Reviews for Sahi Ka Kanta Episode of Hindi TV Serial Byomkesh Bakshi

Let us continue our quest of exploring various tales featuring Satyanveshi Byomkesh Bakshi through Hindi TV Serial of the same name by ace director Basu Chatterji.

Episode #29 of Byomkesh Bakshi is a murder mystery titled as Sahi Ka Kanta which is based on a story named Shajarur Kanta (The Porcupine Quill) by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The fictional incidents explored in this episode are set up in 1967.

Let us take a bird’s eye view of the story explored in this episode.

Debashish Bhatt gets married to Deepa. When the ceremony was over and the couple was alone, Deepa showed her displeasure about the marriage. When Debashish asked her the reason, she confessed her love for someone else. She, however, didn’t reveal the name of the person. Debashish also didn’t force her for the same.

Though disappointed, Debashish agreed to not to forcefully drag her into the relationship. He was ready to give her divorce, which she was not ready to take! Actually, the person she loved, belonged to a lower caste and she knew that her family will never accept their relationship. The other solution Debashish suggested was to remain married, but then Deepa should live at her parent’s home. She was not ready for that either! It will reveal the truth than to everyone. The only solution to this problem Debashish can think of is, live together and act like husband and wife to the outer world, including their home servant Nakul. Deepa agreed to this solution.

Eventually, we get to know that Debashish is a perfect gentleman. He never forced Deepa for anything. He also kept a distance from her.

The mysterious lover of Deepa used to call her in absence of Debashish. On phone, he keeps forcing Deepa to not to reveal his identity to anyone and he will do something to get married to her. He also kept inquiring about whether her husband forces her for anything.

The circumstances took its own course, and eventually, Deepa started liking Debashish for the qualities he has.

While all these things were going on, the city was witness some mysterious murders. One by one, there were three murders happened in the city! All of the victims were poor people and they were attacked from behind. The murder weapon found in each case was a quill of a porcupine! The victim was stabbed with it in a way that it punctures his (there was no female victim) heart and leave the person dead on the spot!

This brings Byomkesh into the picture.

But, what it has to do with the marriage life of Debashish and Deepa? Who is Deepa’s mysterious lover? All these questions are answered in the rest of the episode.

The good thing about this episode is, it is officially available to watch for free on the public domain of YouTube, uploaded by Doordarshan itself.

The story is quite interesting. Well, adultery is nothing new, nor the genuine husband. It is seen many times earlier on big and small both the screens. Remember, however, that the original story was written in 1967 (the things were not new those days also). The way, the love makes people think in a singular way is quite interesting. And probably that is why, love is called blind and considers it making people fall in love to become mad!

Anyway, those who are real lovers, they are really mad in love, and those who are fake, knows the art of deceiving the other one.

The story was brilliantly adapted into the screenplay. We must notice the talent of the script writer here. Also, the simple yet effective dialogs make the episode a treat to watch.

In terms of acting, Rajit Kapoor is at his best. Let me give you an example, see his expression of relief when he got to know that Deepa was aware of the medical condition (I cannot tell the specifics here, to avoid a spoiler). There are many more incidents where you can notice his gestures and postures are in sync with his dialogs. Being a young person, it is tough to imitate the actions of an elder fellow, which he does brilliantly.

Another actor who stands out in this episode is Milind Gunaji. He plays Debashish with conviction. He later made himself a big name in Film Industry. Suchitra is not that convincing as Deepa. Her face often remains flat. There are a few scenes where you can her in sync with her character. But, on a whole, a better performance was expected.

For rest of the actors, we can say that they gave mixed performances. For example, while the actor playing Nirpen was good, the one who played Deepa’s brother was not good at dialog delivery.

The background music is in sync with the incidents explored. It is so effective that it adds to the positive impact of the respective scene.

This is one of the stories where we miss Ajit! Also, in this episode, Byomkesh comes to picture very late. Almost after half of the story. And it works positively. Until you let other characters grow and let them be what they are meant to be, even the hero cannot be glorified as he should be.

The wardrobe and locations require a must mention. While the wardrobe reflects the real people’s lifestyle in those days, convincingly; it also reflects the season and “now good” economic status of Byomkesh as well. Such small details make this TV Serial a gem to watch.

It has its own letdowns also. In addition to some poor acting, you cannot skip noticing the reaction of Deepa (at: 21:51) where she asks “whether he is alive or not!?” Who asks such question in such situation?

Overall a nice TV Serial episode to watch. There are some limitations and letdowns, but, overall positives are much more than them. It can definitely serve as a guideline for the makers of detective fictions and police procedurals. It proves that when you have good talent at your disposal, economic or technical limitations cannot make much difference. Recommended to watch.

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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.