Baishey Srabon (22 Shey Srabon) is a 2011 Indian Bengali psychological thriller film directed by Srijit Mukherji. it was his second film. The cast consists of Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Abir Chatterjee and director Gautam Ghose, making a comeback after a 29-year absence. The film centers on two journalists and two police officers (one suspended) chasing a vengeful Kolkata psychopath, who leaves behind couplets from Bengali poems. Baishe Srabon received positive reviews from critics, and was one of the highest-grossing Bengali films of 2011. The film received an A certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification for adult language. This film brought back the Thriller genre to Bengali Cinema after a long time. The core plot of the movie is loosely based on the 1995 crime-thriller Seven and 2008 drama-thriller Righteous Kill. A sequel of the film was released on 23 January 2020, titled Dwitiyo Purush directed by Srijit Mukherji with Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Abir Chatterjee and Raima Sen reprising their roles.
Plot
Several murders have taken place throughout Kolkata, for which a serial killer is believed responsible. The murderer strikes in accordance with verses of Bengali poetry, which he leaves next to the victims. The police are baffled; chief detective Abhijit Pakrashi (Parambrata Chatterjee) struggles to solve the case, which takes a toll on his relationship with girlfriend Amrita Mukherjee (Raima Sen). Pakrashi’s superior (Rajesh Sharma) brings back an ex-cop, Prabir (Prosenjit Chatterjee), to help solve the case. Prabir, earlier suspended for his violent methods, is notoriously ill-tempered and foul-mouthed. Prabir and Pakrashi work together, while Amrita (a television journalist) and colleague Surya Sinha (Abir Chatterjee) research serial killers for a series whose thirteenth-and-final episode will be about a contemporary murderer. Meanwhile, eccentric poet Nibaron Chakraborty (Gautam Ghosh) who considers himself part of the Hungry Generation wanders Kolkata at night reciting poems.
Researching serial killers, Amrita visits a prison where the warden remembers Rafique Ahmed and his only confidant in 18 years of imprisonment: Nibaron Chakraborty. She and Surya go to Nibaron’s house to question him; after being greeted by his servant, Swapan, they are convinced he is insane when Nibaron says he has a meeting with “Rabindranath”. They almost succeed in learning about Rafique when Surya angers him by mentioning the book-fair arson for which he was imprisoned.
While investigating the case, Pakrashi sees Amrita and Surya together. Jealous and drunk, Abhijit goes to Prabir’s house and pours out his heart; he tells Prabir that he lost his father at a young age, and tries to avoid alcohol because of what it did to his father. Prabir tells Pakrashi that he went to work the day after losing his wife and child, encouraging him to be strong. Surya takes Amrita to a cemetery, telling her he would propose in a few days. They end up in a police station after a police officer sees them (and is slapped by Amrita). Pakrashi, still tipsy, rescues them when the inspector recognises Amrita as his girlfriend and they reconcile.
The next day, while randomly discussing poets and poems, Prabir and Pakrashi deduce that the killer strikes on the death anniversaries of well-known Bengali poets. When they search all possible days the killer could strike, they discover that the next date is 29 June: Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s death anniversary.
Amrita tells Pakrashi what she and Surya have been doing, including the interview with Nibaron. This convinces him that Nibaron is the killer, especially when Swapan tells Prabir about his employer’s nightly walks around the city. The duo visit Nibaron as journalists, and try to understand his stance on the Hungry Generation. It becomes clear that Nibaron doesn’t consider the movement to be a failure, and has no regret about his attempted arson at the book fair years ago.
Pakrashi and Prabir watch Nibaron’s house on the fateful night. A hooded figure comes out; it is Swapan, fleeing. He reveals that Nibaron has been very depressed, and has been burning all his poetry. In the house they find Nibaron has committed suicide, and discovering another couplet beside his body, realize this was the final murder. The case is closed, and Prabir is congratulated by the police department for solving the case.
After a month or so, Rabindranath Tagore’s death anniversary (Baishe Srabon) arrives. Prabir invites Pakrashi to meet a man named Rabindranath Mitra, a publisher, and Pakrashi is surprised that “Swapan” is Prabir’s servant Kanai. Prabir admits that he was the mastermind behind the murders, with Kanai (an ex-convict) carrying them out. He wanted to extract revenge on the police force for his suspension, which he considered an insult to his hard work despite the loss of his family. It was easy to frame Nibaron, since his case was handled by Prabir years ago. The latter had told Rabindranath to meet Nibaron regularly regarding publishing his poems, and then suddenly refusing, which led Nibaron to suicide. He also says that Nibaron’s death wasn’t the final murder. Pakrashi believes himself to be the next victim. However, Prabir makes it very clear that he considers himself a murderer, and intends to kill himself since he “hates murderers”. Despite Pakrashi pleading with him not to, Prabir shoots himself after reciting the last couplet.
Cast
Prosenjit Chatterjee as DCP Prabir Roy Chowdhury IPS
Parambrata Chatterjee as Inspector Abhijit Pakrashi
Raima Sen as Amrita Mukherjee
Abir Chatterjee as Surjo Sinha
Goutam Ghose as Nibaron Chakraborty
Rajesh Sharma as Amit Kumar Srivastav
Supriyo Mukherjee as businessman
OronnOnil as Nibaron’s friend
Anindya Banerjee as Amrita’s friend
Reviews
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