Satyanweshi (Bengali)

Rituparno Ghosh was one of India’s finest film makers as per many.  To me, he was someone who made cinema that was too slow for my comfort.  Whether it was the adaptation of the The Gift of the Magi (Raincoat) or that of one of Rabindranath Tagore’s novels (Noukadubi / Kashmakash), Rituparno Ghosh ensured that the pace was never compromised – if you know what I mean.

When it comes to his first adaptation of one of Bengal’s (or should I say India’s) popular detectives, he doesn’t change much.  He continues with his formula of pregnant pauses between dialogues, tremendous attention to detail and in short a slowly, painfully and yet beautifully painted picture.  Why should he have changed? It was the formula that bought him enough success before he left us.

Satyanweshi means Truth Seeker – a name that was synonymous with Byomkesh Bakshi – thanks to his indefatigability when it comes to looking for the truth.  While the title borrows its name from the first of the Byomkesh Bakshi series, the story is from the 6^th story written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay – Chorabali – based in a small princely state (the stories were written in the 1930s) of Balabantapur.

Satyanweshi starts with Byomkesh (Sujoy Ghosh) in a train journey to the province with his close friend Ajit Babu (Anindya Chatterjee).  Byomkesh has been called by his friend Himangshu (Indraneil Sengupta) who is the current ruler of Balabantapur.  To all, BB is there to indulge in hunting but Himangshu wants him to solve the disappearance of his palace librarian.

The story is made complex with several layers and relationships.  The insipid marriage of Himangshu with his queen Aloka (Arpita Chatterjee) tops the list.  There is the mysterious appearance early in the story of a medicine man Kaligati (Sibaji Bandyopadhyay) and his daughter Leela (Anandi Ghosh).  There is the friendship between Ajit Babu and Aloka.  All of these form a heady concoction.

Whatever, one can say about Rituparno’s affinity towards a slow paced movie, one cannot fault him for attention to detail. Every scene is painfully crafted.  The costumes, the make-up (or lack of it where applicable), the use of a green screen, the slick editing and the natural special effects (quite an oxymoron the last one) – all of it can be used as benchmark levels.  If only he shared my opinion about the pace.

Satyanweshi was every bit the kind of movie I expected it to be.  While I choose to differ on the aspect of pace, I will still encourage each one of you to make an effort to go all the way to Big Cinemas @ R City Ghatkopar (the only place it is showing) for the 8:15 pm show.  It will be well worth the effort.  Clearly a 7 on 10.  Must watch.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjA7iS8He3k