film: Shekhar Home
Director: Srijit Mukherji and Rohan Sippy
Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Ranvir Shorey, Rasika Duggal, Kirti Kulhari, Kaushik Sen and Rudranil Ghosh
Sheetal
When reimagining a Sherlock Holmes detective saga in an Indian setting, West Bengal is the right choice because the new series, ‘Shekhar Home’, convinces you so. Set in the fictional town of Lonpur, it is an ode to Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective Sherlock Holmes and draws several parallels with his works.
The first few cases are solved locally, but the scene shifts when the cases take the protagonist first to Bihar and then Kolkata. The timeline of the early 1990s gives you that vibe from the Doordarshan era, hitting you with nostalgia and excitement.
Kay Kay Menon as Shekhar Home (a play on Sherlock Holmes, of course) is a lone wolf hunting for clues when any investigation is offered to him. Be it a goat being stolen or a murder, he treats every case as important.
In comes Dr Jayavrat Sahni (Ranvir Shorey), Shekhar’s new paying guest, who turns into his assistant and then partner in their detective company. To step into Sherlock’s shoes without a hat is almost impossible, but Kay Kay does it with his Baatik kurtas, a finger-on-his-lips style deep brooding and love for playing rabab at night. Jayavrat (Dr John Watson in Sherlock’s world) could have been the best partner Shekhar could’ve asked for, but falls short.
They are supported by actors Rasika Duggal, Rudranil Ghosh and Kaushik Sen, who play crucial characters in this universe. Kaushik Sen as Kay Kay’s brother Mrinmay (Mycroft) and Rasika Duggal as Irabaty (Holmes’ love interest Irene) manage to strike a chord and match Shekhar’s eccentric character. Actress Kirti Kulhari, modelled on Holmes’ iconic adversary Moriarty, here Mumtaz, doesn’t make much of a difference with her presence.
The episodes are slow and do not hold the attention of viewers. The series offers a good climax but it got delayed as writers Aniruddha Guha and Niharika Puri were busy turning Sherlock Holmes into Shekhar Home. However, kudos to Vaibhav Vishal, who made a difference with his dialogues for the protagonist.
To put it simply, it’s not the best Indian adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, but a good effort from the director duo of Srijit Mukherji and Rohan Sippy nonetheless.