Durgeshgorer Guptodhon [dir. Dhrubo Banerjee]

My recent guilty pleasure was the family-friendly Bengali mystery adventure Durgeshgorer Guptodhon (Secret Treasure of Dureshgarh). A sequel to Guptodhoner Sandhane (Hunt for the Secret Treasure - reviewed HERE), this one is practically a re-tread in a different location.

The basic formula of the Guptodhon series is this:
1. At some point in Indian history, typically in the wave of some regional conflict, one of the lesser known historical figures hides / bequeaths a fabulous treasure with some pal (this is explained in an attractive animated panaroma at the beginning of each film).
2. Said pal is an eccentric who, after hiding the treasure in some Rube Goldberg style secret vault in a romantically named place (here it is Bonpukuria village), hatches a series of cryptic clue messages in the form of rhymes and lyrics. In time, the significance of said messages is forgotten by the family (Sherlock Holmes fans will recall a story called The Musgrave Ritual, which would appear to be the progenitor of all such premises).
3. Enter our Three Investigators protagonists, led by Sona-da (Abir Chatterjee), the archaeologist-historian who dresses in smart sports suits and handily beats up goons. They start figuring out the clues, while some slimy villain with an eye on the treasure periodically ambushes them till the climax where all ends well.

Durgeshgorer Guptodhon adheres strictly to the formula and has some sloppy writing where some red herring dealings are never explained. There are major contrivances, one involving a kid called Kucho who you want to murder immediately. But with its fun quasi-historical premise unveiling less known cultural mores and non-cynical innocent-minded tone, Durgeshgorer Guptodhon is comfort viewing for people who liked Guptodhoner Sandhane and in general fans of the Feluda movie adaptations (better than some of the Sandip Ray ventures). Like with the first film, the cinematography is pleasant, (especially the shot of the Durga procession moving across the fields) and composer Bickram Ghosh does an excellent job with the story-advancing songs and background score (he also did wonderful work for Har Har Byomkesh and Byomkesh Pawrbo).