#DetectiveByomkeshBakshy #BollywoodHindiFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * * *

#DetectiveByomkeshBakshy #BollywoodHindiFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * * *

#PicksAndPiques/SnippetFilmReview 3rdApril2015/#JohnsonThomas

 

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#PicksAndPiques/SnippetFilmReview3rdApril2015/#JohnsonThomas

#ByomkeshBakshy(Hindi) Rating: * * * This desi Sherlock based on the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi created by the Bengali writer #SharadinduBandyopadhyay has what it takes to keep you intrigued at every turn of plot( even though convoluted). The ending may be a little tame but this period drama wearing old world charm and new world pizzazz,  a #DibakarBanerjee out-of-genre, dark and dangerous experience, is replete with caprice and spice! #SpicePR #YashRajFilms #SushantSinghRajput #AdityaChopra #UdayChopra #AnandTiwari #MeiyangChang #SwastikaMukherjee #UrmiJuvekar #DivyaMenon

 

#HolaVenky (English/Hindi) Rating: * * * Quirky light-hearted comedy -A Techie's journey from 'his groin to his heart', that takes him from Mumbai all the way to the City by the Bay, is an Indie Film made in the budget of Rs. 10 lakhs by a 3-member guerrilla crew. Great shot making, smart story-telling craft, effective performances are it’s highlights. And there’s pleasing humor to boot. Despite it’s micro-budget, this one looks good and rocks too! #SandeepMohan #PSLivePR #GijuJohn #RogerNarayan #SanjayGulati #SoniaBalcazar #AshwinMushran

 

#PaisaHoPaisa(Hindi) Rating:* This one’s likely to take your money and your life. Tacky, disjointed, badly dubbed theatrics, shoddy graphics animation, awful music and amateurish acting take the cake here. The director/Producer who has been associated with 42 south movies including ‘Nayakan’ as producer, touches rock bottom with this one!  #ShaheenRaj #MukthaSundar #VVishwanathan #DhruvBhandari #MadalasaShah #KanishkaSoni #VivekAntony

 

#FastAndFurious7(English 3D) Rating: * * ½  As an action spectacle this couldn’t get much better but as a movie experience it’s suspect. Furious it may be in intent, but also spurious in content. Self-referential connectedness and insane plot-turns coupled with hair-raising momentum will make your jaw drop. Caricatured characters and Wild plotting are drawbacks.  #PaulWalker gets a warm tribute but for the audience  it’s not all a big rush! #UniversalPictures #JascintoFernandes #ChandrashekarNeeli #HardlyAnonymousPR #VinDiesel #PaulWalker #DwayneJohnson #JasonStatham #MichelleRodriguez #JordanaBrewster #TyreseGibson #Ludacris #JamesWan

 

 

#CoffeeAniBarachKahi(Marathi) Rating:  * * flippant, frivolous and meaningless-much like the urban Cafe addicts it chooses to illustrate…This urban centered romantic tripe has contrary characters and a procrastinating plotline. Not much involvement to be had here! #EverestEntertainmentPvtLtd #RaviJadhavFilms #WhiteSwanProductions #MotionScapeProductions #LatikaChindarkar #EverydayMediaPR

 

#HumBajaBajaaDenge(Hindi) Rating: * Trumpeting a lost cause! #AnupJalota #PritamSharma #AmitabhBachchan #ChandraBarot

 

#TereIshqMeinQurbaan (Hindi) Rating: * Sacrificing sense and sensibility in the name of love  #SantoshRaj #MDahek

 

Hindi Film review

Johnson Thomas

Darkly Engaging!

Film: Byomkesh Bakshi

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Swastika Mukerjee, Divya Menon, Anand Tiwari

Director: Dibakar Banerjee

Rating: * * *

 

Dibakar Banerjee’s film making craft is different from the run-of-the-mill. So different that his films generate haute interest and at times even manages to draw in an audience(Love,Sex aur Dhoka , Khosla ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye). ‘Byomkesh Bakshy’ is as close to a mainstream effort as he can get-and it has the backing of a big studio like Yashraj, lending it the requisite gloss and marketability. Mind you, this is by no means a masala film. Instead what you get is a true-to-it’s-milieu detective saga that manages to draw you into it’s intrigue for most of it’s runtime.

Based on the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi created by the Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, scripted by Urmi Juvekar and Dibakar Banerjee himself, the slow-burning narrative derives it’s atmosphere from a contemporary interpretation of war torn Calcutta in the 1940’s- an era marked by British rulers, foreign traders and Japanese airstrike’s in Burma. Byomkesh(Sushant Singh Rajput) ,who has just completed his college degree and sets himself up as a private detective, gets his first case – to search out a missing chemist, Bhuvan. The son Ajit Banerjee(Anand Tiwari) pleads for his help but a cocky Byomkesh doesn’t feel the case is up his street until he gets slapped by Ajit. After that , Byomkesh becomes all business exploring varying possibilities for Bhuvan’s disappearance. It’s not long before Byomkesh discovers that Bhuvan was murdered so now the case automatically jumps to a new level of difficulty allowing for Byomkesh to use his wits and discover the who’s and why’s of the murder which leads to several more along the way. While the body count is increasing Byomkesh has to not only grapple with sinister players but also a seductive Devi/Anguri(Swastika Mukherjee) who appears to have designs on his body.

Dibakar manages to recreate a sterling morass of caprice and guile in a slow and steady build-up to the eventual climax. But as Byomkesh gets deeper and deeper into the unraveling, it becomes just a little too convoluted and eventually quite boring , for comfort. While guessing the whodunit is part of the pleasure of a thriller, the plotting of it is also quite integral to that objective. Dibakar keeps us guessing quite smartly throwing up clues and red-herrings along the way but once the killer is identified, it becomes a bit of a pain. The post-script sort of ending with an allusion to future adventures tells us that sequels are in the offing. But if the original itself doesn’t manage to capture the eye of the audience what good can a sequel do? In this film, the thrills are atmospheric as well as incidental but the pace is not always becoming and the moments don’t always count as pleasurable. 

The plotting appears a little too overdone. The music mix( Sneha Khanwalkar, Dibakar Banerjee, Madboy/Mink, Blek, Mode AKA, Joint Family, IJA, Peter Cat Recording Co. – PCRC) is eclectic –not something that a lay audience will cotton on to easily while the editing is a little lax. Sushant Singh Rajput, with his Bengalisms(walk and talk) lives the role beautifully  but it’s not only about his performance. Anand Tiwari, Meiyang Chang, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon and the rest of the ensemble cast do well to keep you engrossed. The production design by Vandana Kataria is near faultless, Sound design by Allwin Rego, Sanjay Maurya allows for a crystal clear audio, Nikos Andritsakis’ cinematography has memorable visual appeal and for most part of it, Dibakar Bannerjee’s direction takes you to a high-point only to let you down gently in the closing moments. The unnecessarily overly stylized extension of runtime towards the end makes it an anticlimax of sorts. But all things said, this one’s  worth a dekho for sure!

johnsont307@gmail.com