He was the quintessential guy next door, who wore simple clothes, lived in a rented apartment at Harrison Road, Kolkata (now called M.G Road) and loved drinking “Chai” (tea) especially when he had his thinking cap on.
Sharadindu’s “ Byomkesh Bakshi”, just like any other detective used his skills of observation, logical reasoning and understanding of forensic sciences to solve the most difficult of cases, but this is where the similarities end because he was no Sherlock or Poirot!īyomkesh’s lack of self-adulation, non-elitist demeanour and love for simple living, set him apart from any other detective, we had known earlier. Moreover, the character of the lead – “ Byomkesh Bakshi”, was so well written, that you as the reader or audience is thoroughly invested in his journey to solve a case. But that said, there was no compulsion to do so because the story itself was so engaging and unique, that it had ability to keep the audience hooked till the end. Hence, one had to read between the lines and draw his or her own conclusions. Click the link to take you to the video ) ( Here is an interesting discussion on this topic on the YouTube channel – Film Companion. There are hints that are doled out, but a lot is left to the imagination of the audience. What were their family backgrounds? Where did they come from? … really didn’t matter. To illustrate this point better, as a reader or audience you are not given much in terms of the background of its lead characters, namely Byomkesh or his partner Ajit. Pic credit: amazon.inĪ critical analysis of his “Byomkesh Bakshi” stories reveal that Sharadindu had the habit of describing an incident or a character through an unusually straight forward narrative. During his lifetime, Sharadindu wrote all different kinds of prose-novels, short stories, plays and screenplays, of which detective “Byomkesh Bakshi” was his most famous creation, atleast among a Pan India audience.
#BYOMKESH BAKSHI YOUTUBE SERIES#
The TV series “ Byomkesh Bakshi” is based on the stories of the prolific Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Moreover, for all you know, this might have been a well thought out strategy on the part of its writer to keep the audience engaged.Ĭonfused? Well, to understand this aspect better, we must delve a little into the history of the TV show. Yet here I am, enjoying this supposedly lesser work of art, over a cup of coffee, on a lazy Sunday evening.Īfter giving it much thought, I concluded, that perhaps its these little flaws which made the show lovable.
#BYOMKESH BAKSHI YOUTUBE SERIAL#
Come to think of it, here was a serial which had very little production value (in terms of its sets, locations and costume design), lacked subtlety or nuance (when it came to its screenplay) and to make things worse, featured unknown actors (many of the side actors, I am sure, were non-actors). And, I am pretty sure, that many like me, who have grown up in the 90s in India, are also secretly doing so.īut never have I ever critically analysed the show, until now. Hence, a rather obvious question comes to mind- What makes me watch this TV serial even today? The question is relevant, and cannot be dismissed by attributing everything to nostalgia because unlike in the 90s we now have a range of options to choose from, particularly in this genre.įor starters, this is not an easy question to answer, especially if you begin by comparing this show with the ones available today. Let me begin by admitting, that I still watch episodes of “ Byomkesh Bakshi”-the much-loved Indian detective TV series of the 90s on YouTube.