Reviews for Balak Jasoos Episode of Hindi TV Serial Byomkesh Bakshi

Episode #25 of Hindi TV Serial Byomkesh Bakshi is a murder mystery titled as Balak Jasoos (The Child Detective). The fictional incidents explored in this episode are set up in 1963.

Let us take a bird’s eye view of the episode. But, let me warn you that while I try my level best, some of the spoilers are unavoidable :).

Book Plot:

It was one evening when Byomkesh and Ajit were enjoying their tea when they had an unexpected visitor. A young boy named Nengti came to meet Byomkesh. Nengti was a nephew of Santosh Sammadar and live and work at Santosh Samamadar‘s house along with Chingri. Nengti was a huge fan of Byomkesh, and he himself loves to do detective work. When he met Byomkesh he talked about how he caught Ramu – the milkman to mix water into the milk and how he forced him to rather deliver pure milk! He used to borrow cigarettes from Byomkesh and smoke them. During the conversation, Ajit raised curiosity about a young beautiful girl he is seeing since a while to Santosh’ house. Nengti confirms that her name is Hena and she is a daughter of Mausaji (he always refer Santosh Sammadar as Mausaji)’s friend.

Ajit didn’t find anything interesting in the newspaper these days, and in fact, he was busy with some other stuff so he got a chance to read the morning newspaper in the evening. There was news about a plane crash. The plane belongs to Pakistan airlines and almost everyone on the planet met with his/her death.

During late night, Ajit received a call from Nengti. He refers that Hena, the same girl they talked about in the evening meeting met with an accident which was resulted in her death! Nengti requested Ajit to come to his home along with Byomkesh, as mausaji is not at home and police is arrived. We got to know that on every weekend Mausaji (aka Santosh Sammadar) goes somewhere and thus not available at the home. There was nothing unusual in it.

Eventually, the investigation moved ahead and it seemed a genuine accident where Hena fall from the terrace and met with her death. It doesn’t seem like a murder. Upon arrival, Santosh Sammadar appoints Byomkesh to intervene for his family’s safety. Ultimately, when police came to a conclusion that it was a natural death; Byomkesh wanted to dig deeper. And Santosh no longer wants to go ahead. He thus asks Byomkesh that he relieves him from the case.

What happens next? Was it a murder or a genuine natural death? I will suggest you to rather watch this episode to get answers to all your questions.

This episode is available to watch for free on DoorDarshan’s official YouTube channel. So you can enjoy it without paying a penny for the same, of course, you will be paying your internet bills :).

The story itself is interesting. It is one of those few Byomkesh Bakshi stories where the characters and incidents have traces outside the boundary of India. Of course, it is a murder mystery, but you never see the incident happening on screen. It is really tough to create such a fantastic impact of an incident which is not shown on the screen but referred almost throughout the episode. The original story holds the current and the scriptwriter does a commendable job here.

Of course, the director deserves the due credit for such a nice adaptation of the story in an effective manner. The story and the characters and setup have to be modified a little in order to make it appealing to the target audience. The essence of the story still remains intact.

When seeing detective fictions these days, we see too many camera angles and snapshots; often supported by some thunderous music and overacting to create an impact. All these attributes are missing in this episode. And still, it leaves an impact even after you complete watching this episode. It shows, how important are the other attributes than a whopping budget and splendorous sets.

The sets represent the middle-class family homes quite effectively. It is a delightful experience to see the realistic homes and societies on screen, which is rare these days. The wardrobe is well thought and you will not find a single reason to complain about anything. Some people may not find it good to see the kid running after cigarettes and Byomkesh feeding him so. But consider it in regards to the story and time and place it is set up.

The background music is really going in sync with the incidents happening on the screen. It doesn’t ever try to overpower the dialog or emotions being explored.

Of course, acting is one of the most sought-after attributes for any visual media. Because it is what you see and get connected with. We have a few of the most talented actors sharing screen here. Rajit Kapoor is irreplaceable as Byomkesh. We can say the same thing for K. K. Raina who got less time on screen. Both of them makes you feel their presence. Also remember, both of them were young when the episode what shot and the characters they are playing are elders. Both of them does justice to their respective roles in terms of everything.

Rajendra Gupta got a remarkable role in this episode and it proves how good he is at acting. As a young actor, it is tough to play an elder who is vulnerable yet stubborn and he does it effectively. The kid who played Nengti is not superb, but not unconvincing too. He is above average, you can say. A little more efforts and he can be a delight to watch. Of course, there is a set of somewhat below average performances in this episode, but you can ignore them.

Summary:

Overall a nice episode which has more highs than the lows. A simple yet effective representation of a thrilling story in a limited budget makes it even more adorable. You should go for it and you will understand why Basu Chatterji is known as an ace director or why those old days are known as the golden days of Indian TeleVision (and not only DoorDarshan).

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Watch out for our views and reviews for the next episode of Byomkesh Bakshi – Season 2 to see which is the next challenge against Byomkesh and how he seeks the truth.