New Delhi: Not many know that Bollywood star and former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in Shekhar Home, a detective web series inspired by the literary works of Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle.
Directed by Srijit Mukerji and Rohan Sippy, the West Bengal-set series is a Hindi adaptation of Sherlock Holmes stories starring Kay Kay Menon as the titular sleuth.
Set in the early 1990s, Shekhar Home is written by Aniruddha Guha and Niharika Puri with dialogues by Vaibhav Vishal.
In one of its six episodes, a black-and-white picture of a young Sen makes a guest appearance. Her historic win as the first Miss Universe from India in 1994 is shown a few years away as per the events in the show.
When Shekhar looks at the photograph, he remarks: "Isko toh Miss Universe hona chahiye (She should become Miss Universe)" Asked how it all came to be, Mukherji said he secured due permission from Sen, who did her first and only Bengali film Nirbaak with him back in 2015.
"We are good friends. I had to call up Sush and take permission for that. When I called her, she said 'Now, instead of casting me you've started casting my pictures!' the director told PTI in an interview.
Not just Sen but Indian cricketers R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja also find a place of honour in the JioCinema series.
Shekhar Home has two cops Ashwin and Jadeja named after the top spinners, who earlier this year went past the Anil Kumble-Harbhajan Singh duo to become the most successful Test bowling pair for India.
As cricket buffs, Mukherji said he and Guha wanted to give the game a hat-tip.
"I have played cricket at the university level and have also done commentary in the Indian Premier League. I read and write a lot on cricket too. We thought this would be a cheeky tribute to the sport." Dialogue writer Vishal also gets his moment in the sun when his "poem" on Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel laureate and literary icon of Bengal, plays a key role in the season one finale of Shekhar Home.
The director said it was Guha's idea to include Vishal's name as a reference.
"There used to be many Hindi songs where the name of the lyricist used to be hidden in one of the stanzas of the song. For example, the lines 'O 'Neeraj' naina wali suno' from the song 'O Meri Sharmeelee' are written by Neeraj for the film Sharmeelee. Then in Bazaar, lyricist Makhdoom Mohiuddin is referred to in one of the songs 'Phir Chhidi Raat'." Mukherji admitted it's the "writers' age" as full-fledged documentaries on the masters like Salim-Javed (Prime Video's "Angry Young Men") are being developed.
"So, this is absolutely the writers' age. We needed poetry (like that) and it sounded pretty much like a conservative, shuddh Hindi take on Tagore," he added.
Shekhar Home also stars Ranvir Shorey, Rasika Dugal, Kirti Kulhari, Kaushik Sen, Rudranil Ghosh, and Shernaz Patel.
Mukherji, who had previously worked with Menon in the Netflix anthology Ray, said he has been a huge fan of his intensity as an actor.
"I first thought of Kay Kay as a detective when I got an offer to do Feluda (a popular detective figure in Bengali literature) in Hindi. There was some talk around eight years ago. He looks very similar to the sketches by Satyajit Ray."
"When I was conceptualising Shekhar Home, I was like 'Wait, he has the piercing look of a detective, he has sharp features, he is Shekhar Home'. It was a very automatic casting. From day one, we couldn't think of anyone else. Shekhar Home is Kay Kay Menon and Kay Kay Menon is Shekhar Home," he added.
The casting of Dr Jayvrat Saini, the Hindi version of Sherlock Holmes' partner Dr John Watson, was a bit tricky but their search ended with Shorey.
"We zeroed in on Ranvir and he also got excited. He has a malleable face which could go in any direction. It's an asset to have." Dugal was the perfect fit as the mysterious Iraboty Adhyo, a Hindi derivative of Irene Adler from Conan Doyle's books.
"There is the inimitable charm of Rasika Dugal post Delhi Crime and Mirzapur. I have always been a huge fan of her acting prowess. Then, Kirti is one of my firm favourites in the series. She's also a huge name in the OTT space.
"Rudraneil Ghosh is a well known and veteran actor in Bengali cinema. Kaushik Sen is a thespian of Bengal and an incredible theatre practitioner. He is one of my favourite actors," Mukherji said.
The season one of Shekhar Home has an open ending but with a twist.
If there is a second season, how will the series move forward? "We will revert to the pre-twist scenario with a new cast," the director said, adding Menon and Dugal will reprise their roles in a potential follow-up chapter.
Next up for Mukherji is Tekka, a Bengali feature film starring Rukmini Maitra and Swastika Mukerjee, set to be released on the occasion of Durga Puja next month. On streamer Hoichoi, there is the Kashmir-set series Bhuswargo Bhayankar in the Feluda franchise starring Tota Roy Chowdhury of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani fame.