Murder By The Sea review: Anjan Dutt’s whodunit is a clean murder mystery without being really rivetting

With an ensemble cast of Anjan Dutta, Ananya Chatterjee, Arjun Chakrabarty, Trina Saha, Sujan Mukhopadhyay and others, the Hoichoi series is entertaining.

A scene from Murder By The Sea

Murder By The Sea

Story: Eminent crime novelist  Arpita Sen (Ananya Chatterjee) comes to Puri with her husband Raja Sen (Anjan Dutt). She grew up in Puri and childhood trauma keeps on haunting her even today. Getting involved in a murder case,  she starts to investigate and finds that some old photographs are somehow related to the murder. Meanwhile, another murder takes place. Highly suspicious characters gather around Arpita.

Review: Murder By The Sea is a simple and clean detective story. Its storyline, characters and structure present a blend of British whodunit and Nordic noir. Most of the characters are layered with backstories. Dialogues and characterisation are also tastefully designed.

The series starts well, falters mid way and finally picks up its pace as Arpita joins all the dots. The series starts with murder but for the longest time, the audience cannot see the face of the first victim. As a result, it becomes difficult to associate or connect with the victim.

On the other hand, certain characters like Barun (Sujan Mukhopadhyay) and Arun (Rupankar Bagchi) add little value to the series. In fact, the childhood trauma of Arpita Sen seems expendable vis-a-vis the murder mystery. Out of all the characters, Ramen (Suprabhat) is strictly one-dimensional and lacks layers.

Another problem comes by the end of the show. When Arpita reaches her conclusion, the whole scene becomes verbose. Almost every bit of revelation comes through spoken words sans visual elements. It comes fast and gets a little confusing. To get a grip on the mystery, one may need to go back and rewatch. The chronology of who takes the incriminating photos from whom remains unclear. Why one of the suspects does not recognise or does not confront despite recognising a subject in the photo also remains unclear. Also, who was behind the attack on Arpita is not explained. What happened to the new will? If it was a lie by Barun then what happens to him remains unknown.

Anjan Dutt, Suprabhat, Arjun Chakraborty and Trina Saha present a stellar performance. All four of them are superbly convincing. Arjun and Trina’s fights look real. Trina’s screen presence is so natural that it does not even look like acting. Anjan is known to be a brilliant actor. His comic timing, body language, dialogues, everything is spot on. Ananya is overall very good. However, at times she goes overboard, especially in her hysteric moments. Her chemistry with Anjan is perfect. Rupankar looks a little loud at times. Sujan and Paayel Sarkar have done a good job whenever they got the scope.

Verdict: Despite banking on an Agatha Christie-like cliched plot, Anjan Dutta’s newest murder mystery sometimes falters and becomes slow. However, Murder By The Sea is still a refreshing and leisurely journey. It is definitely worth a watch for its mystery.

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