Homestay Murders review: Arjun Chakrabarty, Saurav Das, Sohini Sarkar’s mystery is gripping but predictable

Sayantan Ghosal builds suspense successfully in this Mousetrap-esque murder

-Arjun Chakrabarty and Sohini Sarkar

Story: The series starts with a murder of a socialite, Monisha Sen Gomes, in Kolkata. It then takes us to the mountains. Mita (Aparajita Ghosh Das) and Kunal (Judhajit Sarkar) run a homestay, Ananya, in the middle of the hills in North Bengal. A group of tourists – young couple Jiu (Debchandrima Singha Roy), Tony (Sabuj Bardhan), businesswoman Kuheli Mitra (Parno Mittrah), childhood friends Animesh (a writer, Arjun Chakrabarty) and Kinjal (an IPS officer, Saurav Das), and solo traveller Damini (Sohini Sarkar) – gather at the homestay. On the first night, a grisly murder takes place. The owners and the rest of the guests get trapped with the dead body and murderer as a landslide stopped the police team to reach Ananya.

Review: Homestay Murders follows a very simple yet traditional murder mystery format. As a result, a whodunit fan might just be drawn to the show. However, it is its traditional trope that gives away the criminal in the beginning. Any Agatha Christie fan should not take more than one episode to identify the killer. The motive, however, is not easily revealed until the third and fourth episodes. 

Sayantan creates the ambiance well, builds suspense bit by bit, and brings in all the twists and turns to make it a gripping thriller. The mystery is effectively mounted and the show has all the elements of a suspense thriller. While it does not really send chills through your spine, it keeps you glued to your seat. The background music and a few shots follow a typical classical murder mystery and that seems quite engaging. 

Also read: Homestay Murders director Sayantan Ghosal: I want to stay away from making Byomkesh, Feluda 

One of the major drawbacks of the series is while the mystery is well-knitted, the other subsidiary tracks are not taken care of. Barring a couple of characters (who cannot be revealed to avoid spoilers), the rest are not well-defined. The show also suffers from lousy editing with the repetition of unnecessary shots of corridors, and hills.  

Arjun as Animesh is candid and a delight to watch. Aparajita Ghosh Das is also very convincing. Both of them are subdued yet look effortlessly real in their characters. Saurav goes overboard here and there but the real problem is Sohini. She is known to be a solid actress and yet her delivery and performance appear disproportionate. Along with the pointless dialogues given to her, she looks over the top all along. By the end, she gets back her mojo but by then, the show is over. Debchandrima is also a little loud. Judhajit and Sabuj are not bad while Parno has little to showcase. 

Verdict: Hoichoi's Homestay Murders is like instant noodles. It has no nutritional value but is tasty nevertheless. This series is surely a one-time watch and it is quite gripping too. In the sea of thrillers and murder mysteries in the Bengali industry, this one will be on the brighter side.  

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