Rajit Kapur and Sadhana Singh chat with Sunday mid-day about their new film, an old-school murder mystery set in the hills, and how nearly three decades after his turn as Byomkesh Bakshi in the ’90s, Kapur is back as a different Bengali detective
Rajit Kapur and Sadhana Singh-starrer, Kaisi Ye Paheli recently premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival. PIC/NIMESH DAVE
The Byomkesh image has become so strong in people’s minds that they have often wanted me to repeat that. But that’s already been done,” actor Rajit Kapur tells us as we settle down in his office for a chat about Kaisi Ye Paheli, a murder mystery written and directed by first-time filmmaker Ananyabrata Chakravorty. In the film, which premièred recently at the New York Indian Film Festival, Kapur plays a Bengali detective, nearly three decades after he famously appeared as Byomkesh Bakshi in Basu Chatterjee’s acclaimed Doordarshan series that originally ran from 1993 to 1997.
Detective Bondo, the character Kapur plays in the new film, goes beyond simplistic pigeonholing to present someone who is more than his vocation. “He may be a detective by profession, but I am seeing a man who is involved with the politics of the city and has been asked to come to a little village in the hills to solve a case. He is suave and snazzy, and determined to do things his way without accepting and acknowledging the way the small police chowki functions. So, I’m seeing another personality in the guise of a detective. That’s why I felt that this could be interesting and totally different from the image of Byomkesh.”
Rajit Kapur and Sadhana Singh star in Kaisi Ye Paheli, a murder mystery which recently premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival. PIC/NIMESH DAVE
Kapur, who lists the 1965 Gumnaam as a mystery thriller that has stayed with him simply by virtue of its skilled storytelling, shot-taking and engaging characterisation, speaks of how crime thrillers in the last decade have brought “a modern FBI/RAW feel to the detective or cop without necessarily giving them a character… Some of those classics still keep you guessing, and without the gimmicks, games or VFX.”
For actress Sadhana Singh who plays the lead in the film as the mother of a policeman (played by actor Sukant Goel), it was like playing a version of herself. “I’m so much like her, interested in culture just like her. I had to be myself,” says the actress, who began her film career with Nadiya Ke Paar in 1982. As a mother in real life, she understands the aggression that children often unwittingly direct at parents, an experience her character faces in the film. “I didn’t try to prep or put in anything extra. I realised I have to just play myself as the mother [I am].” She points out that her character forgives her son every time, which is typical of mothers, but there are expectations too. “Our children hurt us 10 times in a day, but we forgive them each time. She wants attention and love. While they say a mother’s love is unconditional, I feel we also expect a lot from our children.”
Shot in Sikkim, the film has a quaintness and a sense of intimacy that would certainly be missing had it been set in a big city. “A new place like that transports you into another zone,” admits Kapur. “You suddenly feel like you are somewhere else and therefore you are somebody else,” he says, pointing out how his character, right from his introduction, brings his city arrogance to this small hill outpost. “You get the feeling that he’s not from here.” Singh, on the other hand, gives us a peek into the challenges of shooting in the hills, describing a risky but important shot where her character sits behind her son on his bike but is hesitant to hold him. “I was too scared of the motorbike. And on top of that, Sukant [Goel] said he wasn’t sure of his driving skills [laughs]! It was a hilly slope with potholes, as it was quite rainy when we were shooting. It was a huge stunt for me.”
Both actors speak of the energy of the first-time director and his openness to suggestions which, as Kapur says, opens up “possibilities for exploration”. He also speaks of the plausibility that comes with fleshing out real characters and bringing a lived-in feeling to a place. “Writers or directors are often trying to be extra smart with the audience,” he says, whereas here the mystery develops on the basis of logical circumstances. “So, it is more believable than trying a ping pong game which happens in most whodunnits, where you’re purposely trying to throw the viewer off the suspect. And sometimes those ‘games’ become very obvious. There are no games here.”
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