A tribute to crime fiction

I love crime and mystery fiction. Many are of the opinion that crime fiction is not “literature at all”. The practitioners of “classical literature” like to look upon the writers of this genre as inferior to them. This discrepancy is more profound in Bengali literature. The amount of crime fiction written for adults in contemporary Bengali literature is negligible. For children and young adults, however, the situation is not that bad; on the contrary, some juvenile magazines are actually overdosing the young readers with crime fiction. However, I will not go into this controversy any further. But the only thing I want to say is that it is not easy to write a good crime story. The writer needs to focus on building the mystery properly, as well as on the solution of the crime committed, tying up all the loose ends nicely and logically in the process. Also, the writer has to be well-versed in the police procedural and other details involved in the field.

In the last 2-3 years, I have read a number of crime fictions by various authors. Agatha Christie has been, and will be, my all time favorite in this genre. Leaving her aside, I would like to mention about a few authors whose works I have enjoyed during this period.

At the top of this list, I have Val McDermid. She is a Scottish author, and writes two very successful series- one featuring Dr.Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, and another is Lindsay Gordon, a journalist. Along with these, she has also written some standalone novels. Among these, A Place of Execution deserves special mention.  The novel has two parallel storylines: one in 1963 and the other the present day (1999). Winner of various awards, this novel is a must for all mystery lovers.

 Tony Hill-Carol Jordan series is also enjoyable.  The Mermaids Singing is the first in this series, where we come across Dr. Tony Hill, who is a clinical psychologist. Teaming up with Detective Inspector Carol Jordan, Dr. Hill acts as a profiler for solving serial killing cases. A profiler is one who tries to build up the characteristics of an offender (killer) based on the clues obtained from the crime scene.  This helps to predict the future movements of the killer so that the police can trap and arrest him. McDermid has shown the methods of criminal profiling in minute details and great expertise. All the novels of this series are good, especially The Mermaids singing and Fever of the Bone. McDermid has the ability to hook her readers from the start. However, the details of the killings are sometimes gory.

Dashiell Hammett is my other favorite. Himself a Pinkerton detective, he is known as the Father of Hard-boiled detective fiction in the USA. He has created many legendary characters. Sam Spade is one of them. Although he has appeared in a single novel (The Maltese Falcon) and only a few short stories, but his characterization and style have influenced many private investigators of later years.

 Nick and Nora Charles, a charismatic couple who “loves to solve murder mysteries over a couple of drinks”, is another creation of Hammett. They have appeared in The Thin Man, which is a tout murder mystery. Once again, Hammett never brought back this couple in his subsequent works.

The only character that appeared frequently in Hammett’s works is the nameless Continental Op.  A private investigator of the Continental Detective Agency’s San Francisco office, he has appeared in two novels: The Red Harvest and The Dain Curse. Apart from these, he is the protagonist in a number of short stories. A man of strange principles, the Continental Op is “free of any human feelings” and a master manipulator. To him, the goodwill of his agency and the interest of his client are the only matters of interest.  The stories are collected in the books The Continental Op, The Big Knockover and Nightmare Town.

Hammett’s stories are action-packed and fast-paced. The detectives are beaten up and jailed often. The readers may question their morality in occasions, but in the end, the cases are solved and the criminals are either caught or killed. The detectives’ ways of operation are different from their “classical” counterparts. Although a fan of classical detective fiction, I love Hammett’s detectives, especially the Continental Op.

The name of Philip Marlowe is well-known to mystery fans worldwide. Raymond Chandler’s iconic creation, Marlowe is a classical example of a hard-boiled detective. He has appeared in all of Chandler’s novels (altogether 7) and a few short stories. A lover of Bourbon Whisky, Marlowe knows the city of Los Angeles like the palm of his hand.  All of Chandler’s novels give a vivid description of city life; especially Los Angeles during the ‘40s and ‘50s is described nicely.  The branch of “hard-boiled crime fiction”, as started by Hammett, has been further refined and popularized by Chandler.

 One interesting feature I noticed in Chandler’s novels is that the initial case is quite simple.  But as Marlowe starts dealing with it, he stumbles upon dead bodies, double crosses, threats, secrets and the overall scenario gets very complicated. Being 100% loyal to the client, Marlowe doggedly fights against all odds, and tries to provide justice for his client. Among the novels, my favorites are The Long Goodbye, The Big Sleep, The High Window and Farewell, My Lovely.

Apart from these three writers, I have enjoyed the works of Steve Hamilton (The Lock Artist), Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse series), Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael series) and Peter Lovesey (Sergeant Cribb series).  Recently, I have heard a lot of good things about Keigo Higashino, author of mystery novels like The Devotion of Suspect X and Salvation of a Saint. I am waiting to get hold of these books and hopefully, will love them.

