It is happening for the first time that Bengal is waiting for two projects made on the same story to be released at the same time. Both movies are highly anticipated but Srijit Mukherjee’s ‘Durgo Rahasya’ is definitely a more ambitious project. But is it the most accurate version of Byomkesh Bakshy?
When Satyajit Ray adapted Saradindu Bandyopadhyay’s story ‘Chiriakhana’, Saradindu was not at all happy with the adaptation. Satyajit Ray took many creative liberties and put glasses on Byomkesh and showed him playing with a snake. Also the movie showed Ajit as a married man and Byomkesh as a bachelor. Saradindu was definitely not satisfied. There have been many adaptations of the Byomkesh stories, but the image that Ray created, persisted forever. Byomkesh could never come out of this trope. There are many good actors, Abir, Anirban or Parambrata who played the iconic character.
Srijit Mukherjee chose an actor who is already famous in the character. Anirban Bhattacharya has a separate fan base as Byomkesh but there will be a different heroine this time. As per the stories, Satyabati, Byomkesh’s wife, has a dark skin tone. Other features make Riddhima an inaccurate characterisation. Bringing Sohini back to the character is a wonderful decision. Bringing Byomkesh and Satyabati from two different franchises was a difficult step to take. The dressing and style of the characters too are far more loyal to the stories than other movies.
Srijit Mukherjee has done extensive research to bring the story to life. He has not given his Byomkesh glasses this time. Ajit and other characters are more believable. It is possible that Saradindu would be more happy to see Srijit’s adaptation than he was at the time of Ray.