Kolkata: Hunting locations for his first film on the exploits of Bengal`s famous fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi, director Dibakar Banerjee says that he can no longer find the Kolkata of the 40s in which the story is set.
Not a single place in the city, not even in the old northern part, retains the pure look of the 40s.
In some places, he says, the houses still remain the same, but either a modern multi-storied or a shopping mall has sprung up beside them.
"You can no more spot a single place with that typical 40s look," Dibakar, who has recently bought the rights of all 33 Byomkesh Bakshi stories written by Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, told reporters while taking a tram ride from Esplanade with some of his cast.
He, however, did not entirely abandon the locations, which are mentioned in the book, and said that his team would partly shoot there and the rest would be taken care of by graphic imagery to recreate the era when Kolkata was in the grip of World War II.
"Despite having a dated look, my Byomkesh will be targeted at the contemporary Indian audience and the generation next, and it will not be endowed with typical Bengali traits generally associated with other Bengali movies on Byomkesh," the director said.
On roping in Sushant Singh Rajput of `Kai Po Che` fame
as the main lead, Dibakar said, "My Byomkesh will be a young and sharp guy who will be accepted as a sleuth by a pan-Indian audience.
"Also Byomkesh will ideally be in his 20s and be someone who has healthy interests in life and love the company of women. That made Sushant the ultimate choice. We even want to take Byomkesh to the global audience," Dibakar said.
With the co-producers being Dibakar Banerjee Production, ` Detective Byomkesh Bakshy` will be shot from January next year.
"We hope to wrap up shooting in a year`s time," the director said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, August 8, 2013, 11:35
