Ebar Shabor (‘Now It’s the hunter‘) is another noteworthy Bengali WhoDunIt. The crime this time is taken on by ACP (Assistant commissioner of Police) Shabor Dasgupta, played by the immensely talented thespian Saswata Chatterjee.

Ebar Shabor is based on the novel ‘Rwin’ by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay and directed by Arindham Sil.

A woman is seen in the opening scene jogging along a seaside. She pauses for a moment to take a drink of water when something catches her attention. This seems to be a corpse a few feet away from her. A closeup reveals that this is indeed the body of a young man with a red spot on his forehead. It appears to be a case of suicide, as his lifeless hand clutches a pistol.

As the titles role in, we see Shabor and his assistant involved in a chase. The suspect is soon surrounded and apprehended by additional police personnel This is where we get a glimpse into Shabor’s unique personality. Even after the exhausting run across narrow alleys and rooftops, Shabor shows no sign of anger and in businesslike fashion tells the cops to take in the subject. He simply walks away with his assistant without even throwing a sucker punch. The only little detail I had a problem with is that both men were chasing the suspect, brandishing a revolver in each of their hands.

Ok, never mind the nitpicking, lets get back to the plot. In the next scene, Shabor is at a residence, a crime scene. As he makes his way into the house, he discovers the body of the victim. The audience is in for a shock now, as it is revealed that the victim is none other than the woman seen jogging in the first scene. She has been brutally stabbed several times sometime in the previous night in her own home. It is revealed that she had thrown a party to friends and family the previous night.

Shabor now has his work cut out for him. There are several suspects to interview and piece together the entire puzzle of the murder and the victim herself. It is soon revealed that the murdered girl, Mitali Ghosh, was a complex person was far from perfect.

Mitali was married to Mithu Mitra (Abir Chatterjee), a bank manager who is also proficient in Karate. Mithu Mitra is seen as an ideal husband who unconditionally loved his wife but Mitali despised Mithu as she felt she was forced into the marriage by her father. More recently, Mitali’s first cousin Joyeeta(Payel Sarkar) has fallen in love with Mithu who reciprocates her feelings. Could this seemingly perfect husband have a dark side?

Samiran, Mitali’s long time friend has had a long time crush on her. He is a womanizer and was seen drunk and professing his love for Mitali, at the party, the previous night. Shabor’s investigation reveals that Mitali had once eloped withand married a street vagabond Pantu Haldar (Ritwick Chakraborty). When she ended her relationship with this man, her father had Pantu beaten severely by the police.

Mitali’s father had his share of secrets too. He had fathered an illegitimate child with another woman, of limited means. When this woman had confided in Mitali, the latter did not believe her and threw her out. The woman took to prostitution to support her son. It is up to Shabor to unearth the truth.

Saswata Chatterjee as Shabor dominates the movie, though the film wastes no time in dwelling into his life. He is just a cop doing his job. Nothing is revealed about his personal life or motivations. Most of the narrative focuses on Mitali’s life, her misadventures and the implications of her unfortunate actions on those around her.

Shabor’s interrogation technique is simple. He accuses each suspect with a crime and lists possible motives the suspect would have had to kill Mitali. The suspect’s response becomes part of the movie’s narrative. There are brief moments of comic interlude where Shabor picks on his younger subordinate Nandalal (Subhrajit Dutta). Shabor brings a realism to his character with his subdued but effective acting that furtehr accentuates the movie’s quality.

Ebar Shabor’s success would make it the first in the series of movies, featuring detective Shabor. Realism, a compelling plot and great performances by Saswata Chatterjee make this a must see Whodunit.