I wish all the writers of this genre all over the world good luck and hope that they will continue to puzzle readers like me through their creations, continuing the guessing game forever.

The pictures of the authors have been taken from the internet.

Satyanweshi: a film to forget

Yesterday evening, as I was watching Rituparno Ghosh’s last directorial venture “Satyanweshi” (The Truth Seeker), I felt sad for Sharadindu Bandopadhyay. He did not get his due respect in the arena of Bengali literature. Moreover, two world renowned Bengali directors have botched two of his valuable creations: one was Satyajit Ray, who murdered Sharadindu’s Chiriyakhana (The Zoo) in 1967, and the second is Rituparno Ghosh, who created a mess with Chorabali (Quicksand), one of Sharadindu’s best detective stories, in 2013. The sad part is, both featured Byomkesh Bakshi, the greatest Bengali literary detective, according to my personal opinion.

In fact, in Satyanweshi, only the character names are same, but the rest is totally Rituparno’s creation. For this reason, nowhere in the opening credits did we see the mention of Sharadindu as the author.I did not see the final credits however. Ritu wrote his own story, that is acceptable, but naming the detective as Byomkesh is not acceptable. The film did not do a minimum justice to the great detective. Sujoy Ghosh as Byomkesh did not fit into the role from the start. His expressions, dialogue delivery, body language, all were flawed and lacked spontaneity. I would say that Anindya Chatterjee as Ajit was far superior to Byomkesh. He at least made an attempt to understand the character and did some justice to his role.

The story has nothing new worth mentioning. Based on a royal family, the incidents are cliché, and we have read and viewed lots of stories like this in numerous books and films before.  Indraneil Sengupta as Raja Himangshu was expressionless. His body language was stiff from the start. His wife Alaka, portrayed by Arpita Chatterjee, was pathetic. It looked as if she was been forced for the role. The only character which I liked was that of Kaligoti, the antagonist. Shivaji Bandopadhyay, in his casual manner, has done a nice job.

Another aspect which is common in many films of Rituparno is dubbing. Deepankar De dubbed for the elder Raja Arunangshu while Sumanta Mukherjee dubbed for the Dewan Chandrasekhar. At least Ritu could have used the acting skills of Deepankar and Sumanta , rather than using their voices. Himangshu is said to be passionate about hunting. But barring a stint of shooting cups being blindfolded, there was no mention of hunting. Almost 80% of the film was shot indoors, under dimly-lit lights. The performers were mostly sitting, speaking in a sad tone with each other.

The film failed from the detection angle as well. The mystery was never build up properly. In the final 10 minutes, Byomkesh merely narrated his hypothesis but did not provide any logic for his conclusions. I felt that he knew everything from the start and was just waiting for the right moment for narrating his views. A few sequences shown in the film (the picnic scene, for instance, where every person wrote 3 names in 15 seconds) had no relevance with the story or with the solution of the disappearance case.

In all, it is good to forget this film. Let us presume that alike Harinath, the film Satyanweshi has also lost in quicksand.

My rating: 1/5.

Pune Times

When I was leaving US for good half a year ago, my Indian friends there asked me where I was going. Learning about Pune, all of them told me that Pune is a good place to work and live. We arrived in Pune with a mix of skepticism and optimism in equal proportions. Skeptic about the good things we heard and the amount of truth in them, and optimistic, believing an age-old Bengali proverb.

It was late May, so the city was literally scorching with a temperature of around 40 C. I had an idea that the Pune summer is very pleasant, but first-hand experience proved something else. The heat was like that of US Midwest-without humidity, and hence, without perspiration, but very difficult for going outside. The heat will burn the skin and cause irritation. In order to protect the skin, the people were dressed strangely. Their faces were covered entirely except their eyes. They had a strong resemblance with the Maoists, as we saw their pictures in the newspapers of Kolkata.  Almost all the women we saw had the same appearance.  The percentage of Maoist-looking men, however, was much less.

 The number of two-wheelers in Pune is huge. Almost everyone has a scooter or a motorcycle, or at worst, a Scooty. Previously, I thought that Scooty was strictly for women in India (just like VW Beatle is for US women). But here, men happily ride on a Scooty, and nobody bothers about it. Unofficially, Pune is known as the “two-wheeler capital” of India.

Being new, we did not have a cell phone connection. Nowadays, life is incomplete without a cell phone, but we thought that just like Kolkata, we’ll see STD booths all around and hence will manage till we get a connection. But we were proved wrong. Combing a radius of 3 kms around my office, we did not find a single STD booth! We were informed that STD booths are extinct in the city, and an elderly realtor said, “Booth kahan milega aapko? Jabse woh cellphone wali bhrastachar aayi hai, boothon ki zaroorat kya hai”?  (Booths are nowhere. The “rotten” cell phone came, so the booths are no longer needed). We were stunned! This was really unexpected. But help came from a security guard. He gave us his cell phone for talking purpose. I haven’t seen such a friendly and jolly security guard before.

