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Byomkesh Bakshi is an Indian-Bengali fictional detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Referring to himself as a "truth-seeker" or Satyanweshi in the stories, Bakshi is known for his proficiency with observation, logical reasoning, and forensic science which he uses to solve complicated cases, usually murders, occurring in Calcutta.

Byomkesh's first appearance is in the story "Pother Kanta", where he demonstrates the strength of fundamental logical deduction and systematic reasoning in establishing circumstantial evidence. However, his formal introduction is in "Satyanweshi", his third story, a murder mystery involving cocaine trafficking. In this story, Byomkesh adopts the alias Atul Chandra Mitra and meets Ajit Bandyopadhyay, a writer who would become his close companion and the narrator of the Byomkesh stories

Byomkesh's names have evolved in Bengali vernacular to denote individuals who exemplify keen intelligence and acute observation. The character has had a profound influence and legacy, playing a crucial role in the development of detective fiction in India, a genre that often remains underrepresented in the international literary scene.

Character

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's most well known fictional character Byomkesh Bakshi first appeared as a character in the story Satyanweshi (The Inquisitor). The story is set in 1932 in the Chinabazar area of Kolkata where a 'non-government detective' Byomkesh Bakshi, owing to the permission from the police commissioner, starts living in a mess in that area under the pseudonym of Atul Chandra Mitra to probe a series of murders.

Most of the stories are written from Ajit Kumar Banerjee's perspective, who meets Byomkesh in the mess at Chinabazar. Byomkesh later asks Ajit to live with him at his three-story rented house at Harrison Road as his assistant and chronicler. The only other person in his household is his attendant Putiram.

In the beginning of the stories, Byomkesh Bakshi is described as "a man of twenty-three or twenty-four years of age who looked well educated." Byomkesh is a Hindu and wears mostly a white shirt/kurta with a white dhoti, occasionally draping a shawl. He does not live in luxury but possesses numerous books. He travels frequently, and does not own a gun and does not consider himself to be an "expensive helper". He habitually smokes and drinks tea with milk. He is fluent in Bengali, Hindi, and English. Byomkesh does not like being called a detective, and thinks the word 'investigator' even worse. Thus, he fashions a new name for himself which he inscribes on a brass plate in front of his house. The plaque read "Byomkesh Bakshi: Satyanweshi" (The Inquisitor).

Family

Unlike other lead characters in similar detective fictional stories, Byomkesh Bakshi marries, ages, and also contemplates material things such as buying a car. Later, he also decides to buy land in Keyatala in South Kolkata and shifts to his new home. Byomkesh meets Satyabati, his future wife and the accused Sukumar's sister, in 'Arthamanartham'. The story 'Adim Ripu' provides some information about Byomkesh's early childhood. His father Mahadev Bakshi was a mathematics teacher at a school and practised Sankhya philosophy at home while his mother was the daughter of a Vaishnavite. When Byomkesh was seventeen years old, his parents died of tuberculosis. Later, Byomkesh passed University with scholarship. During the Second World War and after India's independence, Byomkesh, Satyabati and Ajit live in the mess house of Harrison Road. Byomkesh gradually ages through the series, and has a son called Khoka (Little Boy) in the series.

The Byomkesh Bakshi Antholog

From 1932 until his death in 1970, Saradindu Bandopadhyay wrote 32 Byomkesh Bakshi stories. Initially, Byomkesh's close friend and chronicler, Ajit Kumar Banerjee, serves as both companion and occasional investigator in Byomkesh's absence, as seen in stories like Makorshar Rosh and Shoilo Rahasya. While early tales use traditional Bengali, the language transitions to a more conversational style in later works. Notably, in later stories such as Room Nombor Dui, Chhlonar Chhondo, Shajarur Kanta, Benisonghaar, and Lohar Biskut, Ajit is absent as he focuses on his publication business.

The stories vary widely in their depiction of crime—from complex drug networks, as in Satyanweshi, to domestic mysteries like Arthamanartham and Makorshar Rosh. Though Bandopadhyay ceased writing Byomkesh stories between 1938 and 1951 while working in Bombay's film industry, public demand led him to resume with Chitrachor (Picture Imperfect) in 1951. His last story, Bishupal Badh (The Killing of Bishupal), was left incomplete upon his passing in 1970.

List of stories

In media

The stories have been adapted into several television series, radio programs, audio dramas, films, and video games.

Chiriyakhana (1967) is an Indian Bengali-language crime thriller film based on the story of the same name, directed by Satyajit Ray and written by Bandyopadhyay and Ray, it starred Uttam Kumar as Byomkesh Bakshi.

The 1993–97 Byomkesh Bakshi television series, created by Basu Chatterjee, and starring Rajit Kapur as Byomkesh Bakshi, and K.K. Raina as Ajit respectively, became one of the most critically acclaimed and celebrated adaptation of the character. These television series are cast by Doordarshan.

There have been 20 Byomkesh Bakshi films, with Abir Chatterjee portraying the detective in seven of them.

The Satyanweshi audio drama series, created by actor Aneesh See Yay, adapted twenty-two Byomkesh Bakshi novels and produced eight original audio dramas in Malayalam.

In 2014, Colors Bangla aired a TV series titled Byomkesh, starring Gourav Chakrabarty as Byomkesh and Ridhima Ghosh as Satyabati. Produced by Dag Creative Media, the series was well received by audiences.

In 2015, the Bollywood film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! featured Sushant Singh Rajput as the lead, bringing Byomkesh to a national audience.

Byomkesh was also referenced in The Big Bang Theory Season 7, Episode 18, where Sherlock Holmes is humorously dubbed the "English Byomkesh Bakshi."

Anupam Roy refers to Byomkesh Bakshi in his song "Kolkata", for the Bengali film Praktan.

Radio Mirchi’s Sunday Suspense has adapted several Byomkesh stories, including Satyanweshi, Pather Kanta, and Durgo Rahasya, with RJ Mir initially voicing Byomkesh, later replaced by Gourav Chakrabarty following Mir's departure.

See also

• Feluda
• Sherlock Holmes
• Parashor Barma
• Kiriti Roy
• Roy, Pinaki. The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Cultural Rereading of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories. New Delhi: Sarup and Sons, 2008.

References

1. Deb, Sandipan (4 December 2014). "The curious case of Byomkesh Bakshi". mint. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
2. Dey, Anindita (27 December 2021). Sherlock Holmes, Byomkesh Bakshi, and Feluda: Negotiating the Center and the Periphery. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4985-1211-4.
3. "Saradindu Bandyopadhyay". parabaas. 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
4. "The Man Behind Byomkesh Bakshi". Retrieved 29 October 2024.
5. "Off the beaten track: TV show Byomkesh Bakshi is popular even now". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
6. "Satyanweshi". YouTube.
7. Sunday Suspense | Byomkesh | Satyanweshi | Shorodindu Bandopadhyay | Mirchi 98.3, 20 July 2018, retrieved 6 January 2022

• Byomkesh Bakshi
• Indian film characters
• Literary characters introduced in 1932
• Fictional detectives
• Fictional private investigators
• Fictional Indian detectives
• Fictional Indian people in literature
• Fictional Bengali people
• Indian detective novels
• Indian crime novels
• Fictional Hindus