Rajit Kapur: Basuda's Byomkesh was sans frills

A still from the show

Writer Sujit Sen had recommended me to Basuda for Byomkesh Bakshi. When I met him, he was thoroughly prepared with the script of 30-plus episodes. The fictional Bengali detective, created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, may be a top-notch sleuth, but in Basuda's world, he was without frills or overt gestures.

Since Basuda had written the script, he asked me to tell him if I found anything wrong with the [construction] of the Hindi [dialogues]. Even though it was my first collaboration with him, I was not apprehensive. In our first meeting, he had clearly told me his vision - keep it simple, and I followed his advice.

As a filmmaker, he was organised and professional. If he asked the crew to report to the set at 9 am, you could be assured that the shoot would begin latest by 9.20 am. We used to wrap up by 6 pm and go home. Besides me, KK Raina, Sukanya Kulkarni and Kartik Dutta featured in every episode.

The set was minimal, and the styling basic, yet the audience was hooked to the whodunit. The credit goes largely to Basuda. Almost 30 years later, I am still remembered for the show. It is being aired again as part of the lockdown line-up. It has been re-telecast several times earlier, but it is grabbing attention now because everyone is home.

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