When hotshot lawyer PK Basu wins a murder case in favour of his clients, little does he realise that a new trial is beginning. The man convicted for the killing commits suicide after protesting his innocence. A while later, various characters associated with the case start dropping like birds in an extreme summer.
Another weather incident holes up the possible suspects in a hotel in Darjeeling. As a storm rages, Basu (Saswata Chatterjee) and his wife Rani (Ananya Chatterjee) along with various people with dubious backstories gather for an Agatha Christie-style revelation.
The ZEE5 series Kaantaye Kaantaye is an adaptation of popular Bengali writer Narayan Sanyal’s Sonar Kanta, itself part of a series of novels featuring Basu’s exploits. Part advocate and part detective, Basu uses old-fashioned detection to succeed where the police fail.
Coming in at 10 short episodes, Kaantaye Kaantaye is written and staged like a weekly television serial rather than a series meant to be watched at one shot. With the motive behind the serial deaths revealed very early on, director Joydeep Mukherjee and screenwriter Padmanabha Dasgupta work on creating suspense around the characters.
These include a couple who follow Basu around, a man who likes to secretly take photographs, and a woman who follows orders given by an unseen man over the phone. Subrat Dutta, Soham Chakraborty, Somraj Maity, Kinjal Nanda, Payel Sarker, Mir Afsar Ali, Ayoshi Talukdar and Prantik Banerjee play individuals who behave suspiciously only so that the show may drag on.
The most compelling aspect of Kaantaye Kaantaye, which prevents the finger from hitting the fast-forward button to the final episode, is the relationship between Basu and Rani. The death of their only daughter weighs heavy on them. Despite her grief, Rani occasionally assists Basu in his investigation. Ananya Chatterjee ably supports a typically efficient Saswata Chatterjee, giving a predictable whodunit a touch of poignancy.
