Desicritics

Some More TV Detectives

Fleiger — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:10:13 EST

I want to finish up the "Desi Detectives" series with a few TV detectives I didn't cover last time, starting with a serial I didn't know existed.

The Name: Special Squad
The Men (and Women): Aryan Khanna, Shaina Kaur, Dipika Ghosh, Ajay, Neha, Boxer, Shotgun, Papaji

Background: Special Squad (not to be confused with their Australian mates) was set up by Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, as a "special" team. Supposed to be a crack team of homicide investigators and forensic experts, they are pitted against "perfect criminals". The team is led by Aryan Khanna (who is pushing himself because he could not solve the case of his wife and daughter's murder) and later by Dipika Ghosh (who is put in the team to control the unorthodox ways of Aryan).

The cases are a combination of ones where the team has to find the criminal and the ones where they have to catch the criminal. While the latter often tend to be more police-procedural drama, the former are interesting, if not brilliant. Perhaps the major point I can talk about is that the cases do not seem to be overtly "inspired".

Then again, the series was a 2005 original, and I am not really conversant with crime dramas of that period. Also, although the story of a cop troubled/fueled by personal trouble is common in books, it was rare in the serials I have seen in that time period (for a particularly good serial in this genre, refer "Life").

As far as the investigative cases go, they are fairly guessable. But when we see the unit reconstructing the crime scene while investigating, the "re-enactment" shows the real criminals. I want to find out who made this decision, as this definitely takes away a lot from the suspense. I agree that a group of people discussing how the crime happened is less interesting than actual visual (picture being thousand words and video being many pictures), but then seeing the face of the actual criminal about halfway through the episode is not good either.

I think if the serial had gone beyond one season, this would have been a good one. Of course, I don't think this would have given any serious competition to CID. This is much more emotional drama, not to mention that CID has got quite a few years behind them to establish the characters. But then again, this slight emphasis on emotion does make them less prone to the unintentionally-funny gaffes CID often makes.

That said, I did not know that the time of death could be pinpointed to the minute by forensic examiners. Neither did I know that bullet cases are recovered from victim's body, and not the bullet.

Coming next time: This detective lives with a doctor. They tell us that he is a master of disguises. Sounds familiar? Well, you will be surprised.

Uma Rao: The Intrepid Lady Sleuth

Fleiger — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 00:18:30 EDT

No series on detectives will be complete without a review of lady detectives. Or at least, I thought so...

But, when I started searching for lady detectives in Indian fiction, I found a veritable dearth of them. Despite real life examples like Kiran Bedi and reel-life examples like Udaan (my recollections of which are very hazy, except that it was a nice serial), lady sleuths in mainstream Indian literature are very rare to find. Of course, so are sleuth's ladies (only Byomkesh' Satyaboti and Bahadur's Bela come to mind), but that's for another article.

That's why there is no plural in the title.

Uma Rao:

Daughter-in-law of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, wife of a Superintendent, Uma Rao is your traditional housewife (or as “traditional” as you can get while being on first name basis with ministers on both sides of marriage). But when she starts to write her thesis on criminals, it is not just her introduction to criminals, but to sleuthing as well.

When she finds a hijra vehemently denying that he killed one of the members of his community, she decides to help the person she believes is innocent. With the help of a constable from her husband's office, she uncovers the truth behind the murder, in the process finding the roots of crime reaching the highest echelons of Bangalore's society. Flush with her success, she goes on to find the true murderer of a wealthy English lady, who has come to India to convince her brother who is living in an ashram.

The brother turns out to be a member of Homicide Squad in Britain, and so, when a famous actor (working in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream on Independence Day) disappears and is murdered after reappearing, the British counsel gets the help from Uma Rao, who is watching the play, and they find out that the wife of the actor is not the real killer, despite their marriage supposedly being on rocks.

