What Is the Story About?
Ms Henriques, a cafe owner in Lonpur, a town in West Bengal, rents her house to a small-time detective – Shekhar Home. Soon, he’s joined by another housemate Jayvrat Sahni. Backed by their intuitive skills and intellect, the duo solves several high-profile cases in and out of the town. However, Shekhar’s past catches up with him when a mysterious woman lands at Henriques’ cafe.
Performances?
Shekhar Home has a handful of quality performers – from Kay Kay Menon to Ranvir Shorey, Rasika Dugal, Kirti Kulhari to Shernaz Patel. Disappointingly, but for Kay Kay Menon’s Shekhar, Ranvir Shorey’s Jayvrat and to an extent, Kirti’s Mumtaz, none of the characters are fleshed out with care. This doesn’t leave much scope for the talents of the cast to shine through.
Only Kay Kay Menon, Rasika Dugal and Kaushik Sen manage to give some sort of respectability to their performances while Ranvir Shorey gets on your nerves after a point. Kirti Kulhari bags an interesting part with a dual identity though she doesn’t rise above the writing inadequacies. Shernaz Patel’s performance adds little value to the proceedings.
Analysis
Shekhar Home is an unusual amalgam of two fictional universes – Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi revolving around two cheeky characters in a fictitious town in Bengal. Shekhar and Jayvrat forge an uncanny bonhomie, decode tricky cases, helping cops, crème de la crème in their vicinity. The deceptively staged detective saga paves the way for a delicious espionage drama later.
The show’s start is far from appealing though. The creators don’t take the trouble in establishing either of the characters or their identities, their friendship. The men randomly employ their streetsmart, homegrown modus operandi in uncovering crucial details beneath varied crimes. Neither does the complexity of the crimes warrant your interest nor their unconventional ways.
The initial four episodes are a true test of your patience. The first episode about a serial killer who commits crimes out of greed is the worst of them all, while the later episodes around a bank heist, a woman’s quest for redemption at a bureaucrat’s wedding and a family feud fare slightly better, but don’t do much to help the show wake up from its slumber.
Shekhar is less a human and more an artificial intelligence robot – you know very little about him for a long time and struggle to comprehend his motives. Jayvrat is an equally clueless character and it’s perplexing how such roles can be created out of thin air, with no relatability or reason to root for. Until a crucial twist later in the show, Shekhar Home makes for a tiresome viewing.
The best part of Shekhar Home is reserved for the penultimate and final episodes, where you stumble across a new dimension to the characters and there’s intriguing drama around their pursuits and pasts. A secret that could tear apart a city is unwrapped over a poem, museum, coffee house, doses of science and national security with an atypical connection to Tagore. Where was this finesse and sharpness all along?
Going by its wayward execution – it is evident that the creators had a beginning and an ending to the story and couldn’t figure out a way to make the ‘middle’ segments work. It’s a shame because the core idea behind the show brims with immense potential and some lazy, obnoxious creative choices spoil the fun. Watch Shekhar Home only if you have the patience to reach the final episodes.
Music and Other Departments?
Joel Crasto’s background score does a decent job of adding a chirpy, colourful flavour to the ambience in a handful of situations. The cinematography (by Sirsha Ray and Shanu Singh Rajput) has a certain liveliness, helped by the varied backdrops and terrific production design (by Sunil Nigvekar and Subrata Barik). Aniruddha Guha’s sloppy writing means that worthy names – like its directors Rohan Sippy and Srijit Mukherjee – can’t come to its rescue.
Highlights?
The idea to set up a Sherlock Holmes universe in Bengal
The espionage drama in the last two episodes
Good performances by Kay Kay Menon, Rasika Dugal
Drawbacks?
Sloppy writing
Sluggish start – precisely the first four episodes
No liveliness/spark in the storytelling
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
If you have enough patience to survive the first four episodes
Shekhar Home Review by Binged Bureau