Exception to most of the rules

After a long break, both from blogging and the series, I think it is time we get back to the Detectives series. This time, it’s a detective who proves to be the exception to a great many rules.

Aloysius Pendergast

His Name: Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast

His Watson: (Mostly) Lt. Vincent D’Agosta

His Moriarty: (Mostly) Diogenes Pendergast

Unlike most of the book characters in the series, Special Agent Pendargast, FBI, is officially paid to solve crimes. Of course, officially he is supposed to work out of New Orleans office, but that doesn’t stop him running across the country solving the crimes he finds interesting.

Unlike the detectives living from case to case, Pendergast’s inheritance includes, apart from his prodigious mental capacity, a not inconsiderable wealth. Born and bred a Southern Gentleman, Aloysius’ mannerisms belong more to the era of Holmes and Poirot than the current crop of roguish PIs. Of course, he is also aware of his “small character flaws”, like being impatient with bureaucracy and dislike of officious fools, which he declares are hard to get rid of.

Almost albino pale skin, with his characteristic Italian black suits give him an aura of impenetrable mystery, yet for a lone man, he is extremely loyal to his few friends. He has put his own life in danger for them, and also expects (and gets) similar loyalty from them.

Many times, his brother Diogenes as related to him is compared to Moriarty. Personally, despite their relative ages, I think he is more like if “His Majesty’s accountant” Mycroft Holmes had taken on a career of crime. But given Pendergast’s other family members (his great aunt is incarcerated in a psychological institute after she poisoned her family), Aloysius as a federal agent is more of an exception than the rule in his family of geniuses.

Most of Aloysius Pendergast’s cases almost belong in supernatural world. From mythical South American tribal creatures, to old Egyptian mummies, he investigates bizarre cases involving zombies, ritualistic murders and immortal foes. Surprisingly, most of the cases take him to New York, and make you think twice before visiting the city, or Natural History Museum there. 

 

- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

P.S. The rest in “Detectives” series…

Miss Marple with an Attitude

After a long, long (long, long and so on...) time, Detectives series is back, with another lady detective (after Uma Rao) introduced to me by BBC’s Radio 4.

All who know her compare her with Miss Marple. She is exactly like Miss Marple, if Miss Marple had lived in late 1990’s, was 20 years younger, wanting to be 40-50 years younger, and a widow (so she says), though raring to get out of it. Presenting…

Agatha Raisin

Her Name: Mrs. Agatha Raisin

Her Watson: Maj. James Lacey (her neighbour, and later fiancé), Roy Silver (her old employee at her PR agency), Mrs. Freedman, Phil Marshall and Patrick Sullivan (employees at her detective agency)

Her Moriarty: - (fate/luck, or perhaps herself?)

 

At the (young) age of 53, Agatha Raisin sells her PR agency and moves from London to to the “peaceful” village of Carsley in Cotswolds. Years of PR work for the rich and famous have given her all things she needs to succeed in a small community like Carsley: a sharp tongue, convenient morals, habit of poking nose in everybody’s affairs and most importantly, a quick wit and sharp mind. She will need those to survive the jungle called Carsley Ladies’ Society and solve the myriad murders that take place around her.

Because, unlike most mainline detectives, Agatha has not chosen a career as a detective (at least, not until late into the series). Her adventures starts when she tries to befriend the “natives” by participating in the Village Baking Competition. The attempt turns sour when the judge apparently dies after eating her quiche (which was bought from a famous London bakery), and her secret comes out to her shame. Now she has to clear her name regain her dignity, by finding out the real criminal.

That sets the tone for most of the series. This murder is followed by, among others, the murder of the handsome village curate (with whom Agatha has dinner on the same night), a beautician from nearby town (with whom Agatha had  appointment same day), and on a holiday, a tourist with whose group Agatha was visiting some places. In between solving these murders, she competes with other members of Carsley Ladies’ society for affection of various bachelors in village (including her new neighbour James Lacey), and tries to win a gardening competition by hiring  professional landscapers (and messes it up when Roy puts wrong labels on wrong plants).

It is easy to see that Agatha is not exactly the most friendliest of persons. Her core circle mainly includes Mrs. Bloxby, the village vicar’s wife, who indulges Agatha’s antiques and provides her a shoulder to cry on; Roy Silver, who is a co-worker from her PR Agent era, but continues as a friend (perhaps the only one from that time period). Bill Wong is the village police officer, who is never sure whether to arrest Agatha for her meddling (he is mostly pretty sure she is not The Murderer) as a police officer, or to help her as a friend.

James Lacey needs a separate paragraph of his own. He comes in Agatha’s life as a neighbour (and the prize she fights hard for) and lives on as a foil and target for her wit, her mostly unwilling partner in crime-fighting, a stolid companion and a possible life partner.

