Who –
Byomkesh Bakshi
Creator –
Saradindu Bandopadhyay
Novels in the series –
Originally written in Bengali, the stories/novels of Byomkesh were published in the form of a collection titled ‘Byomkesh Samagra’ in 1995. Most of these stories have been translated into English recently. The author’s sudden demise left the last story ‘Bishupal Badh’ in the Byomkesh series incomplete.
About the detective –
Byomkesh was introduced to the literary world as a private investigator on a mission to bust a drug racquet in colonial India. He appeared in disguise under the pseudo-name of Atul Chandra Sen in the novel ‘Satyaneshwi’. The plot was set in 1924-25. This is where he is shown to meet his future housemate, friend, and novelist, Ajit who eventually decides to pen down Byomkesh’s cases in the form of stories. This dhoti-kurta clad resident of Harrison road in Kolkata has his man Friday named Putiram and abhors the term private investigator or detective. Instead, he prefers to call himself as Satyanweshi (the one in search of the truth). Byomkesh belongs to that rare breed of detectives in literature who gets married and starts a family. He meets his future wife Satyaboti during one of the investigations where her brother is considered a suspect. Eventually, they get married and have a kid who’s known to the world as Khokha.
The stories featuring Byomkesh Bakshi are not just another type of whodunit detective thrillers. There’s an under-current tension typical to the pre-independence era. As readers, we are exposed to the political, social and economic turbulence that hit Bengal during that phase. We see revolutionists as characters in a few novels and we also read about brilliant scientists figuring out innovative techniques to commit a crime. There’s a fine thread of human relationships that keep the stories relatable even today. There’s betrayal in friendship, a story of an unwed mother and instances of unapologetic extra-marital affairs leading to devastating climaxes but all of these are narrated in a non-judgmental tone. It is the variety of the premises based on a strong sense of justice of an upright family man that makes the stories of Byomkesh Bakshi relevant and appealing to all generations alike.
From books to screens –
The first and the most successful adaptation of the book was in the form of a TV series starring Rajit Kapoor as Byomkesh Bakshi, KK Raina as Ajit and Sukanya Kulkarni as Satyaboti. In the last few years, Byomkesh has been the most alluring and sought-after franchise in Bengali cinema. It started with director Anjan Dutt casting actor Abir Chatterjee as Byomkesh and Saswata Chatterjee as Ajit. Abir moved on to play the same role under the direction of Arindam Sil while Dutt chose to replace him by casting actor Jisshu Sengupta. The stories were also adapted as a Bengali TV serial a couple of years back and recently a web series was again released. Director Dibakar Mukherjee attempted to bring a fresh perspective to Byomkesh through his movie ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy’ starring Sushant Singh Rajput as the truth-seeker.
My bookish connection –
The second edition of Byomkesh Samagara released in 1996 and my parents gifted me this book after my tenth board results in 1997. I found the language a little difficult to comprehend and the stories seemed to be lacking in pace. It felt quite like a twisted storybook set in the historical premises. I didn’t start re-reading these stories until I came home during the Durga puja break two years later. Suddenly the novels felt alive and I discovered the layers of emotions, socio-economic plots, and political settings that were used to weave the novels. Saradindu Bandopdhayay, the master story-teller had managed to write thrillers intertwined with humor, romance, horror, and multiple other genres. I watched the original TV series (starring Rajit Kapoor) much later and found it to be the only one that could capture the essence of the characters well. No other adaptation has risen beyond the conventional and stereotypical detective story. But that is not what Byomkesh is about. If one needs to understand Byomkesh and his methodologies, the route is through continuous re-visits to the stories. Most of the time, I have finished the book with a perspective, much different from the previous one and that’s what always makes Byomkesh so layered and unique.
I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa
This is the 4th post in my ‘Favorite Indian Detectives’ series. You can also check my first post on Feluda, the second post on Mehrunisa and the third post on Vish Puri.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT –
On 13th Sep’17, I started soniasmusings.com as a birthday gift to my then about-to-turn 2-yr-old son. Today it has been 2 years of following my heart, trying to prove that passion can be turned into a profession, standing by what I strongly believe in and moments of self-doubts followed by determined comebacks. In a country like ours, writing is always considered as a hobby, never a career choice. I’m striving towards my aim to change this perception.
Heartfelt gratitude to you, my reader for agreeing to be a part of my journey. As part of the blog anniversary celebrations, I have planned a contest and giveaway, the nature of which will be revealed in the last post scheduled for ‘My friend Alexa’ this month. SUBSCRIBE to soniasmusings.com by clicking on the ‘follow’ link to stay updated with the details of this fun contest.
