Movies involving investigation and research gives us an insight of the intricacies of thought and deduction which is rare in most human minds. Films like ‘Talvar’ and ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ are based on a true event and a work of fiction respectively. The character of Byomkesh Bakshi was penned by Sharadindu Bandhopadhyay as a work of fiction based in Calcutta. On the other hand, ‘Talvar’ is an actual criminal case which had taken place in Noida. The movie was directed by Meghna Gulzar and written by Vishal Bharadwaj.
These two movies, rather the case that is being dealt with in the movies have two entirely different methods of investigation. The Bakshi case started off as a missing complaint of Bhuvan Babu which blew up to include elements like murder, gangsters and drug mafia. Whereas, Talvar is based on a double homicide case of Shruti Tandon and their house help, Khempal. These were the basic initiation points of both the plotlines.
As far as the investigation technique is concerned, the double murder case switched many hands beginning from the local police to the CBI and then the seniors of the officers working on the case. In this entire process, many of the circumstantial evidences were not taken into account, some got erased like blood stains on the walls of the terrace and fingerprints. However, the investigation started from the point where the murder occurred and spread around the location of the crime only. The little details of when the maid had come in, who opened the door, who gave handed over the key to the maid and when were the victims seen last. Interrogation was the most commonly used tool throughout the enquiry since that was the only thing they could rely on, at that point, pertaining to the loss of any more physical evidences. Other information like the Shruti’s father’s extra-marital affair was also a key information for the progression if the case. The former complaint in the Bakshi story just proved to be a clue for a much larger spectrum of criminal activities. Byomkesh Bakshi had to go around the city looking for clues, he had to investigate many people in order to reach to a conclusion. He picked up hints at every point through interrogation, following sources and going undercover. The Talvar case was more evident but it was more difficult to prove who the actual murderer was, the Bakshi case was really complex to figure however, was more straight forward.
On analyzing the entire situation in the Talvar case, the blame was placed on the servant before he too was found dead. Later on, the parents were accused of honour killing as they had allegedly found Khempal and Shruti in a compromising position. Upon further enquiry by the CBI, the parents were led off the charges. The investigation went on and the parents were finally found guilty of the homicides. Byomkesh Bakshi’s study led him to varied conclusions. He went on to find the murderer of Bhuvan where he found the heroin which finally led him to the drug mafia spear headed by Yang Guang (Anukul Guha). This was set during the time of the second World War so it involved other countries like the Japanese who were trying to own the opium business in Calcutta. Therefore, Bakshi also found out that he was about to strike a deal with them so that they attack Calcutta and take over the city.
As a result of the Talvar case, nothing could be proved definitively regarding who the murderer was. The CBI officer Ashwin Kumar did not put the deceased’s parents on the stand but the other officials and apparently most of the evidences did. Therefore, we cannot pinpoint if the ultimate decision was justified or not. The Bakshi case, even if closed but the accused runs free, the movie ends with a cliff hanger where Guang is promises to return for revenge.
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