In the book called The Geography of Genius, Eric Weiner explores a series of so-called genius clusters — cities that have produced an inordinate number of scientific, artistic, philosophical, literary, or musical breakthroughs at some point in history. Weiner discovers that genius tends to spring up not in sunny complacent paradises, but rather in cities that have recently suffered hardship. Calcutta is one of them.

But perhaps most importantly, the essential ingredients in the ineffable search for genius seem to be chaos, uncertainty, a certain level of hardship, dirt, and grit. And there was born Byomkesh Bakshi.

Somebody has very rightly said that Bakshi has aged, unlike Sherlock who was too good to be true. Bakshi is realistic. He can be anyone and everyone. Out of all the Byomkesh films and shows that have been made, my favourites are Byomkesh O Pinjrapol, Har Har Byomkesh by Arindam Sil and Byomkesh O Agniban by Anjan Dutt.

In the story Aadim Ripu, Byomkesh says his father was a maths teacher in a school, who used to read Sankhya Upanishad at leisure. Byomkesh describes his mother as a lady brought up in a Vaishnava family, her fascination being her Nandadulal (Baalgopal idol worshipped traditionally). They both passed away of tuberculosis when Byomkesh was 17, leaving the him to complete his graduation through scholarships and then establish himself as a Satyanweshi.

Birsa Dasgupta's Byomkesh O Durgo Rahasya deals with three genres simultaneously — history, thriller and romance. The undercurrent of Tulsi and Ramapati is unforgettable. Also please note the complexities of the backdrop and timeline.

Dev’s passion for performing and entertaining is a key quality, and a good actor has the confidence to portray the role in a production convincingly and connect with audiences. Dev has charisma — one of those real surface qualities that you would expect in Byomkesh — and puts in hard work and commitment — another trait that should go without saying and Dev has proved it in every film — and confidence, which made Dev what he is today.

The choice of films Rukmini Maitra is making is incredibly tough, with Binodini, Draupadi, Durgo Rahashya, Switzerland, and Kishmish and she is doing it all with ease. Rukmini has an exceptional understanding of human behaviour — what people want and need, universally, on the deepest level. Every single role she tackles requires her ability to dig deep into the psyche behind their character and figure out their motives, which determine their behaviour. Rukmini is doing it meticulously, be it in Kishmish and Byomkesh O Durgo Rahasya.

The way Ajit is treated by Birsa Dasgupta is very unique. Ajit is the key to Byomkesh. Ajit has a choice, Ajit has wit. Ajit is far more intelligent than Watson. Watson is not Holmes’s equal. Their friendship is not based on equality but on admiration. Byomkesh and Ajit share a much more equal relationship — Ajit is a successful writer and publisher, and Byomkesh respects Ajit’s skills as a writer. Ambarish Bhattacharya plays Ajit brilliantly. Apart from Saswata Chatterjee, all the other actors playing Ajit were never utilised in a proper way.

In the film, Rajatava Dutta, Shantilal Mukherjee, Debesh Chattopadhyay, Satyam Bhattacharya and Shankar Debnath have done fabulous jobs. Atmadeep Ghosh and Debraj Mukherjee have also performed brilliantly. Also, one must make a special mention of Pranami Banerjee and Poojita Banerjee.

Directors driven by perfectionism are hardly satisfied with anything that is just good enough. They uncompromisingly drive themselves and everyone around them to make the movies which linger in our memory for a very long time. Birsa has done it brilliantly in Byomkesh O Durgo Rahasya. This film will be remembered.

Birsa Dasgupta and cinematographer Subhankar Bhar are like Sachin-Saurav or Simon and Garfunkel. As a director and cinematographer what they did is they broke the traditional ways of seeing a film. For a large section of the audience, cinematography is about photography, innovative shots and beautiful lighting, but I think that what really defines a great cinematographer is one who loves to create stories in every frame. And Subhankar does that. Diptarka Bose brings a disruptive freshness to the soundscape of music. Jayanti Sen is brilliant in her styling.

A moment from Byomkesh O Durgo Rahasya

All good things must come to an end, and endings are important. The knowledge of that ending adds incredible value to Byomkesh O Durgo Rahasya.