Byomkesh o agniban (Byomkesh and the arrow of fire) is the third installment in the Byomkesh series and a sequel to Byomkesh Bakshi o chiriyakhana. The movie is based on two stories, namely, Agniban and Uposonhar written by Saradindu Bandhopadhay.

This time Jisshu Sengupta gave a smarter performance than in the other two movies. Anjan Dutta does a commendable job indeed when it comes to Byomkesh movies. In the movie three stories have been nicely merged by the director. The plot begins with a part of the first story Satyanneshi in which Byomkesh introduces himself to Ajit. The movie features the famous duo Byomkesh and Ajit. Jisshu Sengupta played the role of Byomkesh and Sashwata Chatterjee as Ajit. The background contains videos of Vietnam War, which was prevalent during that time. The story revolves around the special matchbox, which can be used as a chemical weapon. The case involving the matchbox happened five to six years ago but after five years it was stolen.

The matchbox was made by a professor named Debkumar Roy. Swastika Mukherjee played the role of his wife Malati. The matchbox was special in the way that the matchsticks contain chemical poison which can kill a person easily and the poison cannot be detected. Byomkesh investigates and found out the inventor of the matchsticks. This is the first story Agniban narrated by Ajit in a flashback style. The director has maintained the storyline quite well.

To make it easier for the audience to distinguish, three different types of colours were used in the movie which is really a new concept. Anjan Dutta appeared here as a guest actor whose character was named Kokonod Gupta. The mind games and the suspense are nicely maintained throughout the movie. The movie was packed with action.

The people can easily understand the plot as the merging of the three stories was done good. Although there were some changes in the movie it does not harm the main plot. The detective’s charisma is nicely being held by Jisshu. The direction is nice but there were some flaws in cinematography which is undeniable.

A song was used for the first time but it wouldn’t have been much of a loss if it wasn’t there. However, the movie surely deserves a compulsory watch.

(Class X, Good Shepherd School, Darjeeling)