Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! : A Bollywood Soundtrack Par Excellence
There are classics, there are cult favourites and then, there’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015), a film like no other, at least in Bollywood. Widely overlooked upon its release, it has only gotten better with age. I myself wasn’t ready to see one of my favourite Bengali literary characters in the ‘Detective’ avatar. Everything, starting from its poster, costumes, production design, casting, cinematography to its genre-defying soundtrack, was unconventional to say the least. No Byomkesh fan ever expected Sushant Singh Rajput to don the eponymous character on screen, unibrow and all. For many, the charm associated with Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s ‘Satyanweshi’ completely got lost in translation. But Dibakar Banerjee didn’t intend to make yet another ‘Byomkesh’ film. He tried something in the fashion of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock and well, he delivered. Being a hit-or-miss approach, it didn’t sit well with many, especially the ‘Bong’ intelligentsia, largely used to whatever the Dutts and Sils of the world have to offer. Add to that a stunningly original soundtrack which doesn’t follow the established Bollywood soundtrack template at all. I can go on ranting about DBB, the film, but here, I’ll try to shed some light on its soundtrack which has been instrumental in introducing me to some of the most experimental independent Indian music artists out there and to sounds I wasn’t used to before.
Much like the rest of the film, the soundtrack too is completely off the beaten path. Music almost becomes a character in DBB, much like in Dibakar’s previous works, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008) and Shanghai (2012), to a much greater effect. Assembling indie artists as diverse as Madboy/Mink, Peter Cat Recording Co., Blek, Joint Family, IJA, out of which Sneha Khanwalkar was the only well-known face in Bollywood, the soundtrack was one true collaborative marvel. Gone are those days when any random film made in Bollywood used to feel like a musical. Be it a thriller, or a comedy, or a horror, songs used to fill up most of its running time. It still does, but except for a few, it serves a greater narrative purpose. DBB takes it to another level. While there are very few complete songs featured in the movie, they serve as mood pieces throughout. A thorough listening of the album helps to notice the scattered brilliance of its use in the film.
The song which appears in the film most prominently is Suryakant Sawhney’s (Peter Cat Recording Co.) ‘Jaanam’, a 50s Bollywood-style waltz song with a bluesy Dream Pop-esque production as the highly-stylised opening credits start to roll. A throwback to the bygone era, the song familiarises the audience to the ‘period’ setting of the film. The camera lingers on the hustle-bustle of the old streets of Calcutta in the morning for a while as a tram appears. The meticulous set design recreates everything you’d associate with the old-world charm of Calcutta and much more. ‘Jaanam’ also has an air of mystery in its sound very much steeped in the noir-ish aesthetic of the film. It’s no wonder that Suryakant Sawhney would go on to produce brilliant music for his band Peter Cat Recording Co. and Lifafa, his electronic/experimental alter ego.
The other tracks are mostly sprinkled throughout its running time in moments you’d least expect. You cannot assign a particular genre to any of the songs as the soundtrack keeps shifting between genres as eclectic as jazz, nu-metal, hip-hop, electronic, indie pop, rock totally alien to the days during which the film is set in. This is very much like what Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby (2013) or Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012) attempted.
The album begins with ‘Calcutta Kiss’, a throwback to the Roaring Twenties with a contemporary electronic twang. Composed by Madboy/Mink, the Electro-Funk duo project of Saba Azad and Imaad Shah, the rollicking song is impeccably sung by Saba Azad.
The mystery is heightened as the next track in the album begins with the illusion of someone vigorously banging a door. ‘Bach Ke Bakshy’ is Sneha Khanwalkar at her experimental peak as she pours in whatever she could in a single song. The fast-paced rap verses by Smokey the Ghosht and Craz Professa deftly take us through the whole plot of the movie.
The following track, Mode.AKA’s ‘Chase in Chinatown’ is a quintessential chase song. The steady bass-heavy intro lures us into the impending chaos of Vyshnav Balasubramaniam, Sandeep Madhavan and Manas Ullas’ heavy vocals, very much in the vein of Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine). Again, it’s very difficult to assign a particular genre to this piece as it sounds like a seamless blend of heavy RATM-style rap rock and electronic sounds.
The penultimate ‘Life’s a Bitch’ is a proper Nu Metal track by the band Joint Family ideal for relentless headbanging. The album slows down for its mostly ambient final track ‘Yang Guang Lives’ with hushed whispers which gradually builds up to an alluring blend of percussion beats, electronic and guitar licks with a hint of Djent.
One more track to go. The final showdown of the film takes place in a room with all the usual suspects in a circle as you’d expect in a Byomkesh murder mystery. Dibakar Banerjee ‘breaks the law’ yet again as the proceedings take on a violent note, but with a delicious twist. A romantic electronic ballad “Byomkesh in Love” plays in the background with semi-classical vocal hooks. Add to that, an expertly shot slow-motion sequence. The track composed by Blek incorporates the contrasting vocals of Rishi Bradoo and Usri Banerjee to provide one of the most calming moments in the album.
It’s now safe to say that Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is one of the most experimental, revisionist film soundtracks ever recorded in any language and it deserves to be heard by anyone seeking something new.
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