Written by Sahitya Akademi Award-winner Mahesh Dattani, the three plays show us a housewife turning into a sleuth, first only because she wants to help a person whom she assumes to be innocent. Later on, as a famous detective, whose renown reaches even British isles, she turns what initially is a thesis into a quest for her own identity.

Of course, her journey to fame and independence is not without obstacles. She has to venture into the most dangerous districts in the underbelly of Bangalore, face attempts on her life, and since that is not enough, face conflict with her husband who is not so happy with her foray into practical side of crime fighting. But despite that, the “intrepid sleuth” brings the criminals to justice.

As I said before, despite a lot of research I could not find any more lady (or girl) detectives in mainstream Indian literature. Have I forgotten (or not found) anybody?

But, I did find an interesting difference between male and female detectives which is not limited to Indian literature. Men (or the detective stories with main characters as men) don't waste much time on their romantic entanglements or marital descriptions. e.g. Byomkesh is married, but Satyaboti, in spite of being an intelligent lady (which is why Byomkesh is attracted to her in first place) does not merit many lines in his stories (at least, his stories which I have read/seen till now).

On the other hand, stories involving lady detectives have a lot more conflict of romantic (or marital) kind, which does tend to hog limelight from crime fighting sometimes, with the main character giving way to her emotions. Why do you think this difference exists?

Comic Detectives of India

Fleiger — Tue, 5 Jun 2007 10:11:04 EDT

Try as I may, I cannot find any detectives in Indian comics. I mean, some (all?) of the Feluda stories were made into comics, and Fa Fe found his way into animated format via Tinkle, while we have a plethora of crime-fighters. But there are no detectives solely created for comics.

So, I am going to take this opportunity to talk about some crimefighters who don't really make it into a Superhero grade, but are beyond your normal comics-guy-next-door.

Bahadur: Son of a dacoit, raised by a police officer, Bahadur grew up to be a crime-fighter, with a special interest in rehabilitating former dacoits. This he accomplishes with the help of his fiance (and later wife) Bela, and Lakhan (a reformed dacoit) and his Citizen's Security Force.
If this sounds like a hindi movie to you, don't worry. Bahadur bears a lot of resemblance to the original angry young man Amitabh Bachchan, as can be seen from his features and his clothes (though he changed from kurta to t-shirt with the times).

While he battles mainly dacoits, he has fought every kind of criminal from common thieves to relic smugglers to spies and terrorists. In the process, he has done a lot of detective work in uncovering common criminals, finding an ancient treasure in a Rajasthani fort and uncovering the 'well of amrit' in a mythical city.

Of course, if you think the guy who destroys terrorist training camps is not really a detective and hence should not be in this series - hey, I like the guy for being one of the few original comic book heroes in India, and I can put him on this list if I want (for lack of any 'real' detectives to write about), so sue me...

Chacha Chaudhary:
With a "brain faster than computer" and the help of his Jovian friend Sabu and dog Raacket (sorry, that's how it's written in Hindi), Chacha Chaudhary has fought many criminals in his life, the chief of them being the accidentally-turned-immortal Raaka. But apart from fighting Raaka, he has spent his life fighting crime in every guise.

Again, this red turban and black jacket clad, white big mustachioed Chacha is not your traditional detective. But then, even though most of his time is spent thinking of new ways to imprison Raaka, who being immortal and super-strengthened now needs new ways to be captured like a cyclone, a magic bottle in the belly of a whale or orbiting the earth in space.

But then, a brain faster than computer cannot be wholly occupied with one single task, can it? Of course, Chacha Chaudhary does spend some time in solving your normal crimes too.

Again, as I said, I didn't find any famous black-sunglasses and trench-coat clad detectives made into comic series, so I took the chance of plugging an underrated (according to me) hero I like and everybody's favourite uncle.

Do you have a favourite detective I should have mentioned?