© Sonia Chatterjee and soniasmusings.com, (2017-2019). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
soniasmusings 
Great post Sonia😊👍I’m a diehard Byomkesh Bakshi fan and have watched the Hindi doordarshan series over and over again!! I could correlate with everything that you’ve mentioned in the post!! Way2go 👍
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Wow..many congratulations on your 2nd anniversary. Keep going strong.i loved your post. I became of fan of Byomkesh after watching the serial starring Rajit Kapoor in the lead. Indeed, it’s the backdrop that sets “Satyanweshi” apart from the rest. You captured everything about Byomkesh really well in your post and I liked the part about you suggesting to revisit the Byomkesh series with different perspectives. I am surely gonna try that 🙂
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Oh finally! I was waiting for you to make a Byomkesh Bakshi post! 🙂 Also happy blog anniversary!
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I loved watching Byomkesh Bakshi as a kid 🙂
Thanks for sharing such nice content
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Congratulations girl! You are way ahead for a two-year-old!
I’m eager to know about the contest.
And now to the most loved Bengali detective. If there is one memory I can conjure up about my childhood it is watching Byomkesh Bakshi with my family. In fact I even enjoyed Sushant Singh’s movie. And I think I’m reading a few of those books now. Remember I told you I’m not into mystery reading…Not even Agatha Christie but I think I’d like to read a few of these.
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Loved reading the post! I have watched Byomkesh Bakshi played by Rajit Kapoor religiously. And happy to know this series was true to the book.
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Nicely described!! I like to read Byomkesh too!! Everytime I start reading a story, I can’t stop it until I catch up the end. But I think some of his stories are not for children, as we have entire series of Feluda dedicated to them.. yet, Byomkesh is immortal!
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I was waiting to read this post since the time you announced your theme, was sure Byomkesh Bakshi will make to the list. Loved reading this article thoroughly and would be checking if I can get any videos of Doordarshan of this tv series on youtube.
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Reblogged this on Book reviews by Satabdi and commented:
Loved this comprehensive take on Byomkesh Bakshi’s novels!
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Byomkesh Bakshi had been my favorite detective since childhood. However never read any book based on him. It’s sad to know about the incomplete story due to sudden demise of author
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In my childhood days Byokesh Bakshi was one of my favourite series. I had devoured the stories. True there used to be undercurrent of violence and tension in the stories. Somewhat like Sherlock Holmes stories. There also used to be Kiriti Roy by Nihar Ranjan Gupta one of my favourite stories. Another detective pot boiler that used to be favourite among students, party because it used to be less expensive and one could finish one story in two class periods sitting in the last bench, was Swapan Kumar’s series where Dipak Chatterjee was the detective. Gone are those days.
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That’s a favourite! Have read and watched the series and loved both. Happy Blog Anniversary and looking forward to the contest 🙂
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I remember watching the serial with mom and dad, I am wondering why didn’t I pick up any of the books yet. Now, my next trip to the book store, I know what I am going to pick next.
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I remember watching some TV serials during my childhood on Byomkesk Bakshi 🙂
Loved watching and reading detective series.
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Byomkesk Bakshi was a favorite series growing up. I agree about the original DD TV series. It was the only one that captured the essence of the characters.
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Byomkesh Bakshi was my favorite TV series and especially as this developed my never-ending interest in detective shows and novels. His observation and reasoning was something to look for at the end of every case. I can still recall some of its cases by heart.
Happy secondversary and look forward to your celebration contest. also, happy motherhood to you and birthday wishes to you too.
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You deserve such a big thanks for writing about Byomkesh. He’s my absolute favourite among all Indian detectives because he’s so mature and caring too, in a strange way. I adore him and I’ve read and re-read all his 32 novels.
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“I watched the original TV series (starring Rajit Kapoor) much later and found it to be the only one that could capture the essence of the characters well.” Totally and strongly agree with you Sonia, one of the most favorite character of those days, I couldn’t able to change my habit even till now of calling actor Rajit Kapoor Byomkesh Bakshi whenever he comes on screen, it shows how deeply this character left mark on our memories. FEELING NOSTALGIC!!!!!!
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Happy Blog Anniversary dear 🙂
Woah was waiting for a Byomkesh Bakshi post from you when you announced the #MyFriendAlexa theme 🙂 He is almost everyone’s favorite.
#vigorousreads
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Byomkesh Bakshi was a part of my childhood. I love him so much. I remember getting up early in the morning before school to watch it because that was the only time TV was allowed. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Byomkesh Bakshi… The name strikes so many memories. How I loved watching the tele- series… How I had a crush on Rajit Kapoor and waited for every episode so eagerly. It was quite late when I actually read his novels and was left spellbound.
You made me so nostalgic through your post. Beautifully written as always 🙂
#readbypreetispanorama for #MyFriendAlexa
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PS: Happy Bloganniversary to you. 🙂
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Just watched all the episodes again on Youtube a month or so ago. This post reminds me of the Kolota portrayed therein
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Happy anniversary blog. He’s nearly everybody’s favourite.
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