Bengali Detective, The

Producer Annie Sundberg Invited

With characters and a storyline that could be straight from “The Maltese Falcon,” The Bengali Detective is a documentary that reads like a Kolkata noir. It will enchant, move, and surprise audiences. (Fox Searchlight has already nailed down remake rights.)

With police corruption on the rise in Kolkata, clients are left to seek their own private eye. Big-hearted, intrepid, and full of attitude, Rajesh Ji is one such detective. He could be a character sprung from a pulp fiction story, and is at once an impresario and dedicated husband. He and his motley crew of sleuthing assistants tackle everything from adultery to counterfeit shampoo operations to triple murder. Off the job, yet with equal fervor, they also practice their dance moves in preparation for a TV talent show audition.

Mostly handheld camerawork brings immediacy to the film that highlights the chaotic hustle and bustle of one of the world’s mega-cities and its bureaucratic mania. Part detective mystery, part social commentary, part family drama, The Bengali Detective is a winning, and ultimately moving look at contemporary middle-class India. British director Phil Cox, 41, is an award-winning documentarian.

Print Source: Entertainment One, Cameron Moneo, [email protected]