Detective Eken is a layered character, says actor Anirban Chakrabarti

Inspired from the popular Hoichoi web-series Eken Babu, Joydeep Mukherjee’s upcoming film The Eken (2022) is slated to be released in theatres on 14 April.

Starring Anirban Chakrabarti as the titular detective, the film also features Paayel Sarkar, Suhotra Mukhopadhyay, Somak Ghosh and Debasish Mondal.

Directed by Anirban Mallick and Anupam Hari, the first season of the web-series was aired in 2018. So far, Hoichoi has streamed five seasons of the series, directed at different times by Anupam Hari, Abhijit Chowdhury, Joydeep Mukherjee, Anirban Mallick and Surajit Chatterjee. The last season was aired on October 8 last year.

Written by Sujan Dasgupta, detective Eken is funny, a foodie, a man who does not have any larger-than-life attributes. In The Eken, he goes on a vacation to Darjeeling with his companions Bapi (Ghosh) and Pramatha (Mukhopadhyay).

There, actress Bipasha Mitra (Sarkar) seeks his help to find her missing Vishnu idol, which is a thousand years old. However, during the investigation, Eken gets entangled in solving a murder that takes place in the resort owned by Bipasha’s close friend (Mondal).

“When we started our journey with Eken Babu in 2018, we hardly knew there would be a second season,” said Chakrabarti, “But after five seasons, we had no idea Eken would be brought on to the big screen. The entire team is extremely happy that Eken has been finally made into a film.”

At a recent press conference for the film, the director said the credit for Eken’s popularity goes to screenwriter Padmanabha Dasgupta and to actor Chakrabarti.

Excited about the release, the actor said, “The film will give the audience a completely different experience from the web-series. I am quite nervous despite knowing that people have loved Eken Babu for the past four years. Apart from all those who have already loved Eken, the film is going to have a new audience too.”

According to Chakrabarti, while the medium has changed, Eken Babu has remained the same. “The audience will get to see the same blend of fun, mystery and mischief," he said. "The visuals are stunning and the film is a large-scale adaptation of the series.”

Chakrabarti was roped in to play Lalmohan Ganguly aka Jatayu in Srijit Mukherji’s Feluda Pherot (2020) series for the striking similarities in the mannerisms of Jatayu and Eken. Asked what makes Eken different from the beloved character created by the legendary Satyajit Ray, Chakrabarti said, “There are certain similarities between Jatayu and Eken — they look the same. Both carry the quintessential Bengali attributes. They love to eat and have a certain childishness. But under the garb of all these features, Eken is an intelligent detective, unlike Jatayu. Eken is a layered character. There is a lot more to discover in him.”

In the five seasons of the web-series, the characters of Eken’s sidekicks Bapi and Pramatha were enacted by Shoumo Banerjee and Debopriyo Bagchi. Due to some obligations, the director had to replace them with Ghosh and Mukhopadhyay, respectively.

On working with a new set of actors, Chakrabarti said, “I have known Bapi and Pramatha since the first season of the series. Now two new actors have enacted the same characters. Initially I had doubts regarding how our chemistry will be. We did script-reading sessions and also rehearsals together. Hence, when we went to the floor, we had already formed a bond.”

Chakrabarti said he eventually enjoyed working with Ghosh and Mukhopadhyay. “I feel the audience will also love our chemistry," he said. "I understand that they have been used to perceiving the characters in a certain way, but I am sure they will love their performances.”