Winter evenings infused with some crime and mystery is all that the soul wants and Arindam Sil gives us the perfect concoction of it on celluloid with Byomkesh Pawrbo.

Diving straight into the nitty gritties of the movie without further flourishes, director Arindam Sil will grab your attention and glue you to your seat in the very first scene, giving you the 'this is going to be a good one' feel.
Bikram Ghosh deserves special mention for coming up with the spooky background music. More often than not, background music plays an integral role in the development of a scene. This was one of the strong points of Ray's films. He knew what to play, when to play and how to play. And Arindam Sil has learnt the trick.

Abir Chatterjee is our favourite sleuth undoubtedly and the fact that he is growing sharper and sharper as a detective, is evident in his every move. He is the perfect bangali detective one could have ever wanted.

Rwittik Chakraborty also happens to be fitting the role of Ajit incredibly. He has caught the character very well.

Sohini Sarkar is a lovely Satyabati and the requirement of June Malia's role couldn't be justified. She was just there for the sake of being there.

Kaushik Sen is an impressive actor by all means, but getting to be the villain in all the movies, kinda spills the beans before the devil is revealed. You already know that he is going to be the villain, and that cliched head turn is no longer required. A new villain would be fun to watch and would keep the suspense in all probability.
 
Rudraneel proved that he is an actor to be reckoned with, when he slips into the body language of an old wiry man so easily.

Eerie scenes are littered throughout the movie, especially the scenes of the cloaked man riding a dark horse in the dead of the night.

It will not be exaggerating if the movie is called to be a total package of gripping stuff, 'cause it is replete witch catchy songs and thrill. The songs are not out of place. You may be wondering what are songs doing in an edgy detective movie, but you gotta watch it to know why they are sitting prettily where they have been placed.

All in all this movie is the best Byomkesh seen so far. It will clearly satisfy your crime-craving soul.

                                   

A catchy name + A fetchy plot = Eagoler Chokh.

The L.H.S of this equation is director and co-producer Arindam Sil’s success formula.

However,

A catchy name + A fetchy plot – The excess intimate scenes = A Possibly better Egoler Chokh.

In many stories sex and intimacy are of immense importance. Here, in Eagoler Chokh physical relationships play a vital role, but to retain its essence it could be a little restrained in terms of its number. The beauty and authenticity of romance or raw sensuality is kind of lost in the repeated love making scenes. Nonetheless there were some shots where the craze for human touch was well portrayed, like in the hospital where Bishan kisses his wife, the moments steeped in lust expressed with just a look or a loving caress and when the 15 year old Bishal was getting to know the skin of a woman for the first time.  But some of the other intimate scenes came out forced and at times seemed unnecessary.

To say it directly Eagoler Chokh is a very bold movie. No subtlety involved at all. 

Coming to our straight-to-the-point sleuth, ACP Shobor Dasgupta, Saswata Chatterjee couldn’t be better. The letter S stands for quite a few things – Smart, Sharp, Sincere, Sarcastic, Scintillating, Shrewd and many more and all of these are there in S for Shobor. His serious attitude peppered with a little snappy humour makes him even more fun to watch. Even though he is shown to be a being devoid of tender feelings, the glimmering drop of tear at the corner of his eye when he talks to Shivangi for the last time shows that he does have a heart.  

Anirban Bhattacharya as the rich and deeply flawed entrepreneur Bishan Ray delivers an appreciable performance. His profound drawl definitely added more drama to his character. 

Rita Fernandez, Nandini, Jahnabi, Shivangi Roy and her sister Shyamangi, the women involved with Bishan, have him entwined around their little finger. His life is toyed around by these women who themselves are tortured with their obsession regarding him. 

Arunima Ghosh didn’t have a considerable screen time, but she made her presence felt whenever she was on there. Didn’t let the character of the protagonist overpower her. 

Joya Ahsan as Shivani Ray seemed genuine, especially when she stared blankly and stuttered her first words after waking up from coma. 

Nandini played the scheming seductress pretty well. Payel Sarkar is turning out to be an ace in these roles. 

Ushoshi Sengupta debuts with this film and puts in a good effort. Her character is a surprise. 

Gaurav Chakroborty has honesty written all over his face, precisely the reason why he made such a suitable choice for playing the role of a gentle and austere police officer. We have usually seen him in emotional roles, causing a bit of a surprise when he was seen walking in the whites.

To end it all, the music accompanying the thrilling chases was very composed and talking about the chases, it was an immense delight in seeing crisp chasing scenes which are not elongated just for the sake of extending the movie.   

This second feather in the Shobor hat is worth a watch.  The end will leave you stunned.

For those who have missed it in the theatres, watch it in Prime Video now!

A lot of cuss words, a lot of sleeping with this person, that person, with him, with her, murder, murder and four more murders.