Faster Fene: Marathi Kid Detective

Fleiger — Thu, 17 May 2007 04:34:12 EDT

Marathi has had its share of paperback detectives and kid detectives, but probably the most famous of all Marathi detectives is a kid, who goes by the name of "Faster Fene". If English children had their Secret Sevens and Famous Fives (about whom we learnt later), more than one generation of Marathi kids had our one and only Fa Fe (as he is popularly known among the fans), who was match for all and then some.

No kidding guys, your favourite "Detectives" series is back, this time with a kid detective.

Faster Fene

His Name: Banesh Fene
His Friend/Watson: His cousin, his school-friends and many more...
His Moriarty: -

Banesh Fene, born and brought up in Fursungi (a small village near Pune) was christened "Faster Fene", when he (on his trusty bicycle) left behind a rich, spoiled kid while racing across the length and breadth of Pune to gain the last seat in a prestigious school. This nickname was later proven worthy many times over when he bested criminals, spies, ghosts and much more, in terms of speed and brains.

Apart from Tintin, this kid must be the most travelled of them all. He has travelled to almost all corners of India, solving mysteries and defeating criminals, while still in school. Gifted with intelligence, quick wit and bravery, he has an uncanny knack of attracting trouble. So, when visiting Mumbai, he gets attached to a runaway blimp and lands in the midst of smuggled goods. When visiting Kashmir, his visit turns up more terrorists than tourist spots, and when the India-China war is on, running off to fight on the front, he manages to be caught by enemy and escapes with their plans.

So why did I include this adventurer as a detective? Because in his illustrious career, he has caught a Chinese spy in Pune (Pune was and continues to remain one of the most important military stations in India), uncovered the mystery of a ghost in an oil-well in Gujarat (rather Kachch), helped authorities to track and catch many criminals and smugglers and tracked a treasure or two, while he was still in school. He was aided by his cousin and a lot of school-mates (with whom he became pretty famous after his "entry" in school).

Written by Bha. Ra. Bhagwat (a Marathi author, famous for his adventure novels for kids), the stories have their fair share of adventure, mystery, improbable escapes at the last moment, scary and/or bumbling villains... in short, all the ingredients that make a nice adventure series (though the action might get repetitive at times, this being a series of novels). Written for kids, the stories have their fair share of wit and humour to occupy even the adults. The series was originally written in 60's, with India-China war providing the backdrop for more than one novel. It was later converted into a TV series in 80's.

With his intelligence, bravery and wit, Fa Fe has enthralled more than a generation of Marathi kids. In fact, I think I can safely say that almost every kid I knew in school had dreams of being this lanky kid (with bones protruding out of his skinny legs and hands) with his chequered-shirt and half-pant (a dress he was rarely seen without, even when he dropped on the border with a parachute), flying on his bicycle, outwitting his (and of course, country's) foes.

Coming up: Detectives in Indian Comics (Well, crime-fighters if you want)

Famous Professional Crime Fighters on Indian Television

Fleiger — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:29:44 EDT

Now that I have gone through the roster of "Private Eyes" on TV, I think it is time to recap the "Professional Eyes". The professionals on (at least Marathi) television have a glorious tradition, which has names like Hello Inspector, Ek Shoonya Shoonya (One Zero Zero) on the list. Even on the current scene, "professionals" score better than amateurs, given CID is perhaps the most famous show in this genre right now (of course, the new Karamchand will soon amend that).

So, here goes:

ASW:
The Name of The Agency: Anti - Superstition Wing
The Men (and The Women): (can somebody help me here?)

OK, I have cheated a bit here. Lekin Woh Sach Tha was not exactly a detective show, but more of a desi version of X-Files. This was the show which introduced us to such paranormal topics like "limbic system", "astral projection" and investigated phenomena like ghosts.

Of course, being a Doordarshan show and as you can get from the name of the organisation, the main objective desi jodi of Scully and Mulder was to fight superstitions prevailing in the public conscience. This they did by exposing babas and other assorted villains. But even they did investigate some crimes like murder as a part of their job, and so I feel justified in including them in the series. (And of course, I like paranormal.)

