The Bengali Detective - Hot Docs 2011 Selection
Adultery, fraud and murder are investigated by dance-obsessed private eye Rajesh Ji in a unique documentary that fuses conventions of observational realism with some Bangra numbers. The result is an absorbing tragicomic look at life in contemporary India.
The Bengali Detective
Director: Philip Cox | UK, USA, India | 95 min
This highly unusual and thoroughly engaging documentary presents a complex character in an even more complicated situation. Rajesh Ji is a private investigator, an unlikely hero who seeks justice for his clients when the Kolkata police can’t or won’t. When not fighting crime, he’s caring for his ailing wife and pursuing his dream of being a famous dancer. Ji and his crime-fighting team will track anyone from an abusive spouse to an industrial counterfeiter, through affluent suburbs and teeming slums alike. Then they don spandex and sequins to prepare for a big talent show. It’s an enviable work-life balance that just might tip when Ji takes on solving a brutal triple murder. Director Philip Cox has crafted a genre-challenging showcase for Ji’s multi-faceted story, a tender romantic tragedy, and an objective police procedural with just a hint of Bollywood.
The Bengali Detective will be featured at Hot Docs 2011, which is North America's largest documentary festival, running from April 28th to May 8th, 2011. The festival will be presenting over 200 films from more than 43 countries and welcoming hundreds of international filmmakers and industry delegates to Toronto. MyBindi.com is proud to co-present The Bengali Detective at this year's festival.
Screen Times:
Fri, Apr 29 – 9:15PM – TIFF Bell Lightbox 1, 350 King Street West
Sat, Apr 30 – 1:30PM – Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles Street West
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