Satyanweshi (The Truth Seeker)

When a movie is based on a book, how do you review it? Should you watch it just as a standalone movie with an independent screenplay or should you compare it to the actual story? If two people review it, one who has seen the movie directly and one who has read the book followed by the movie then which one to follow. It’s a dilemma.

I recently ended up watching Rituparno Gosh’s Satyanweshi which is one from the Byomkesh Bakshi series. In the Hindi speaking diaspora, this character was made famous by Rajit Kapoor when he starred as Byomkesh Bakshi in Basu Chatterjee’s series aired on Doordarshan.

Originally this detective was created by the Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.

Satyanweshi is based on the story “Chorabali” or Quicksand. So, I saw the movie first, then I saw the Rajit Kapoor episode and then I read the translated story in English. Humphhh…a tad obsessive you might say.

Consequently, I have seen two versions of the same story before writing the review and have also read the original story. Now, I can’t quiet decide what road to take for the review.

Let me try.

First, the Rajit Kapoor episode is a word by word reproduction from the story. When I read the story, I could hear Rajit kapoor’s voice in my ears. Hence, we can bundle up the two for the purpose of this review. Very scientific eh! A=B.

The movie Satyanweshi, follows the basic plot of the story. It is set in much earlier times though, of kings and queens and not just Zamindars. Himangshu is the king of Balbantpur and invites Byomkesh Bakshi and his companion Ajit for a hunting holiday. On reaching the estate they immediately realize something is grossly wrong. They learn that the librarian, Harinath has disappeared and the queen blames the king.  We see, there are many divergent plots which are not there in the original story. First, two conditions by Himangshu’s father for him to fulfil, if he is to inherit the kingdom - Himangshu cannot marry a non-Hindu girl, and must produce a legitimate heir within three years of his marriage. Second, while Dewan is kali worshipper Kaligati in the original story, here these are two separate characters. Kaligati is the family physician and has a young daughter. He is initially shown fleeing with two daughters from some other kingdom and one of the daughter mysteriously dies on the way. He lands up at Himangshu’s father’s doorstep and asks for shelter. Himangshu’s father realizes that Kaligati belongs to special sect of people who can mimic any animal and gives him special place in his palace. Third is introduction of the queen and one of the motive’s for Himangshu to harm Harinath. Alka, Himangshu’s wife and the queen is very close friends with Harinath. Harinath was particularly erudite in literature and was an accomplished vocalist. Alka, herself a singer and an aspiring actress in her single days greatly admires Harinath and finds solace in his company. Another angle to the whole plot is the mystery surrounding the name Balbantpur, which very frankly was a little far-fetched for me.

Unfortunately to write anything meaningful about the movie I will have to reveal the plot. So, if you haven’t seen the movie, proceed with caution.

In the original plot, Harinath who is the math tutor for Himangshu’s daughter, has supposedly disappeared with some account books and some cash. Byomkesh over the course of his investigation realizes that Harinath has succumbed to some evil plot and is dead. Kaligati is the old dewan of Himangshu who can mimic various animals. There is an old hut near the edge of the estate, it has the jungle on one side and a sand towards the backdoor. As luck would have it, Byomkesh and Ajit discover that the sand is actually quicksand. Byomkesh lays a trap and Kaligati is killed by Himangshu. It is revealed that Kaligati was embezzling from Himangshu and when Harinath discovered his treachery, Kaligati lured him to the hut and he drowned in quicksand.

In Satyanweshi, there is a completely different twist in the plot. Alka, has sexual aversion and has no interest in consummating her marriage and as a result cannot provide an heir to Himanghu to fulfil his father’s conditions. She sends Leela, Kaligati’s daughter with Himangshu for a hunting trip resulting in Leela getting pregnant. Kaligati hides the pregnancy from everyone and sends Leela away. Harinath is in love with Leela. One day he follows Kaligati and ends up at a dilapidated hut in the jungle. To his surprise, he finds Leela there with a newborn. He decides to marry Leela there and then. Kaligati arrives and is surprised to find Harinath with Leela. He learns of their marriage and promises to get Leela to the temple the next day. He directs Harinath to follow a path so that no one knows of his meeting Leela (to safeguard her honour) and Harinath falls into the quicksand and dies.

Kaligati wanted to live his last days as kings’ son’s grandfather instead of just a commoner and hence this deception.

Overall the movie had me glued to the screen. For someone who doesn’t know the story there is enough suspense. I quite liked Sujoy Ghosh, as Byomkesh Bakshi. He looks intellectual and a thinker but quick on his feet. Anindya Chatterjee as Ajit very frankly looked like a baboon. Apologies for such a harsh critique, but he smiled and acted like one too. Indraneil Sengupta as Himangshu looks the part. However, his portrayal of a worried husband, falsely accused by his wife was very one dimensional. Some shades of grey, which made you doubt his innocence would have added some much-needed gumption to the movie. There were no hair-raising moments and while you couldn’t pinpoint the motive, Kaligati remains the only suspect throughout. Arpita Chatterjee as Aloka as frail hopeless wife played the part. I wish her character was better defined. There was no real need for her to be frigid. It served no purpose in the movie. Similarly, the fact that Kaligati could mimic a tiger and a mould of tiger paw is found in his suitcase again remained a loose end.

This movie was the last movie directed by Rituparno Ghosh before his death. While he had finished most of the shooting, the remaining parts and post production was done by his team. I am not sure if the movie would have looked the same if it was released in Rituparno Ghosh's lifetime.

Just for that.

Can watch.