Bhawal Follows Byomkesh Bakshi
RBN Web Desk: It’s an overdose of sorts. Director Anjan Dutt reengineered interest in the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi, with a film of the same name in 2010 that had Abir Chatterjee playing the title role. There has since been a plethora of Byomkesh on various media with Jisshu Sengupta taking on the gloves from Abir in the franchise directed by Dutt. Abir, meanwhile, switched camps to Shree Venkatesh Films (SVF) to play Byomkesh in a series directed by Arindam Sil. Gaurav Chakraborty, meanwile, took on the detective’s garb for a series on television, while the promising Anirban Bhattacharya has been cast as Byomkesh in a new web series produced by SVF.
With Byomkesh Bakshi now largely done and dusted, production houses have suddenly started showing interest on the Bhawal case. The case, which was an extended legal battle about a probable imposter who claimed himself as Ramendra Narayan Roy, a prince of the estate. The Uttam Kumar starrer Sanyasi Raja (1975) was presumably based on the high-profile case. The film, however, was a far departure from the actual incidents.
Director Srijit Mukherje announced in May that he is scripting a film on the Bhawal case, to be produced by SVF. He is already in talks with two leading Tollywood stars for the project. The film, Srijit said, will be based on the facts of the case.
Meanwhile, Sanyasiraja, a TV serial on the Bhawal case is currently being aired on Star Jalsha, where Saheb Chattopadhyay has stepped into Uttam Kumar’s shoes. Saheb has also covered the Manna Dey hit Kaharba Noy Dadra Bajao from the film.
According to some sources, the actor-singer was supposed to travel abroad for several stage shows. But he cancelled all that to devote more time to the serial. Saheb is reportedly being paid an astronomical fee compared to even the Bengali film industry standard, for his role.
Star Plus meanwhile has commissioned a TV serial based on the Bhawal estate case. The project is being helmed by director Prakash Jha. Shooting for the first few episodes of the serial was recently held at the Mahishadal Rajbari.
It seems that after Byomkesh Bakshi, the Bhawal case has grabbed eyeballs of production houses in both Mumbai and Kolkata.