to think and then Sam would come to the rescue!
Then the most famous detective series which is still my favourite was Byomkesh Bakshi! The one which is still available to watch is based on the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi character created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The series stars Rajit Kapur and K.K. Raina as Byomkesh Bakshi and Ajit Kumar Banerjee!
Now Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay had written them in Bengali and had in fact even stopped writing them because he was not that interesting! There are good translation of the stories which I have read and the TV series follows them as close as possible.
I used to love that music in the beginning and fervently hope that the episode would not be continued to the second part! The first episode of the Homeopathy doctor and the lodge with the killing was one of the best! Of course many still talk about the obvious plot holes!
But Byomkesh never liked to be called a Detective! He was Satyanveshi or the seeker of truth! In spite of the cool crime solving abilities of Byomkesh dada we used to love Ajit! One of the episodes he tried to do a Byomkesh and actually thought what the audience thought! The spider venom which was used as a drug by the wily old man! How the clever old man used to get his supply in spite of the strict control! When he suggested that the old man used the real spiders in his room Byomkesh bursts into laughter! I have to admit that I was thinking the same thing!
These sidekicks are very important in bringing out the best in the main lead! Sometimes you need the support to get the best out of you! These sidekicks are not inferior in anyway but just that they have their own forte!
If you have a good support even you can become a great detective or may be a great man or woman for that matter! Think about it!
Blogging about Byomkesh was only because it is Uttam da’s birthday! Uttam Kumar (born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay) may be one of the most iconic actors of Bengali cinema! His list of achievements are many and include the very first National Award for best actor! I have simply loved him when he became the first actor to play Byomkesh in the Satyajeet directed Chiriakhana! Imagine that Satyajeet was himself a big fan of detective stuff that he created an Indian Sherlock; Feluda! Here also you had a great Sidekick but then that is a blog for another day!
The story and movie Chiriakhana is known but the way it has been handled is simply epic! Not a big fan of Uttam da insisting to smoke on camera though since Byomkesh was a strict non smoker in the novels but then no one can be perfect!
Now if see a couple of Byomkesh episodes and sleep if you can!
Shubh Ratri!
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