'Byomkesh O Pinjrapol': Where love is lethal

Remaking/readapting a story previously directed by filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, the Maestro and Anjan Dutta, a master maker? Well, that needs some gut. 

Sudipto Roy had the mystery to do this, resulting in this brand new season of one of the most popular series franchises of Hoichoi, 'Byomkesh'. It was the 8th season of the series, and the name was 'Byomkesh O Pinjrapol', an adaptation of the classic Byomkesh novel 'Chiriakhana' written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. 

Talking about guts, not only did Sudipto Roy just attempt to tell a story told twice by two renowned filmmakers earlier, but he has also given tough competition against the previous two. 

The series starts with a mysterious trespasser who continuously abandons motor parts inside the room of Mr Nishanath, the head of a colony. So, he hires Byomkesh to solve the mystery. 

However, this man, Nishanath, has many people in his house, mandatorily almost all of whom were somehow criminals or related to crimes at certain points in their lives. 

There are Dr Bhujangadhar, Brajo - a hardcore Vaishnav, the dumb labourer Paanu, Banalakshmi, an unfortunate lady, Nepal, the dishonest chemistry professor with Mukul, his daughter, Nishanath's wife and nephew, Damayanti and Bijay respectively, Mushkil and his wife, Nazar Bibi. 

So, it will be a pretty confusing journey for the audiences to keep track of who is who, but as the series advances, the director's nearly perfect craftsmanship makes everything clear. 

The mystery starts getting dense with the murder of Nishanath and Panugopal, one after another. Naturally, a house having this many residents is surely full of suspects. 

Sharadindu's Byomkesh differs from other detectives of Bengali literature because most of the contents are adult, rich in psychological issues and perspectives. Chiriakhana, or in this case, Byomkesh O Pinjrapol, is nothing different. 

Love has been shown as one mighty catalyst of all the rotten sides of human beings, whether platonic or lusty. If the viewers try to draw lines between characters to signify love, sure, there will be a mess. 

Mainly, three types of occurrences happen in the series—murder, blackmail and betrayal. From a deeply psychological perspective, it was mainly love that generated fear, lust, greed, and so on in the hearts of all the suspects, thus making them more vulnerable and susceptible for obvious reasons. 

But, above all, in the climax, after Byomkesh has solved the 'whodunit' part, the audience gets to encounter the darkest form of love, its lethal form. The climax simultaneously brings the audience in front of two blackmailers, betrayers, murderers, and two lovers whose love made them commit crimes together and release their last breath together. 

However, Byomkesh's portrayal, especially this season, surpasses all the previous portrayals based on the same novel because it was so simple. Desperately coming out of that typical superhero image, in Pinjrapol, Byomkesh was just another common man who also faced stomach issues. 

Besides, Pinjrapol seems rich in political metaphors, as the series' setting is just before India's first election. Calling Nishanath's house 'Colony' and dialogues like, "I deserve democracy, they don't," are mentionable examples.

Anirban Bhattacharya and Bhaswas Chatterjee were enormous as Byomkesh and Ajit Duo. Apart from them, Durbar Sharma and Anuska Chakraborty, respectively, as Bhujangadhar and Banolakshmi, were the show-stealers. The cinematography and new-noir type of colour grading was top-notch.

Lastly, changing the name 'Pinjrapol' from 'Chiriakhana' proves that Sudipto Roy did not blindly follow the novel's story. And that is what made the series more unique, more psychologically rich.

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