CID:
The Name of The Agency: Criminal Investigations Department (at least, that's what it officially means)
The Men (and The Women): ACP Pradyuman, Senior Inspector Abhijit, Daya, and company

This is the show which started the series. This is perhaps the most famous detective show an Indian television today. Lead by ACP Pradyuman, this team of brave, intelligent, weird and sometimes bumbling officers tries to solve cases from all across Mumbai, with the help of the latest technology and forensics.

Of course, don't be misled by the name of the organisation. They seem to reach each and every crime in the city, many times without the normal police being called in. On the other hand, if they are supposed to reach only most perplexing and difficult cases, it bodes pretty ill for Mumbai given the sheer number of cases.

But don't get discouraged. Once you get past the obvious "influences" from foreign shows and detective stories, the show makes for a quite a nice entertainment, if only to see if you can solve the case easily.

CID Special Bureau:
The Name of The Agency: Criminal Investigations Department, Special Bureau
The Men (and The Women): ACP Pradyuman, ACP Abhimanyu and company

A "spin-off" of CID. This show follows the exploits of a group of select officers of CID who try to solve more complex and sometimes "file closed" cases. The officers are supposedly selected because each one is an expert in one of the fields like forensics, ballistics and so on.

What it essentially means to the viewers is that the cases are definitely different and more entertaining (I could not find any direct influences of any other shows I have watched, and the show does involve some comedy). Though that makes this show better than the original, the original CID scores better for acting.

Did I miss any shows? Hopefully not. So now I can take a sabbatical from the series, as I have covered all the desi detectives I could remember. If I have missed any, or if there are suggestions for any improvements to the series, comments are welcome.

Kayada Aur Suvyavastha: Famous Detectives on Indian Television

Fleiger — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 01:08:21 EDT

As I have run out of Indian detectives in literature, I turn to another of media sources (I sound like an executive giving presentation, don't I?), to wit: television.

Now, Indian Television has a very long tradition of detective and crime serials. I must (honourably) mention Marathi serials like Ek Shoonya Shoonya (meaning 100, titled for obvious reasons), the serial which started ACP Pradyuman's career, Hello Inspector (had an extremely catchy tune) and Dhananjay (don't remember the actor's name, though he is a good and famous one), which we used to watch in the days when the prime-time "regional" programmes were limited to 7.15 pm to 8 pm (after regional news to before Hindi news) time slot. Perhaps my fascination with detectives started with these, but my memories of them extend no further than the names ("A long time ago, on a TV far away" and all that you know...)

So, I will get to better recognized names. I have already talked about the televised Byomkesh Bakshi, and how a great actor backed by great story (and a nice casting) makes for a serial worth watching. There is another detective which confirms this:

Karamchand:

His Name: Karamchand (full name, anyone?)
His (clueless) Watson: (Shut Up) Kitty (which may as well be her full name)
His Moriarty: -

Unfortunately, I don't remember much of the original, except that he ate a lot of carrots, and "Shut up, Kitty" (I was very young then, you know). But the serial was the first proof (being the first detective serial on Indian television) for the theory that Kapoors make great detectives (Pankaj in this case, Rajat in Byomkesh). Even the second innings currently going on is worth watching (and makes you put some faith in sequels).

Karamchand is your typical black-goggles and black coat-clad, cool-headed, intelligent, slightly bumbling and eccentric detective. In short, conforming to almost every prototype of a "private eye" (he eats carrots, you know) you can think of. Trivia: he is also apparently a practising lawyer. Kitty is cluelessness taken to the extreme, and given that you don't really need a chronicler for TV series, her role is only limited as his secretary (the main part of her duties I guess is to "Shut Up"). Quite different from other detectives (at least so far in second season), Inspector Khan (played by another brilliant actor, Atul Parachure) is not your quintessential amateur-hating, egotistic fool, but works in tandem with Karamchand, and is knowledgeable and a good inspector on his own (of course, that does not mean that he gets everything or the brilliant Karamchand does not explain things after the climax).

