Detectives

Jasoos Log

A series containing reviews of Indian Detectives. Also cross-posted at Desicritics as "Desi Detectives" series.

• Literature:
  
  
  
  • Byomkesh Bakshi - This is the first name anybody thinks of when you think of “India” and “Detective” in the same sentence.
  
  
  • Feluda - He is probably the most energetic detective I have ever seen, as he is roaming all over India and abroad.
  
  
  
  


• Television (Private Eye):
  
  
  
  • Karamchand - Karamchand is your typical black-goggles and black coat-clad, cool-headed, intelligent, slightly bumbling and eccentric detective.
  
  
  • Sam D'Silva- Vijay Anand's Sam was eccentric enough, and his sidekick played by portly Saurabh Shukla was funny enough.
  
  
  • Jasoos Vijay - Co-produced by BBC, with Om Puri as anchor, this is a fairly recent addition to DD.
  
  
  
  


• Television (Professional Eyes):
  
  
  
  • ASW - OK, I have cheated a bit here. This was not exactly a detective show.
  
  
  • CID - Perhaps the most famous detective show an Indian television today, this is the show which started the series.
  
  
  • CID Special Bureau - A “spin-off” of CID.
  
  
  • Special Squad - Supposed to be a crack team of homicidal investigators and forensic experts, they are pitted against the "perfect criminals".
  
  
  
  


• Kid Detectives:
  
  
  
  • Banesh "Faster" Fene - Apart from Tintin, this kid must be the most travelled of them all.
  
  
  
  


• Crime-fighters in Comics:
  
  
  
  • Bahadur - Hey, I like the guy for being one of the few original comic heroes in India.
  
  
  • Chacha Choudhari - With a “brain faster than computer” and the help of his Jovian friend Sabu and dog Raacket, Chacha Choudhary has fought many criminals in his life.
  
  
  
  


• Lady Detectives:
  
  
  
  • Uma Rao - Written by Sahitya Akademi Award-winner Mahesh Dattani, the three plays show us a housewife turning into a sleuth.
  
  
  
  

Videsi Detectives

• Literature:
  
  
  
  • Marcus Didius Falco - Apparently, the lot of a Personal Informer in the roman times was not so different.
  
  
  • Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast - Almost albino pale skin, with his characteristic handmade Italian black suits give him an aura of impenetrable mystery.
  
  


• Lady Detectives:
  
  
  
  • Agatha Raisin - Unlike most mainline detectives, Agatha has not chosen a career as a detective.
  
  
  
  

- The Great Eagle Has Spoken