Samrat & Co. | Bollywood Crime Thriller Movie Reviews

Talking about detective fiction and not talking about Sherlock Holmes is not possible, if you are familiar with English literature. British author Arthur Conan Doyle have created this immortal (literally) character which became immensely popular, even beyond the imagination of the author himself.

Sherlock and Watson became popular in Briton and eventually all around the world. Their stories are translated into many languages and inspired many creative people including authors, TV Serial makers, Movie makers and others. Some authors have created fictional detective (and his aide) characters based this duo. Feluda and Topse of Satyajit Ray; Byomkesh Bakshi and Ajit Banerjee of Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay are some such examples from India.

Moving ahead the legacy, Kaushik Ghatak directed a film for Rajshri productions, named Samrat & Co.. His protagonist Samrat Tilakdhari is inspired by Sherlock and Chakradhar Pandey from Dr. Watson.

Let us take a brief look at the story of the movie which will remind you of many Sherlock cases, including the famous – The Reichenbach Fall.

Book Plot:

Samrat TilakDhari aka STD is a brilliant youth who is very keen about brain storming. When he is unable to keep his mind busy, he go for some physical challenges (like boxing match). His friend Chakradhar aka CD runs a TV Show (which have low popularity). Samrat possess fantastic analytical skills and have elephant’s memory. He work as a private detective, though he rarely takes any case in hand. As in most of the cases where he was approached for investigation, he found them par below the level.

He was approached by a young lady named Dimpy Singh to investigate a matter for her. Though, initially Samrat was not keen to take the case, but when he found that a person’s life is at stack, he decided to go for it. And Chakradhar is always ready for such an opportunity. So both of them visits Dimpy’s home in Himachal Pradesh.

What was the case, and how Samrat cracks it, is the rest of the story. We consider, it is better for you to explore on screen, rather than knowing all about it. This way, you will be able to enjoy it better.

The story of the movie has all the potentials to be a fantastic movie. Though it is not utilised as full. Also, there was no need of adding any songs to the movie. The screenplay is comparatively good and it is not going to disappoint you.

If you are a Sherlock fan, than you might guess a few of the things in the movie right away. For suspense thrillers, the basic rule is, the one who looks most innocent, is usually found the culprit.

The background music of the movie is good and it adds to the positive factors of the movie. The dialogs are effective.

We found various references where reviewers claimed that Rajeev Khandelwal tried imitating the actions of Benedict Cumberbench. Well, this is not absolutely true. If you watch English movies regularly, some of the scenes / actions will remind you more of Robert Down Jr. starrer Sherlock films.

In terms of acting, we know that Rajeev Khandelwal is a good actor. Here we found him feeling awkward in a few initial scenes. Though after some time, he eventually evolves into the characters. And from that point onwards, he plays is confidently. Gopal Dutt also takes his time to get into the character (especially in terms of convincing dialog delivery). Madalsa doesn’t have to do much rather than looking good, which she does confidently. She have the potential of acting though.

Girish Karnard is effective in small role. Priyanshu is seen after a long time, and he plays his role beautifully. Smita’s character is not explored to full potential. Same we can say for Rajneesh Duggal’s character.

Beautiful locations of Himachal Pradesh are explored nicely and they are eye pleasure.

The movie have it’s own low points. The director could have re-shoot the scenes where actors are taking their time to slip into the character. Songs could have been completely avoided. Also a strange thing about Hindi movies is, when it is very cold (which is true for this film’s backdrop), the male actors are found wearing sweaters and even overcoat; but the female leads are cool in wearing even short dresses. I don’t understand the logic here.

Also, the makers have tried to weave many Sherlock stories together. Especially the famous Raichanbach fall. It doesn’t fit much into the story. Some incidents weave around Chakradhar’s Chravyuh gives comic relief, though a little more is expected from it.

The way the film ends, we are given hint about a sequel can be coming up. Though based on the commercial performance, the movie may not se it’s sequel.

Overall a good movie which could have been better. The crime thriller lovers will surely enjoy it. Definitely worth watching once.

Quick Purchase Links:

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