The stories are mysterious enough to keep you glued to the seat (can't glue you to the screen, right?) and keep your interest alive for the entire hour. Again, as far as I remember, the original cases were limited to gharelu matters per se, and the second innings keeps to the roots (director is also the same), merely making the crime scenes more "exotic," like a beauty pageant-training institute, reality-show shooting and all.

My advise? Though Karamchand eats less carrots due to inflation, he is no less intelligent or less interesting. Go watch...

Sam D'Silva:

His Name: Sam D'Silva
His Watson: Gopi
His Moriarty: -

I guess the word "Tehqiqat" (Tehqueeqat, yeh hai tehqeeqat) will be better recognized. Vijay Anand's Sam was eccentric enough, and his sidekick played by portly Saurabh Shukla (regular Hindi movie fans would know this comedy actor well) was funny enough. The serial was more humorous than thriller, though my almost only recollection of the serial involved the episode with the ghost of (as far as I can stretch my memory) John Parrera.

Again sorry, but I have only a sketchy memory of the show. Any ideas if it might be re-telecast?

I guess that about covers up the well-known and worth-mentioning "private eyes" we have seen on TV. Know anybody I have missed?

Coming up: The "Professional" Eyes on TV.

Another Bengali Crimefighter: Feluda

Fleiger — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:44:29 EDT

Why do most of the mainstream detectives in India come from Bengal? This is one of the questions which needs a Byomkesh to solve. Because, second in my "detective" series is also a Bengali "Da".

Feluda:

His Name: Pradosh Chandra Mittar
His (biographer) Watson: Topshe (Tapesh Ranjan Mittar), his cousin
His (clueless) Watson: Jatayu (Lalmohan Ganguly), a crime thriller writer
His Moriarty: Maganlal Meghraj

For the uninitiated, Feluda is a card-carrying (literally, he carries his business cards with occupation as "Detective"... I know, bad joke...) working detective. He is helped by his cousin in his cases, who is also encouraged to write about them by Feluda. On one of these adventures (Sonar Kella/The Golden Fortress), they meet Jatayu, a crime thriller writer who later becomes their friend and accompanies them. Despite being a bestseller author, Jatayu is as clueless about real-life crime as Watson on his worst day (or maybe as Lestrade is on his best day). Feluda's best source of information on anything under the sun is their uncle, Shidhu Jyatha, a living encyplopedia who has clippings and books on every subject on the earth.

As for the bad boys, Maganlal Meghraj is a smuggler, has his own gang, and is a thoroughly sophisticated and dangerous criminal. He crosses sword with Feluda many times in his career. In almost all these cases, it's Jatayu who suffers the most (and Maganlal seems to take particular pleasure in targetting the hapless author), but all their lives are in peril more than once.

Feluda gets involved in high-profile crimes, like theft of a historical stone, smuggling, murder. So, unlike Byomkesh he finds himself in mortal danger more often, along with his associates (which explains his carrying a gun I guess). He is also probably the most energetic detective I have ever seen, as he is roaming all over India and abroad (with Topshe in tow when the schools permit). Among other places, he travels to Agra, Ajanta, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Lucknow and even Kathmandu for his cases, or the cases find him on one of his travels.

Also unlike Byomkesh, there is a clear influence of Sherlock on Feluda. Among other things, he frequently refers to Sherlock as is "Guru", and his cases as well as his techniques show that clearly. Even Meghraj is very like Moriarty in his bearing and brutality. I guess, I can safely say that Feluda is Sherlock to Byomkesh's Poirot.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the movies or telefilms as they are in Bengali, but if they do justice to the stories (which they should, given that Ray himself directed at least some of them), these feature high on my list of "Movies I Won't Understand but Will Read Subtitles For"... Can somebody convert them in Hindi TV serial?