All in all, the series is full of sharp wit, even sharper dialogs, mostly harmless criminals, who somehow end up threatening Agatha’s vanity more than her life, and extremely enjoyable narratives. And if you don’t like to read, then BBC has conveniently dramatised it on Radio 4. Go for it…

 

- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

 

P.S. The rest in “Detectives” series…

The Oldest "Living" Detective

After a (not so) brief break from "Detectives" series, we are back with the non-desi detectives. And to start off, we bring you the oldest "living" detective.

Marcus Didius Falco (series by Lindsey Davis):

Apparently, the lot of a Personal Informer in the roman times was not so different. He had to work on divorce cases, sometimes was treated worse than the criminals he investigated, and got the girl at the end (if not girls in between).

Luckily for Marcus, he literally bumps into an important case. When he uncovers the plot surrounding the missing silver pigs (ingots, which are used to pay the Praetorian Guard, the emperor's personal bodyguards), he gains the favour of the Emperor Vespasian, who is establishing himself on the throne.

Unfortunately for Marcus (and quite otherwise for us), the tight purse strings of the emperor means that Falco has to work as an imperial spy, at the same time handling the same-old murder and divorce cases. While this makes him an enemy of the Chief Spy Anacrites (whom Marcus easily outwits when necessary), it also means he can have two masters pay him for "important" cases, a fact he uses shrewdly.

He meets his lover, later wife and partner, Helena Justina, on his first case. A Senator's daughter, she is a headstrong, yet loving woman, who handles Falco's family as well as the pressures of his dangerous job quite well. Elegant, highly intelligent (and well-read being a Senator’s daughter) and thoroughly stubborn, she is at the same time perfect and highly inappropriate (given the times and their social ranks) match for Falco.

Falco, on his own is not an easy man to handle either. A soldier who served (but did not fight) in Britain during Boudicca's revolt, his military service has given him valuable experience. He is well aware that being a spy and a PI, puts him on almost the last rung of any hierarchy (though his social "rank" improves thanks to the royal favour), but has wits and brute force more than enough to survive in the cut-throat world. Being a staunch republican, he frets before taking up the job for Vespasian, but love conquers his personal beliefs.

Amidst the rich descriptions of post-Nero Rome, its culture, class relationships and festivities, what makes these novels really special is the wit and sarcastic commentary by one Marcus Didius Falco. Having a horrific murder or two, and a beauty or two doesn't hurt either.

Note: The age of the persons, as mentioned in the series refers to how old they would be if they had lived till today, and has nothing to do with the age as per canon. "Living" means that the author is continuing the series, as opposed to "non-living" where either the author cannot continue the series, or the character is dead according to canon.

- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

P.S. From now on, The "Detectives" series will be a monthly (possibly twice-monthly) feature with non-desi detectives.

Some More TV Detectives

Oh yes, "Detectives" series is back. And before I go on to non-desi detectives (and there's a whole lot of them), I want to finish up with some TV detectives which I didn't cover last time. One I am including more for the sake of completeness than anything else, the other one, I didn't know exist.

Special Squad:

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

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 homicidal investigators and forensic experts, they are pitted against the "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 the cases where the team has to find the criminal and the ones where they have to catch the criminal. While the later 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 (If this was 2007, I would have jumped all over them for with "Life").

In case of the "investigative" cases, they are fairly guessable. But when we see the unit reconstructing the crime scene while investigating, the crime "scene" 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, 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, as this is much more "emotional" drama, not to mention that CID has got quite a few years 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 fired, and not the bullet.

Coming next week: He lives with a doctor. The title song tells us that he is a master of disguises. Sounds familiar? Well, you will be surprised.


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken

P.S. Find the link to the other posts in "Detectives" series under "I Wrote..." in the sidebar.

Intrepid Lady Sleuth

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 (literally), who has come to India to meet 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. 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?


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken...


Quote of The Day:





But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things.

- Sherlock Holmes (The Sign of Four)

Comical Detectives in India

(and I don't mean comical as in funny)





Try as I may, I cannot find any detectives in Indian comics. I mean, some (all?) of the Feluda stories was 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 special interest in rehabilitating former dacoits. This he accomplishes with the help of his fiancée (and later wife) Bela, and Lakhan (a reformed dacoit) and his Citizen's Security Force.
  
  
  
  If this sounds a lot 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 times).
  
  
  
  While he battles mainly dacoits, he has fought every kind of criminal from common thieves to antiques 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 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 Choudhary has fought many criminals in his life, the chief of them being the accidently-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 moustachioed 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 capture him like a cyclone, a magic bottle in the belly of a whale or orbiting the earth in space), a brain faster than computer cannot be wholly occupied with one single task, can it? Of course, Chacha Choudhary does spend some time in solving your normal crimes too.
  
  
  
  I think I should mention at this point that the TV serial, though having Rajpal Yadav as Chacha didn't fulfil my expectations.

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



Do you have a favourite detective I should have mentioned?

- The Great Eagle Has Spoken...


