The Eken: Ruddhaswas Rajasthan

The Feluda parallels and the Satyajit Ray references were most likely in place before the script was, and that’s okay. The Eken, Ruddhaswas Rajasthan never promised anything it could not deliver. But the franchise needs to bring more to the table to be able to pull a crowd. The second Eken film was released during the Poila Boisakh weekend when most viewers have the time and money to spare. As a festive release, it may even drum up good business, but Joydeep Mukherjee’s film does very little to defend the franchise’s transition from the web space to celluloid, give or take some drone shots and a camel chase.
During a vacation to Jaisalmer with his sidekicks Bapi and Pramatha, police detective Ekendra Sen finds himself embroiled in an artefact smuggling case. Eken and Co believe the racket is engineered by powerful insiders who are selling off ancient sculptures to other countries. They meet Shatadru Ghosh, an archaeology professor and Rajyasree Sen, the curator of Jaisalmer Museum who also want to put an end to the series of crimes.
The first part is smooth and watchable with some signature comedic quirks that people have come to expect from the Eken films. However, the two-hour duration could have been used more efficiently. The second part desperately needed a big reveal or at least a better sense of closure. Some key suspects are apprehended pretty early on in the second part and the more convoluted the mystery gets the less engaging the film becomes. Some pretty grisly truths are revealed about the culprit towards the end, but the tenor of the film is inconsistent with this treatment.
Though the action sequences get an intelligent visual treatment some plot points come across as ridiculous as the story moves towards the reveal. Like Eken spending a night in the open desert during a high-stake police investigation. Then there are the product placements; even if you’re part of the majority who seem to have made peace with in-film ad spots in hopes of better production value, this Eken film will test your patience.
Actors like Rajatava Dutta and Suhotra Mukhopadhyay are underutilized. Even Somak who has proved he can add a lot of substance humour-wise doesn’t have much to do in the film. Interestingly, the Eken-Bapi-Pramatha trio had better chemistry in the web series. Rajesh Sharma, however, gets some room to flex his acting chops.
Considering audiences are already happy with Anirban Chakrabarti’s Eken, the franchise needs to move towards something more ambitious at least vis-a-vis storytelling. The scripts also need more room for him to showcase his range especially since it is not targeted at a young adult audience like Feluda was.
Speaking of Feluda, the film doesn't quite know how it wants to handle the Feluda references. The scene right before the interval is modelled exactly like the chilling nighttime scene in Joy Baba Felunath where the trio discover a dying Singha Moshai. But no one really knows why? Is it an homage or is the director trying to pass it off as a coincidence? If you have some time to spare this weekend and are looking for a family watch, you can walk into the theatres. Just temper your expectations.