Tollywood actor Ankush Hazra has taken the OTT plunge with the Nirjhar Mitra-directed ZEE5 Original series Shikarpur. With Kaushik Ganguly as creative presenter, this is a thriller set in a small town where a guy-next-door turns into a detective, probing a series of murders in the locality.
Thriller set in a sleepy town
Ankush plays Keshto, an amateur detective in Shikarpur, a sleepy town in north Bengal, who wants to make it big like Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi. He is in love with his mentor’s daughter, Chumki (Sandipta Sen). When a series of gruesome murders rock Shikarpur, Keshto thinks that his opportunity has arrived and goes in pursuit of the suspect. Locals, however, blame the murders on an evil spirit.
A new detective and his mentor
Ankush confidently slips into the role of Keshto, an aspiring sleuth who is bent on proving his mettle despite what others think of his abilities. He looks the part — in chequered shirt, sling bag and sunglasses — but is sometimes over the top. Unlike Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi, both of whom have a trusted younger cousin or friend as an aide, Keshto has a mentor who is seasoned in sleuthing.
Kaushik Ganguly plays that role — Dindayal Biswas — and runs away with it. He delivers a layered performance and brings to life the quirks and whims of this slightly larger-than-life character.
The spunky Chumki and other delightful characters
Keshto’s love interest, Chumki, is not the typical coy and sugary sweet girlfriend. She can hold her own and stand up to unscrupulous police officers. The fact that she helps her beau put the pieces of the puzzle together shows that she’s her father’s daughter. It also makes us feel she might have a brighter career than Keshto if she took up sleuthing full-time. Sandipta becomes Chumki with ease.
The village of Shikarpur is home to quite a few delightful characters with their own backstories. Sayan Ghosh as the magician is one such well-written role. Korak Samanta and Krishnendu Dewanji also deserve a special mention for their portrayal of villagers.
A refreshing approach to storytelling
Though there is no dearth of crime thrillers in the Bengali OTT space, what sets Shikarpur apart is its storytelling approach. One expects whodunit mysteries to be dark and edgy, but Shikarpur is refreshingly light in tone. Despite going on for nine episodes — a tad too long for a detective thriller — the screenplay written by Sayak Roy and Nilanjan Chakraborty keeps the tension alive with fresh twists in almost every episode.
Just when you begin to suspect a character, the story takes a turn, leaving you flummoxed. Multiple timeline structures, historical motives behind the crimes, appearance of a mythological character — there are surprises galore in this series.
