Indian television, at least in its heyday, gave us memorable sleuths. By those carrot-chomping standards, the new streaming show — which is supposed to be a playground of quirk and world creation — hasn’t been painstakingly crafted. One of the outliers from last year was Vishal Bhardwaj Charlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang Valleybasic but charming series, with Wamiqa Gabbi as funny, sweary Emily Trefusis. Now Kay Kay Menon, reteaming with director Ray Srijit Mukherji, takes a crack at the classic figure.
Kay Kay writes a Bengali Sherlock Holmes in Mukherji’s new series, Shekhar Home (streaming on JioCinema). Set in the 1990s, in a sleepy fictional town called Lonpur, the show adapts Arthur Conan Doyle’s original story but gives it a Bengali spin: “Ei to jibon, Kali da (that’s life, brother Kali),” Shekhar tells the suspect, with a delicious drawl, in the opening episode. The cafe, too, is named ‘Khasha Blanca’.
“Home is a good family name in Bengal,” says Kay Kay. “Our show is very Indian. It is set in the early 1990s, when we did not have computers or electronic devices. So the detection became more interesting and physical in nature. The city itself is very sleepy, lazy. It takes you back in time Malgudi Day.”
Image from ‘Shekhar Home’
Kay Kay chose Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes rendition on British TV as her favourite. Although he sports a deerstalker on the poster, Kay Kay wanted to approach the character from the inside out, and not build the performance around professional tics.
“I play a person and not a profession,” says Kay Kay. “How quickly can Shekhar use a prop? – that’s out of focus. I can’t understand the complexity of the project. But I can understand people, human beings. It’s a psychological process that actors go through.
Growing up, Kay Kay had read Conan Doyle stories, along with Agatha Christie, The Hardy Boys and Enid Blyton The famous five. At that age, he said, a child’s mind is most imaginative, inquisitive. The habit of describing narratives in detail has persisted into adulthood. “In fact, long after I’ve shot the scene, the image that stays with me is the image I had when I read the script.” This happens often Shekhar Home. “The production will say, “Remember the scene we shot in the market?”, but I’ll think about something else.
Kay Kay once described himself as an ‘impressionist’ actor, a term commonly used for painting. He added a new term: ‘simulator’.
‘Shekhar Home’ adapts Arthur Conan Doyle’s original story but gives it a Bengali spin
“In a modern flight simulator, the experience of flying a plane is believable that the authorities have removed the crash mode, because there is a case of a heart attack. That’s my job as an actor, the same. The simulation of my character should be like life.
Kay Kay is one performer who always suspends the intelligence of the audience, even the Hindi film audience, sending out gestures and clues as to where others will drop. It’s a faith that has remained unbreakable for three decades of acting. At Sarkar (2005), there is a scene where his character, the financier of the film Vishnu, stares viciously at the little star. Years later, a fan told Menon about the impression the scene made.
“I sincerely believe that the audience is intelligent. They may not be intellectuals, but they are intelligent. They lead their lives through various situations. If they are intelligent enough to navigate through life, what is the film?”
Kay Kay has enjoyed walking around in streaming. He appeared in The Great Indian Dysfunctional Familythat’s brilliant Farsitwo seasons from Special Opscrime stories Bambai Meri Jaan and survival drama Railway Man. He has what he calls his ‘glory cameo’ on the front Citadel: Honey Bunnyfronted by Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Another series, MurshidRelease later this month.
They also do press more often. Before the interview, Menon politely wrapped up the shoot with a ‘youth platform’, answering quickly and giving advice to Gen-Z. His Instagram page has 407k followers and 477 posts, mostly announcements and promotions of his work, some collaborations and festival wishes. It feels involved but not personal.
“Social media is part of our lives these days,” says Kay Kay. “I usually come to promote my films and that. I have nothing against tools or technology. It takes creativity and great skill to make a one-minute reel, for example. But I don’t have it.”
Kay Kay’s last movie in theaters was a sports drama Love All (2023). He was once a superstar – along with actors like Irrfan Khan and Manoj Bajpayee – of a certain alternative cinema that would be released in cinemas. Today, the place, it seems, has become streaming.
“During my career, I found a phase where this kind of content cinema ‘threatened’ to be big. It’s not going to happen,” laughs Kay Kay.
He taps into the common need of moviegoers for larger-than-life entertainment. “Blockbusters are a game in India. I’ve realized that you can’t take away from the audience. They want a buffet, not a nutritious meal.”
Shekhar Home is streaming on JioCinema
