Rajshri Productions are well known for their magnanimous family drama, but when they offer you a movie with totally different genre, it becomes an exciting affair. They are bringing desi Sherlock Holmes in form of Rajeev Khandelwal in Samrat & Co. But what has not gone unnoticed by the viewers is the uncanny similarity between Rajeev Khandelwal’s titular portrayal of Samrat with Benedict Cumberbatch, the British actor portraying the character of Sherlock Holmes in the hit series.
Indian cinema has been in a kind of draught when it comes to good mystery movies. We have of course travelled a journey and have given great stories like Kahani, but one simply cannot forget the disastrous attempts like 36 China Town. In an era where Bollywood is maturing and expected to produce intelligent movies, everybody is seen experimenting. However it comes as a shock when this experiment is done by the production house that took romance to a different level with their movies, Rajshri Productions.
The production house’s recent venture is a suspense adventure film directed by Kaushik Ghatak named Samrat & Co. It features Rajeev Khandelwal in the title role of Samrat. The film was initially scheduled for release on May 1, 2014 release but will release ahead of schedule on Apr 25, 2014. The trailer of the movie was recently released.
While the plot when read seems interesting there is one thing that becomes a huge setback. The movie looks “inspired” by the famous TV series, Sherlock and a remake of The Hounds of Baskerville. One does not simply remake the television series which is rated to be the number one series worldwide! The trailer shows a detective who tries to be a poor mimic of Sherlock and a poorer mimic of Dr. John Watson. While we hope that the story is as similar as their looks, the first trailer of Samrat & Co. only leaves us disappointed.