In my brief encounter of six months so far, I found that the Puneites are a friendly lot. They will help you without any vested interest. Communication with them is not a problem. Usually, they start a conversation in Marathi, but happily switch to Hindi or English on request. This is unlike the South Indians, who pretend to know only two languages: Tamil and Silence (I have been to Chennai twice and the experience is not that good). During our initial setup period, we got a lot of help from the people around our residential society. In general, they are good people, devoid of petty dishonesties.

Unlike Kolkata, every grocery store in Pune is a “Super Shoppe” (I don’t know why they put the extra “pe”, because they do not have the charm or quaintness which an authentic Shoppe should provide), named after the owner (Mahesh Super Shoppe, Manju Super Shoppe etc). Apart from the usual stationary items, each one of these “shoppe” sells vegetables. However, the price of vegetables in the “shoppe” is higher than the market prices. Initially, we did not know that and paid high prices. The first time I bought rice in Pune from a shoppe took me Rs. 60 a kilo, while the market price was Rs. 36.

Pune shopkeepers do not like bargaining. In Kolkata, we are used to this practice. Even a reduction of Rs. 5 from the asked amount is a victory from the customer’s point of view in Kolkata. But here, bargaining is a strict no-no, except maybe with a fishmonger. The person from whom I buy fish sometimes gives some reduction, mostly to round up the amount (Rs. 870 reduced to Rs. 800, for example). But he is a character and needs detailed cultivation (according to our beloved Mr. Jatayu). May be I’ll write a post about him later.

It is not possible to dwell upon all the characteristics of Pune in a single post. So I am planning to write some posts covering various features of the city. The opinions will be based on my experiences and my feelings. The only thing which I can tell with certainty right now is that my initial skepticism has largely reduced and the amount of optimism is growing gradually. Let me see what lies ahead of this journey.

AAP: Questions and concerns

During the current week (to be exact, since last Sunday), the names of AAP (Aam Aadmi Party, or Party of the common man) and Arvind Kejriwal have become quite well-known among Indian people, even to people who do not bother about politics in general.  The reason: AAP had the second highest number of seats (28) in the Delhi Assembly election. Also, their leader, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal had defeated the Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms. Sheila Dixit, by a considerable margin. The meteoric rise of AAP has pushed Indian National Congress (INC) down to number 3. They were able to bag only 8 seats out of a total of 90. The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) topped the list with 33 seats.

I will not go into the details of the origin of the AAP. To put it briefly, the AAP was launched in 2012 by a group of social activists, each a prominent personality in his/her own domain. The primary objective was to free our country from the corrupted politicians and bureaucrats.  Before forming AAP, Mr. Kejriwal himself was a key member of Team Anna and a violent preacher of the implementation of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Due to a difference of opinion with Anna Hazare, he left Team Anna and formed AAP.

The main goal of AAP is same as that of Team Anna: a corruption-free India. The party is so serious about this agenda that the official website of AAP contains detailed information about its party members along with their individual asset declarations. Although many allegations have been made both by the BJP and INC about the election funding and source of donations of AAP, Mr. Kejwiral and his comrades have countered their allegations truthfully. I don’t want to dwell upon the financial transparency of AAP in this post. That is an altogether different topic.

After the unexpected performance of AAP in the election, Delhi is in turmoil now.  Neither BJP nor AAP have got an absolute majority. Moreover, AAP has declared right after the result that they will support neither INC nor BJP. They will be happy to sit in the Opposition bench. Truly, if AAP had decided otherwise, then their credibility would be greatly at stake.  They had vehemently criticized both the parties during the election campaigns. So, remaining honest to their principle, AAP has decided to move aside, which deserves a heavy appreciation.  

BJP, on the other hand, have decided the same. Instead of the usual age-old practice of “buying MLAs”, they want to project their “modest and humble” image. They want something bigger, so this sacrifice can be profitable during the Lok Sabha election of 2014.

So a possibility of President’s rule is looming large, and if that is the case, then there will be an election for Delhi assembly along with the Parliamentary election. The question is: what will happen then? Will AAP get absolute majority to form the government?  If yes, then, more importantly, does AAP have the ability to rule a state? Can a one-year old party govern the Capital?

Fighting against corruption is one thing but ruling a state is something different. The AAP leaders, as yet, have no experience even to sit in the Oppositions bench, let alone being in power. Will the Delhi people trust AAP this far?  This is a million dollar question which needs to be considered seriously. We should keep a close look at the proceedings. Something khas (special) may happen involving the party of the Aam (common) people.

