The opening sequence of Detective should have been sign enough about the film's objective. Detective, the director's objective notwithstanding, is nothing more than a spoof, failing to inspire any excitement, thrill, suspense or even an iota of expectation. The worst part about the film is that the characters neither inspire nor help the viewer to associate with them. It's based on the eponymous short story by Rabindranath Tagore, but the script and narrative have been altered to suit the cinematic requirements.
Mahimchandra (Anirban Bhattacharya) is a detective who dreams about cases that present challenge and excitement in his professional life, as he normally gets to deal with petty criminals who own up to their crimes the moment they are arrested. His assistant Hutashon (Ambarish Mukherjee), who is referred to as Watson, alluding to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary creation of Sherlock Holmes, is a more grounded individual who realizes that the humdrum and petty cases are what they are cut out for. Mahim's wife Sudha (Ishaa Saha) suffers from romantic neglect from her husband, and has had connections with the independence revolutionaries in her past. Mahim one day discovers that a young man named Manmatha (Shaheb Bhattacharya) has been loitering around the former's home and sets out to uncover the truth behind his interests. Mahim sets up a covert operation where he befriends Manmatha and rents a place in the same hostel where the latter lives to investigate his real intentions. Little does he know that Manmatha was Sudha's beau and belonged to the same group that challenges anyone that states his or her allegiance with the ruling British.
That's Kabiguru's "Detective" in reality, but what you get here is some uninspiring performances lacking conviction, a script that drags and meanders its way so much that you don't really care what the outcome is and a finale that still leaves you stunned with its inane and amateur treatment. Detective fails to engage right from the beginning as we fail to understand if we should take the film seriously or is it finally a comedy that we have to warm up to. It is excruciatingly slow, eliciting prayer after prayer for it to end, and if not, at least start getting slightly interesting. The climax is exasperating but hugely relieving that the ordeal is finally over. Avoid watching "Detective" at all costs, read up the original short story instead.