As I said, in Indian literature I have come across only these two cases of fairly famous detectives. Of course, the only languages I read include Marathi and English, and I have tried reading Hindi once before. So my main source is translated-into-English versions and Marathi literature. Even in Marathi, I have come across famous detectives only in kids' literature, the detectives being kids as well. So please feel free to tell me about any famous detectives in your language, and direct me to the books.

P.S. The same as the first one. As my reviews/comments are based on the translated stories, I would really like somebody who has read the originals to correct me if I am wrong anywhere.

Sleuth of India: Byomkesh Bakshi, Truth Seeker

Fleiger — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:25:30 EDT

"A bomb is ticking away, and there is no chance that anybody can diffuse it in time. Two brave officers volunteer to take it out in a helicopter and let it blast over the sea, so that nobody will get hurt."

Now if you think I am talking about a Dan Brown novel, think again...

Oh well, I am one of the people who (try to) watch CID every week, without cracking a smile (or cracking the TV, whatever). Trying to figure out which story (or show) has influenced the episode is real nice fun. But when the officers start brandishing their weapons on the street and start firing across Mumbai streets in the middle of the afternoon, even I feel something is wrong. Incidentally, one of the recent episodes was copied almost completely from "Murder on the Links" (of course, the copy was not complete as the victim/murderer's wife was not shown to be bound by the assailants).

Given the current condition, I felt it was necessary to have a review of the tradition of great detectives we have had in India. Let's start with the most famous of them:

Byomkesh Bakshi:
His Name: Byomkesh Bakshi
His Watson: Ajit, an aspiring writer
His Moriarty: --

This is the first name anybody thinks of when you think of 'India' and 'Detective'. Now, Byomkesh is not really a detective, but a Satyanneshi (Seeker of Truth). The combination of Rajit Kapoor and great stories made for a real entertainer. Of course, as the series was based on original stories, there were a fixed number of episodes after which the series ended. The series was pretty faithful to the original story, apart from a few bits which really did not take away anything from the suspense.

For those of you who have not read or seen the stories, an aspiring writer Ajit takes up a room in a not so fashionable part of the city. There, he shares his room with a young man. There is a murder on their doorstep and in the next room. After the young man is suspected of committing the crime, he is revealed as a detective who is helping the police catch a drug racketeer. After catching the criminal, Ajit moves with Byomkesh to his house and joins in his adventures later.

Even though sometimes we can detect a small influence from Sherlock or Poirot, the stories are completely Indian in every sense. The stories are mainly about crimes like murder, theft and other domestic problems. But, as Sherlock says, "...strangest and most unique things are very often connected not with the larger but with the smaller crimes...", and the mysteries are not trivial. Of course, given that the stories take place in pre-independence Calcutta, it would have been hard, if not completely impossible, for him to get involved in crimes of state importance like Sherlock or Poirot do living in the capital. He does help the police take on crimes of local importance like a drug racketeer, a (kind-of) serial killer etc. He also has run-ins with at least two ghosts that I know of.

Like most mainstream detectives, Byomkesh is smarter than the people surrounding him. But unlike mainstream detectives, he is very human. Apart from his Sherlockian humour and a bit of secretive nature, he comes out as a pretty straightforward person. Unlike Watson, Ajit knows a lot about his plans after he joins the detective as a biographer and a friend (He even knows when Byomkesh is playing the dead). Also unlike most mainstream detectives (and I'm not talking about paperback detectives who get a girl in the middle and at the end of every story), Byomkesh gets the girl at the end of one of his adventures and marries her.

The best part? Byomkesh Bakshi episodes are back on the air!

P.S. All the reviews and comments are based on the English translations of the stories and the few episodes I have watched recently. Any Bengali speaking people who have read the original are requested to correct me wherever I am wrong.