The 10 best Indian murder mystery films
by loveyourlife | created - 27 Dec 2013 | updated - 02 Mar 2014 | PublicIn the vein of Sherlock Holmes/Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie... plus India's greatest fictional detective, the truthseeker, Byomkesh Bakshi
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1. Gumnaam (1965)
Not Rated | 151 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Eight people are stranded on an island. They reach a mansion where a butler is awaiting them. Then an unknown, vengeful person starts killing them, one by one.
Director: Raja Nawathe | Stars: Nanda Karnataki, Manoj Kumar, Pran Sikand, Helen
Votes: 1,717
Bollywood remake of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None-- better than some of the Western film adaptations and featuring some crazy 60s item numbers, including the Mohammad Rafi sung "Jaan Pehechan Ho" which got picked up for a Heineken advertisement in 2011! As for Helen, they just don't make starlets like her in Bollywood anymore...
2. Byomkesh Bakshi (2010)
136 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Byomkesh Bakshi is a Bengali detective who is called on for a spine-chilling case with his assistant/friend Ajit.
Director: Anjan Dutt | Stars: Abir Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Arindol Bagchi, Dhrubajyoti Bhowmick
Votes: 1,101
Anjan Dutt's first Byomkesh reboot - excellent choice of the Adim Ripu story to kickstart the series. Strong script and good performances from Abir Chatterjee and Saswata Chatterjee turned this into a hit. Shame about the mis-spelling of Bymokesh's name in the official film title...
3. Shubho Mahurat (2003)
150 min | Crime, Mystery
An actress mysteriously dies after the "Shubho Mahurat," a celebration of the first shot of the film. A journalist and her perceptive aunt investigate.
Director: Rituparno Ghosh | Stars: Sharmila Tagore, Nandita Das, Kalyani Mandal, Moumita Gupta
Votes: 605
Bengali remake of Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd sans Miss Marple from acclaimed director Rituparno Ghosh. Both a critical and commercial hit in West Bengal, the film earned its star-- the sublime Sharmila Tagore a clutchful of awards. Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but certainly better than the 1980 Angela Lansbury/Elizabeth Taylor travesty of an adaptation.
4. The Train (1970)
138 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
Hardworking, capable, honest and dedicated CBI inspector Shyam Kumar is assigned the case of bringing to justice the criminals behind the use of fake cheques to purchase commodities. The ... See full summary »
Director: Ravikant Nagaich | Stars: Rajesh Khanna, Nanda Karnataki, Helen, Rajendranath Malhotra
Votes: 202
Shades of Murder on the Orient Exrpress (although not an adaptation) with people being knocked off left, right and centre on-board a speeding train. Starring megastar Rajesh Khanna alongside Helen (of Gumnaam fame above) once again.
5. Byomkesh Bakshi (1993–1997)
40 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery
An intelligent detective from Kolkata solves, without any weapons, many mysteries that remain unsolved by police.
Stars: Rajit Kapoor, K.K. Raina, Kartik Dutta, Sukanya Kulkarni
Votes: 3,177
The mighty 33 episode Doordarshan TV series in Hindi, with Rajit Kapur as Byomkesh Bakshi. Giving Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes interpretation (also very popular in India at the time) a run for his money on the sub-continent. Criminally unavailable on DVD.
6. Satyanweshi (2013)
Not Rated | 117 min | Thriller
A prince grants his father's dying wish and secures his inheritance by marrying. The palace librarian who was befriended by the new bride goes missing, and the prince invites Byomkesh Bakshi to uncover the truth behind his disappearance.
Director: Rituparno Ghosh | Stars: Sujoy Ghosh, Indraneil Sengupta, Arpita Chatterjee, Anindya Chatterjee
Votes: 597
Rituparno Ghosh's final film, and only crack at a Bymokesh Bakshi adaptation, is visually sumptious with deeper character development than most other Baskhi adaptations. Both extending and taking poetic license with Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's original, this will appeal to fans of both Holmes' and Bakshi's more exotic stories
7. Bees Saal Baad (1962)
Not Rated | 158 min | Thriller, Musical, Mystery
When a young man's family gets haunted by a spirit, he is warned not to return to his hometown, but he decides to investigate the issue.
Director: Biren Nag | Stars: Biswajeet Chatterjee, Waheeda Rehman, Manmohan Krishna, Madan Puri
Votes: 422
The biggest Bollywood film of 1962; loosely based on Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles minus Sherlock Holmes; the superstitious element appealed to India's cinema goers making this the surprise hit film of that year. The atmospheric black & white helps too...
8. Karmayogi (2012)
Drama
Rudran Gurukkal is the sole male descendant of his family and is haunted by a strange kind of destiny while events unfold around him. Based on Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'.
Director: V.K. Prakash | Stars: Indrajith Sukumaran, Nithya Menen, Padmini Kolhapure, Saiju Kurup
Votes: 40
Neither an adaptation of nor inspired by British murder mysteries, this film nevertheless involves a royal murder. Shakespeare's Hamlet gets transported to Kerala with Malayali actor of the moment Indrajith in the lead. Excellent classical soundtrack from the award-winning Ousepachan.
9. 12 O'Clock (1958)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Bani Chowdhury and solicitor Ajoy Kumar are deeply in love with each other. But their world comes crashing down when Bani's cousin, Maya is found dead in the first class compartment at a ... See full summary »
Director: Pramod Chakravorty | Stars: Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Shashikala Jawalkar, Rehman Khan
Votes: 100
Even more murders on trains in this apparently highest Bollywood grosser of its year; Guru Datt and Wahida Rahman shine while the shadowy scenes on the train lend themselves perfectly to the thrilling atmosphere of the film.
10. Abar Byomkesh (2012)
102 min | Mystery, Thriller
On vacation in the foothills of Himalayas with his wife Satyabati and his best friend Ajit, private investigator Byomkesh gets embroiled in a simple photograph theft, which is quickly followed by a gruesome murder.
Director: Anjan Dutt | Stars: Abir Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Ushasie Chakraborty, Kaushik Sen
Votes: 966
Second Bymokesh Bakshi film from Anjan Dutt. Not a patch on his first, 2010's mis-spelled Bomkesh Bakshi, but worth a watch.
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