P.S. Want more on Detectives? Check out my "Jasoos Series".



Quote of The Day:



Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think.

- Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary





Also cross-posted at Desicritics.





Technorati Tags: detectives, India, Bahadur, Chacha Chaudhary

Fa Fe

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 Seven”s and “Famous Five”s (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

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 Gujrat, 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)





Quote of The Day:



The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer







Technorati Tags: detectives, fiction, marathi, kids

The "Professionals" of Crime Fighting

Now that I have gone through the roster of “Private Eyes” on TV, I think it is time to recap the “Professional Wiis Eyes” (Note to self: This is 'eye', not I. So the plural is 'eyes' not 'we'). The professionals on (at least Marathi) television have a glorious tradition, which has names like “Hello Inspector”, “Ek Shoonya Shoonya” in the list. Even in the current scene, “professionals” score better than amateurs, given CID is perhaps the most famous show in this genre currently (of course, new Karamchand will soon amend that).

So, here goes:

ASW:

The Name: 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. 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 DD show and as you can get from the name of the organisation, the main objective desi jodi of Scully and Mulder wants 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: Criminal Investigations Department (at least, that's what it officially menns)
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. Led 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: 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 on any other stories 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 mention that the female officers on CID are worth watching out for?

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 any improvements to the series, commenced are welcome...


Quote of The Day:

"We have in our police reports realism pushed to its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, neither fascinating nor artistic."
- Watson, in "A Case of Identity"

Kayda aur Suvyavastha: Television Detectives of India Part II

UPDATE: Corrected info about Jasoos Vijay.
This was supposed to be one post, containing a small review of all the desi detectives I had read about or seen. Due to that turning into a novel, had to split the post into two, literature and TV. These in turn turned into novels, and had to be split. Finally, this has turned into a whole series.

Presenting part II of the “private” detectives on TV:

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 is of 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?

Jasoos Vijay:

His Name: Vijay
His Watson: Gauri, his wife
His Moriarty: HIV(?)

Perhaps the first “interactive” detective serial, which asks people to solve the crime, where each episode is aired in 2 parts. Co-produced by BBC, with Om Puri as anchor, this is a fairly recent addition to DD.

I haven't watched much of this serial, but from what I saw, and from what I read on the website, though the “cases” are fairly easy for hardcore fans of the genre, there seem to be no overt “influences” on the story.

The only point I can say I don't like (but maybe not “unlike”) is that the show is used in typical DD style to send “social and patriotic” messages, the chief being educating people about HIV/AIDS (Vijay is shown to be HIV-positive). Now, what with the interactive format of the show, and Om Puri and BBC, this might be highly effective (indeed the many letters they get indicate that it is), but as a hardcore fan, I like my stories to be just about crime and detection.

I think the serial it still being broadcast on DD, so if anybody watching it? My recommendation: do watch and tell me how it is. Like all good serials, this serial is also off-air now. (Thanks DK)

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


Coming up: The “Professional” Eyes on TV


The Great Eagle has spoken...

Quote of The Day:

"Results without causes are much more impressive."
- Sherlock Holmes, in "The Stock-Brocker's Clerk"

Kayda aur Suvyavastha: Television Detectives of India Part I

Being an Indianized reference to a famous crime-detection serial (Special mention for guessing which one, detectives)

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 (honorably) 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, confirming 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 the 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, Pankaj Parashar), 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...

Had to split the post in 2, because it kept getting longer and longer, so watch out for part II.



The Great Eagle has spoken...

Quote of The Day:

...any moment before the end might be the important one. This I believe.
- Agatha Christie

Jagrit, Suvyavasthit Sahayak Part II

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” (Not to be confused with Kannada "da" as in "what daa?").


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

I have already written about Satyajit Ray's science-fiction and mystery stories. I need not say anything about his movies. But he has also left his mark on detective genre, with his Feluda stories.

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 (when his school permits), 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. I guess, I can safely say that he 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.

The Great Eagle has spoken...


P.S. The "Title Contest" in the first post's P.S. is still on... So, if you want to have a chance to tell me the topic of my next post, tell me where the title of this series comes from.

Quote of The Day:

Oh dear, I never realized what a terrible lot of explaining one has to do in a murder!
- Agatha Christie

Jagrit, Suvyavasthit Sahayak Part I

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 a real nice fun. But when the officers start brandishing their weapons (I know, wrong choice of words) on the street and start firing across Mumbai streets in the middle of 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 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” in the same sentence. 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 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 (not “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 the 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 does living in the capital. He does help 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 of mainstream detectives, Byomkesh is clever than 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 its adventures and marries her.

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

The Great Eagle has spoken...

P.S. 1. 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.

2. Anybody who tells me where the title comes from, gets to choose what post comes next... Hint: "Bahut limited hai aap ka knowledge"

Quote of The Day:

“It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify.”

- Sherlock Holmes (“The Red Headed League”)