Its as if scotch, money and lust is what all life has to offer. While some may agree that these are ALL the best things in life, there may be some people who believe that these are nothing but some of the best things life gives us. I, happen to support the second group. Too much of blood, sex and alcohol make this movie very, very stifling. It overpowers the flimsy plot of the movie. The obvious saga which will come to the minds of many supporters of the former, is Game of Thrones. I would gladly like to point out that despite the gore and skin show Game of Thrones has an amazing plot as a breather, something which this movie grossly lacked. All Shororipu did was drown our sensible side in alcohol and stab our intellect over and over again.

The twist at the end comes as a total surprise. The surprise is so terrifically dumb that no one could have seen it coming. This script was surely the aftermath of a night soaked in scotch.

Even though Shororipu is regarding the seven sins which involves love, lust blah blah, it could have been portrayed with a sensible story line and not by something just strung along. After every passing minute, I thought OK, there will be something worth watching in the next scene maybe. I was disappointed, to say the least.

Dhee Majumdar and Rudraneel Ghosh came as respite. If you sit on your seats, you will sit for them. As the young Shekhar, Dhee Majumdar has a small role but he does justice to it. Effortless acting on his part, accurate expressions and perfect usage of his baritone voice. Rudraneel Ghosh is a wonder. The timid manager, to calm blackmailer, to a pretty good singer (the male voice in that pointless but peppy item number is his), Rudraneel Ghosh as Shubhankar Nandi was lovely to watch. Chiranjeet Chatterjee as the sleuth Chandrakanta brought a certain sharpness to his character which is commendable. Koneenika Banerjee, as the simpering and nagging assistant was watchable. Sudipta Chakraborty however seemed too loud and definitely overacted her part. Indraneel Sengupta didn't make a mark, but at least he didn't make us cringe so it was alright. Rajatava Dutta is a veteran actor so a brilliant performance from him is nothing but expected, nonetheless the kind of character he tried to portray probably calls for a different cast. That smile of his with his wide open eyes may send chills down your spine though. Sohona Saba, well, she can do better than this, hopefully.

The only scene which will bring a hint of smile to your face is when Chandrakanta says 'Kani ebar ektu popcorn niye esho toh.' and the lights are switched on for the interval.

An average film with a very clumsy end is what all I can say about Shororipu. 

Based on the story Banhi Patanga by Saradindu Bandopadhay this winter Arindam Sil gives us a racy pacy Byomkesh film for our regular dose of much needed thrill.

The movie rolls and enters Byomkesh Bakshi with his wife Satyabati and his author brother Ajit Bandopadhay who are greeted by Inspector Purandhar Pandey in the holy city of Benaras.

Abir in his dhuti panjabi attire and with his smartness and sharp intellect remind us of our olden golden rich bangaliana. His clear cut words and no nonsense attitude reiterates the fact that he is the perfect choice for portraying a sleuth.
Sohini Sarkar gives us a cheerful Satyabati who is demure, intelligent and adds a  certain cuteness to her personality.
Ritwick Chakraborty, the sidekick of our detective as Ajit Bandopadhay has the edginess of a creative mind and also provides some comic relief at times in such a sombre background.
Harsh Chhaya draws an endearing picture of Inspector Purandhar Pandey who plays an ideal host to our family from bengal.

Now comes Inspector Rathikanth Chowdhury marching into Purandhar Panday's residence to invite him to Deepnarayan Singh's palace for a gala night. Having guests over, Purandhar Pandey politely declines the invitation, but Deepnarayan Singh's generous hospitality is extended which is why our trio too are invited.

Deepnarayan Singh happens to be a rich, powerful zamindar of Benaras around whom mysterious tales are woven especially about his second wife Shakuntala Singh, played by Nusrat Jahan. Rumours say that he has married Shakuntala, a woman half his age, by his own will and against hers.
Whatever the rumours maybe Adil Hussain as Deepnarayan Singh will leave a mark on you even with his short screen time. That voice. That smooth talk. Those titbits of bangla. Many bong women can be heard sighing whenever his face is on screen. Though Nusrat Jahan needs to hone her acting skills, she cut a very beautiful picture throughout the movie.

Night falls, guests come pouring in and a beautiful mujra is presented by Koneenika. Meanwhile Inspector Rathikanth comes in with the news of a robbery in Dr. Pannalal Palit's, the doctor who gave Deepnarayan Singh a new life,modest dispensary.
And that is when the mystery knocks at our detective's door.

Appreciable performances rule all over but we miss the way in which Byomkesh Bakshi slowly unwinds the facts before his audience. Here the revelation is narrated a bit too fast by Abir which bereaves us of enjoying the moment where we are left aghast.

Cinematographer Soumik Halder has beautifully captured the wondrous Benaras in his lens.

Bikram Ghosh deserves special mention for his music direction. Well placed catchy songs are always welcome in a good film.

Over all Har Har Byomkesh makes for a satisfying watch.

PS: Spoiler alert !!! A painting plays a pivotal role here and at the end you will find a scene which is a total rip off of Jai Baba Felunath. Director Arindam Sil says that it is a tribute although. And for the ones drooling over Abir Chatterjee, you will find him romancing his lady love here.

Watch it here in Amazon Prime, if you have missed it in the theatres!