Revolver Rohoshyo review: Anjan Dutt offers a unique and real sleuth

3/5

Story: After the death of his boss detective Danny Banerjee (Anjan Dutt), Subrata Sharma (Suprobhat) takes over his office. Since not many people know that Danny is dead, cases keep coming. Meanwhile, since there were no last rites for Danny, his spirit keeps coming back to Subrata and works like a ghostly satellite. One of Danny’s old client, Raja Banerjee (Sujan Mukherjee) employs him to find his wife Tamali (Tnusree Chakraborty), who has allegedly run away with her paramour Javed Chowdhury. Subrata takes up the case. 

Review: Anjan Dutt’s masterstroke is perhaps creating a character like Subrata Sharma. Unlike the over-the-top literary detectives that we are used to, Subrata is real. He falters, cries, feels pain, takes stupid takes, and does not shy away from his vulnerabilities and Suprobhat fits perfectly with the character of the sleuth. After the success of his first book Danny Detective Inc, the second volume of Anjan’s detective series is out in this book fair. Revolver Rohoshyo is one of the stories that got freshly published in the second volume. 

Another takeaway from the film is the indomitable camaraderie between Subrata and Danny. Anjan Dutt as Danny is super. Danny is cool and full of swag (pretty much like the actor himself) and he loves his assistant, so much that he does not leave him even after his death. A surreal sequence in which Danny’s hat flies away from a car is touching. 

Also, Anjan captures Darjeeling like no one can. It is perhaps because of his deep emotional connection with the place, he manages to show the local people – in the market, dingy alleys, and the mountains. Rather than chasing the picturesque pine forests and brightly lit Kanchenjengha, his Darjeeling is real, vibrant, and more humane.  

Those are the charms of the otherwise average film. The storyline often follows cliched tropes and as a result, becomes predictable at times. Without giving a spoiler, it is safe to say the details of one of the murders remain underexplored. The character of Chandan Sen seems unused. The background music and the song are lovely but there are repetitions of shots. The chase sequence keeps coming back with an expressionless local individual not knowing what to do.  

Verdict: Despite the falterings, Revolver Rohoshyo is worth a watch simply because of the detective character that Anjan has built. Subrata is vulnerable, hence, real, and does not show off or mansplain at the drop of a hat. He is a modern individual who carries the old-world charm of the ever-so-cosmopolitan Central Kolkata.