My favorite trio

In the last few years, a number of strong actors have emerged in the Bengali film industry.  Their presence has encouraged the directors to deviate from the usual “formula 44” route and take a few risks, most of which have been successful. I would like to talk a little bit about some of my favorite actors of recent times.

Let me start with Saswata Chatterjee first.  I first watched him in the Feluda movie Baksho Rahasya as Topshe. He did a few Topshe roles in the subsequent Feluda stories which were serialized by Sandip Ray. But the first time I really noticed him was in the film Bong Connection, directed by Anjan Dutt. As Bhai da, his role was a very small one. He appeared in three scenes only, but the impact he made, at least upon me, was immense. Immediately, I became his admirer and started to follow his films.

The way Saswata has matured as an actor is really praiseworthy. After Bong Connection, he portrayed Ashim in Anjan Dutt’s Chalo Let’s Go and went on to act in numerous roles. But the cracker came in the film Kahaani, as Bob Biswas. Indian audience have neither seen nor dreamt of a contract killer like him before. With only a single dialogue and three appearances, Saswata became famous throughout the country.  Since then, he has been brilliant in films like Bhooter Bhobisyat, Namte Namte and a couple of Byomkesh Bakshi films as Ajit.

His two recent ventures, Meghe Dhaka Tara and Proloy, have also been hugely successful. In the first, he has portrayed the character of the great Ritwik Ghatak to perfection. In Proloy, his role as a special branch police officer has also been a treat to watch. I haven’t watched his latest ventures - Aschorjo Pradeep and C/O Sir yet, but they have been praised by the audience a great deal. I am confident that Saswata will not disappoint me. According to me, he is the best Bengali actor of recent times.

Next I would like to talk about Rudranil Ghosh. Starting with a comic role in the ETV Bangla serial Ek Nombor Mesbari, Rudra has transformed himself as one of the finest character artists in the industry.  I loved his performance in films like Kaal, Kantatar, Kaaler Rakhal , Chalo Let’s go and Kaalbela. Till then, my opinion about Rudra was that he was an above average actor, and some specific roles really suited him well. Teen Yari Katha was another film where I just loved Rudra’s performance.

 But everything changed when I watched the film Chaplin. In this film, he surpassed himself and to me, this has been his finest performance so far. He carried the film alone in his shoulders, and his performance has been lauded by audience throughout the country. His performance in the recent film Hawa Badal was good, but the weak plot of the film did not make much impact on the audience. However, his latest villainy in the film Pralay was outstanding. I am waiting to see his role in the yet-to-be-released Hanuman.com.

This discussion will remain incomplete if I do not mention about Mr. Prasenjit Chatterjee aka Bumbada (or Poenjit, as he was called before). To me, Prasenjit is a real wonder. A man who can act in films like Baba Keno Chakor, Purushottam, Annadata and Refugee as well as in Doshor, Autograph, Moner Manush and Baishey Sraban must be special in his acting abilities and range of versatility. The way he has metamorphosed himself during recent years has left many viewers awestruck.  

The Bengali film industry was largely wasting this talent for almost 25 years (barring a few cases) but now, the new era directors are using Prasenjit’s talent to the fullest, thereby adding a new dimension to his acting career as well as the enrichment of Bengali films. Prasenjit himself has taken the risk to change his image more frequently than he was doing before.  The new avatar of him deserves a separate discussion and so I am reserving the topic for future.

I have mentioned only three of my recent favorite actors, but obviously there are many others who have contributed in changing the mundane scenario of Bengali film industry. The result has been wonderful and film lovers like me are really grateful and thankful to these actors and directors for their good work. I want to thank Saswata, Rudranil and Prasenjit whole heartedly and wish them good luck in all their future endeavors. May the newly found trend continue….

A new beginning

Sitting idle at my office cubicle, I was surfing the internet and was going through many blogs. Reading blogs has been my recent hobby. Many of my friends are "bloggers", and some of them are really good ones. Visiting their blogs give me links of other bloggers as well, people whom I do not know. I like to read their blogs even more, because through their writings, I get to know the person behind these creations. Learning about new things is an added benefit.

It was by this "blog hopping" today that I stumbled upon my own blog!! I had started this blog way back in 2006, and had maintained it till 2008. Then somehow, I lost interest in blogging and eventually, forgot about it. After a prolonged interval, I have decided to revive this companion of mine, who was waiting for me, without any protest, for these many years.

I did not write anything during these 5 years, except a few reports needed for my job and updating my resume occasionally. So, I am searching for topics to write about. Being out of the scene for so long has taken a heavy toll upon me. Hopefully I will be able to overcome this obstacle and will make a fresh start.

Till then, good bye.