Detective Byomkesh Bakshy Updates: IN CINEMAS NOW! - Page 7

KOLKATA: The heritage zone of BBD Bag was transported back to the pre-Independence era on Sunday afternoon with vintage cars and old trams back on the streets. It was all for the shooting of 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshi' directed by Dibakar Banerjee, for which the road in front of Telephone Bhawan had to be closed to traffic.

Banerjee started the shooting in Agarpara early last month with some scenes being shot in Lal Bazar and Bow Barracks. Dressed in a crisp white dhoti and short kurta and sporting a thick moustache, detective Byomkesh (played by Sushant Singh Rajput of 'Kai Po Che' fame) could easily be identified at Lal Bazar, the police headquarters. But on Sunday, he could not be spotted easily.

There was a host of vintage cars around BBD Bag to give it the look of 1943, when the story is set. Even a tram was specially decked up to give the correct look.

Banerjee said the CTC has provided them with two old trams and he had them painted to give them the look of 1943. He thanked the CTC for their co-operation. There were also had some old motorcycles and jeeps with number plates of the pre-Independence era.

Banerjee said that it is difficult to recreate the Kolkata of 1940s, still he tried his best and brought in horses and vintage cars to give the BBD Bag area look alike a post World War II scene, with policemen on a petrol drum managing traffic. Banerjee had started searching for location since September. He felt that it is difficult to get the locations for his film as not even the old north Kolkata, retains the look of 40s.

In Dalhousie square, the old building which houses the dead letter office with its new coat of paint resembled the British era with British policemen around in jeeps. Banerjee wanted to show the locations mentioned in the book and created the era when Kolkata was in the grip of World War II.

"My Byomkesh will target the contemporary Indian audience and GenNext. My Byomkesh is a young and sharp guy who will be accepted as a sleuth by a pan-Indian audience," Banerjee said.