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Inspired by famous duo, detective Sherlock Holmes and his aide Dr. John Watson, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (aka Saradindu Bandopadhyaya) introduced Byomkesh Bakshi and Ajit Banerjee. Written as the fictional characters of story book, Byomkesh and Ajit became so popular that it was adapted into various TV Serials (including Bengali and Hindi) and films (including the latest Hindi film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy). One of the most authentic and praised version is Hindi TV Serial Byomkesh Bakshi which was directed by Basu Chatterji.
The first season was aired in 1993 which have explored 13 stories. Viewers liked it so much and there was a huge demand to adapt rest of the Byomkesh stories in the same manner especially for (Hindi viewers). It resulted into the second season of Hindi TV Serial Byomkesh Bakshi. It is worth to note that this season was aired in 1997 and was spread through 20 episodes.
| TV Serial | : | Byomkesh Bakshi |
| Season | : | Season 2 |
| Episode # | : | 1 and 2 |
| Episode Title | : | Aadim Shatru |
| Originally Aired | : | 1997 |
| Director | : | Basu Chatterji |
| Associate Directors | : | Ravindra Singh, Kumarar Pravin |
| Music | : | Anand Shankar |
| Asst. Music Director | : | Nanda Kumar Das |
| Sound | : | P. K. Chhabra, Pramod Purandare, |
| Make Up | : | Mahendra Chonkar |
| Wardrobe | : | Pyare Lal, Salim Jan (Assoicate), Madhav Men’s Modes (Dress Designer) |
| Art Director | : | Jadab Bhattacharya, Shankar Zade (Associate) |
| Editor | : | Birpal Singh, Godfrey Gonsalves |
| Photography | : | Ajay Prabhakar, H. N. Singh | Stills | : | Kamat Photo Flash |
| Make Up | : | Jagat kumar, Prakash Kotian |
| Screenplay | : | Saharadindu Bandyopadhyay, Basu Chatterji, Mriganka Shekhar Rai |
| Story | : | Saharadindu Bandopadhyay |
| Junior artists | : | Chandu & Co. |
| Production House | : |
Basu Chatterji Production for Doordarshan |
| Starring | : |
Rajit Kapoor (Byomkesh Bakshi), K K Raina (Ajit Kumr Banerji), Sukanya Kulkarni (Satyavati), Kartik Dutt (Puntiram), Sadhu Meher (Anadi Haldar), Chandu Parkhi (Kesto), Rakesh Sahu (Prabhat), Madhu Mohan (Madhubala), Avinash Masurekar (K. K. Mustafi – Lawyer), Somesh Agrawal (Hotel Ownner), Baghi Chandel (Bantu), Loveraj Kambli (Nimai), Kush Kambli (Nitai), Ashok Mishra (Nepa – Secratery), Kulbhushan (Harish – Servent), Pravin Kedia (DayalHari), Azad (Bikash), and others… |
The first story explored is – Aadim Shatru (original Bengali story name – Aadim Ripu) – which is spread over two episodes. It is one of the stories which is a murder mystery with many characters.
This Is Here In For You
Book Plot:
It all starts with Madhubala approaching Byomkesh and request his assistance in her personal matter. During conversation with her Byomkesh and Ajit got to know about a gentleman named Anadi Haldar. We are then introduced to Prabhat and got to know about Nimai and Nitai. There are important characters of Kesto and DayalHari as well.
Anadi Haldar is moderately wealthy person. He eventually meet Madhubala and Prabhat before some time. By seeing talent in Prabhat he decided to adopt him. He also agreed to take care of Madhubala as Prabhat is the only relative she had. When Anadi Haldar got back to his hometown, by knowing that he is having wealth, his nephews, Nimai and Nitai decided to get closed to him.
On one fateful night Anadi Haldar got murdered!
Who killed him? and Why? is the mystery which unfolds in two episodes.
Aadim Shatru – Part I
Aadim Shatru – Part II
Byomkesh and Ajit are the characters which are getting older with new stories (like Tommy and Tuppence – by Agatha Christie). So here we see both them are a little aged now. Also Satyavati (aka Satya) was not present on the screen anytime in these two episode, her presence was made felt by mentioning her.
The print is more clear in this season and the sound quality is improved as well. The good thing Basu Chatterji did is to keep the theme music as was in the first season. It almost became signature and viewers can easily relate to it.
The background music is perfectly in sync. It adds the proper effects to the scenes improving their impact. The sets are locales are chosen quite well. It gives you glimpses of Calcutta (now Kolkata) of that time in the most authentic manner.
The wardrobe is simple and effective. At any place there is nothing larger than the life, and you don’t miss anything as well. This is the beauty of a well crafted product. Of course, the original story itself have all the elements needed for a perfect thriller. The script writer does necessary alteration to make it appealing to the Hindi speaking audience. But, the original story and its main components are kept there.
In terms of acting Rajit Kapoor and K. K. Raina both are competent and complimentary to each other. It is out and out their show and they did their best. There can be some technical limitation or other downside in these episodes, but you can say that acting of the lead pair, script and direction are first rate.
Other actors tried well, some of them succeed and some fail. We specifically expected better performance from Rakesh Sahu (playing important character of Prabhat). At the same time Somesh Agrawal is absolutely natural as hotel owner. In short the episode have mixed performances.
The dialogs are simple yet effective.
These episodes prove again that when you have good talent at your disposal and have good content to work with; you can make masterpiece with very less resources.
Summary:
Definitely worth watching episodes for all thriller lovers.
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Watch out for our views and reviews for the next episode of Byomkesh Bakshi – Season 2. It is titled as “Aag aur Patanga” (i.e. The Fire and The Moth).
