If sources are to believed, then Dibakar Banjerjee's upcoming whodunit, Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, is not exactly based on the exploits of the eponymous fictional character in Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's novel. Instead, it bears uncanny resemblance to Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This buzz is reportedly drawing the producers of the 2009 Robert Downey Jr-starrer, Sherlock Holmes, to India.
A crew member of Banerjee's team says, "The original stories in Byomkesh Bakshi were inspired by Sherlock Holmes. However, the presentation and treatment of the film is more or less original. In fact, the production house had strictly warned the crew not to talk about the film and the way it has been shot. But, somehow, the makers of the Hollywood film got an inkling of the so-called resemblance and are now interested to see rushes of our film, which stars Sushant Singh Rajput."
It is alleged that a unit hand leaked the information, which reached the international studio that made Sherlock Holmes.
Another source says, "We got to know that the studio is keen to adapt their film in India soon. So they feel that Banerjee's film will create problems for them. The main areas of conflict for them are that in their Hollywood film, Sherlock's aide is a writer. Here, Byomkesh's friend, Ajit, in also a writer.
Sherlock shares accommodation with Dr Watson and Byomkesh and Ajit share a room in their college hostel."Dibakar remained unavailable for comment.