Bengali films on serial killers you shouldn’t miss

The dark world of crime and criminal minds often scare us to death, but we also enjoy following the dangerous killers on screen. Watching a killer indulging himself into serial killing brings terrifying thoughts. They don’t care about any concrete motive or remorse for their work and the twisted mind performs at its best. But their sinister world has often adapted to a thrilling cinematic experience. The latest on this list is Srijit Mukherjee's ‘Vinci Da’ which drags the audience into a horrifying world of serial killers. Here’s an elite list of the Bengali films which have explored the world of serial killers.

Following the success of his first film ‘Autograph’, Srijit’s ‘Baishe Srabon’ encapsulates a heady cocktail of thriller, violence, music along with Bengali poetry. Probir Roychudhury's bitterness and angst couldn’t have been essayed out better than Prosenjit, whose character seemed to be a far cry from the one in ‘Autograph’s mighty yet vulnerable superstar. Prosenjit stunned everyone with his performance as an ex-cop in this psychological thriller directed by Sriji Mukherji. According to the narrative, Prabir, suspended from his duty, works with the chief investigating officer (Parambrata) to nab a serial killer committing murder and leaving couplets from popular Bengali poems as a clue. Prosenjit’s remarkable acting was highly acknowledged by both the critics and audience. ‘Baishe Srabon’ eventually became one of the highest grossing films of 2011.

Anyone who has seen ‘Kahani’ still remembers the unpredictable and canning Bob Biswas whose humble figure showed great contrast to his true self of a professional killer. In Manoj Michigan's '89', Saswata Chatterjee is once again a killer, but this time he is different than Bob. His portrayal of an irrational, violent psyche will give send shivers down your spine. Despite Saswata’s stellar performance as a psycho serial killer, this Bengali thriller didn’t receive a good response at the Box Office.

Vinci Da begins with a horrific scene where a young Adi Bose (Riddhi Sen) beats his abusive father to death and then rings the local thana to inform the same. The scene right away set the tone of the film and the audience dragged into the dark and twisted world of a serial killer. The story then progresses as we see Adi Bose, now a lawyer, indulges into killing with a twisted sense of justice. Meanwhile, there is a talented makeup artist, who doesn't get his due respect in the film industry. However, his world is shaken when he is tricked by Adi Bose and one fine day he finds himself responsible for a murder.

Written in the 1960s, Shajarur Kanta sees an older Byomkesh and who better to portray the measured, mil­dly sarcastic Bengali sleuth than Dhritiman Chatterjee, who slips into the character with his own erudite urbanity so well that any successor would find it hard to shake him off. Interestingly, the ser­ial killings, powerful and integral as they are to the narrative, seems to be mere interjections punctua­ting the original story, which deals with a love triangle between a recently married actress, her secret lover and her husband.

Being a thriller, 'Shororipu' doesn't go after chasing and action, instead makes it a challenging mental exercise that teases the grey matters of your brain constantly. Detactive Chandrakanto often arrives on the logical conclusion with his deduction of circumstantial evidence, postmortem report and personal history. Director Ayan Chakraborty successfully delivers a smart movie that's enriched by excellent performances of Chiranjeet, Indraneil, Rajatabho, and Sudipta Chakraborty.

'Asche Abar Shabor' is the third film in Arindam Sil’s Detective Shabor series and the effort to bring the surprisingly underrated character to screen is quite commendable. Based on the popular story Prajapatir Mrityu O Punorjanmo (The Death and Reincarnation of a Butterfly) by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, the film managed to create a sense of intrigue. Saswata Chatterjee is an absolute treat to watch in this film also. His hard-as-nails detective character Shabor Dasgupta is quite believable. The poker-faced appearance with wry humour, laced with just the right blend of sarcasm and critique is the one true winner of this flick.