Searching for our own Sherlock Holmes

By Shefali Mehta

Most of us have rushed along with Doctor Watson as he follows his friend, the very skillful Sherlock Holmes, who has an eye that spots the tiniest and apparently the most inconsequential of details to penetrate any mystery. Remember the mystery of the Blue Carbuncle found in the throat of a goose? With the size of hat, the type of dust on it, its jaded appearance, Holmes creates a profile of the owner of the hat, which is of course, accurate.

For Agatha Christie fans, there is the little man with the egg-shaped head and cat-like eyes, Hercule Poirot, who frequently cites his ‘grey cells’ as the source of his intelligence. Later Christie moved on to create another fascinating character in Miss Marple – she is that familiar old neighbourhood “auntie” putting her nose into everybody’s matter. But she, unlike the auntie you might know, is shrewd enough to solve murder cases.

But if we had known earlier that our own India has a tradition of mind-blowing sleuths, perhaps we would not have had to go till England. And there are advantages. The eccentricities of a detective from one’s familiar culture give the detective yarn a special flavor. More interesting are the antics of the characters involved in the scene of the crime. If we are talking of Indian fictional detectives, one of the names that should immediately rush to the mind is Byomkesh Bakshi – the Bengali sleuth who calls himself a ‘satyanweshi’ meaning ‘the seeker of truth’, avoiding the designation of being a ‘detective’. If the police are not already involved in the case, Byomkesh even lets the criminal go scot-free, mostly on moral grounds; he after all, only seeks the truth.

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay had a purpose when he created this character that would go on to become a favourite of many. The most important one was to free the Indian fictional detectives of the Western influence. This is not to say that he himself was uninfluenced. One can’t miss in the pair of Byomkesh and his friend Ajit, the clear resemblance to Holmes and Watson. But the qualities that make Byomkesh original are also the reasons why he is lovable.

Of the thirty-three stories featuring Byomkesh, Ajit, who follows all his cases and even keeps a diary to quickly scribble factual details while Byomkesh works on the case, narrates all except five. He is often given the task of interrogating some of the people involved, though Byomkesh always undermines his rational capabilities.

Unlike Homles and Poirot who never get married, Byomkesh gets married to Satyaboti. Byomkesh, Satyaboti, and Ajit live together with Puntiram as their servant who opens doors and makes tea for all. Their home certainly makes for a nice cozy affair. Satyaboti and her husband once fuss over money for a vacation. Byomkesh immediately lands a case and their financial problem is solved. Satyaboti also takes interest in his cases and often Byomkesh narrates to her and Ajit at the end of the story the way he arrived at certain conclusions that led to the final cracking of the mystery.

The popularity of Byomkesh had a major jump with the TV series (1993) in which Rajit Kapoor plays the Bengali sleuth with an easy charm. The series, which belongs to the golden era of Doordarshan, has the detective clad for the most part in white dhoti and large dark-rimmed glasses. Frequently seen sitting at meals and taking biscuits with tea, the TV serial does full justice to the Byomkesh stories, with the right suspense and seriousness interspersed with light-hearted funny moments. The background score for the show has almost become a trademark. Even if you catch a bit of it, it should remind you of the whole series. K. K. Raina who wonderfully plays the not-so-smart but curious and loyal friend plays the character of Ajit, and Sukanya Kulkarni plays the charming and vivacious wife of Byomkesh.

Apart from this series, Byomkesh has been created and re-created several times on silver screen. This includes Rituparno Ghosh’s Santyanweshi (2013), Anjan Dutt’s Byomkesh Bakshi (2010), Satyajit Ray’s Chiriyakhana (1967). As the names of the directors should make it obvious, these films belong to Bengali cinema.

Filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee of Khosla ka Ghosla (2006) fame has taken upon himself the task of introducing Byomkesh to Hindi cinema. Titled Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, the film stars actor Sushant Singh Rajput as the sleuth. The film is set in 1942.

Byomkesh Bakshi is, however, by no means, the only intriguing Indian fictional detective. Within Bengali literature there are examples of Satyajit Ray’s Feluda, Narayan Gangopadhyay’s Tenida and Sunil Gangopdhyaya’s Kakababu. Tamil writer Tamilavanan has his own sleuth Shanker Lal. A private detective, Shanker Lal is a kind of international hero, travelling around the world solving cases and helping the governments of other countries. Pattukkottai Prabakar is another Tamil writer known for his detective pair Bharat and Susheela. And there’s yet more!

Shefali is a sceptic by nature, with a critical eye on culture, ideologies and evolving trends of societies. A student of English Literature at Delhi University, she is particularly interested in the lives and history of people living in the Indian subcontinent and contemporary issues like terrorism, exile, human rights and global capitalism. Mostly interested in theory, she also likes to explore regional cinema. Contact her at shefali.tie@gmail.com