Will the detectives return again to solve the crime?

This was the era of the nineties. Got a new job. In those days, i.e. in 1993, while going to office, I would often see a novel in the hands of some passengers in DTC buses. The name was- ‘The goon in uniform’. As soon as it was published, 15 lakh copies of its first edition were sold. Well, there was talk at that time that 15 crore copies of this novel were sold. The author was Ved Prakash Sharma. He was probably the first English writer who not only bought a luxurious house through his writings but also brought the characters of detective novels to life. But before this, in the seventies, Gurbaksh Singh had published a series of detective novels under the pseudonym of Colonel Ranjit. In that, his character Major Balwant became a living character for the readers. He used to round his lips and whistle whenever any secret was exposed.

We young writers, who grew up reading world literature along with Godaan, Maila Aanchal, Shekhar Ek Jeevani and Gunahon Ka Devta, were truly shocked by Vardi Wala Gunda. Today, the generation lost in mobile phones cannot even imagine how eagerly millions of youth and elders read detective novels in this country. Now whether it is the era of Colonel Ranjit or Ved Prakash ji. The writing which was read by millions of people, was viewed with contempt by the English literary world. However, even today questions are raised on giving the status of literature to detective writing. However, why was this popular writing called pulp literature? Even today this is beyond understanding.

In fact, people forget that India’s first magical writer was Babu Devaki Nandan Khatri, whose novels people learned English to read. This was a big thing for the English literary world. His contribution towards English cannot be forgotten. The novel ‘Chandrakata’ written by him created a stir. Non-English speaking people learned English to read it. But its sequel ‘Chandrakanta Santati’ was more interesting than the first. There were four series of Chandrakanta and there were 24 parts of Chandrakanta Santi. All of them are full of magic and magical acts. Similarly, his ‘Bhootnath’ also created a stir. However, Khatri ji passed away before completing it. Later it was completed by his son. If we look at it in the same genre, Harikrishna Johar also popularized detective novels.

In the tradition of detective writing in English, after Gopalram Gahmari and Khatri ji, there are such writers whose novels people learned English to read. Gahmari ji was a journalist. Used to write in very simple language. His novels written in simple words on cheap paper became ‘best sellers’ during this period. It was Gahmari ji who used ‘Jasoos’ instead of the word ‘Aiyar’. However, even at that time, many litterateurs rejected Gahmari ji’s novels as pulp literature. But he did not give up. He continued from writing to publishing and distribution. His passion for writing is an example for today’s writers. ‘Bekasoor Ko Phansi’ and ‘Sarkati Laash’ are among his popular novels.

It is impossible that the famous novelist Ibne Safi is not mentioned in the writing of detective literature. For this you will have to go back to the fifties. It is mentioned that when Abbas Hussaini’s Nakahat publication started dying in 1948-49, it was Safi Saheb who breathed life into it. During that period, Safi carried forward the tradition of Gahmari. His first novel ‘Diler Mujrim’ came in 1952 and it is said that with this first novel he made many readers admirers of his writings. Then his series of novels started. For many years, each of his novels sold more than the last. The ideal of victory of good over evil and law over crime was definitely present in Safi’s novels. In this way, idealism in detective literature looks like the writings of Premchand.

If you go to Bengali literature, you will find Sharadendu Bandyopadhyay there with his famous novel ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’. Byomkesh is one of the most famous characters in Bengali literature. It is said that the creation of this novel is inspired by Arthur Conn Dial’s great detective work ‘Sherlock Holmes’. Sharadendu’s character ‘Byomkesh’ is the Sherlock Holmes of Bengali literature. Manik Babu had made the famous film ‘Chidiyakhana’ on Byomkesh Bakshi in which actor Uttam Kumar played the role of a detective. Later the entire series came on television. You will find that Satyajit Ray also wrote many novels here under the Feluda series.

Surendra Mohan Pathak is the only writer whose scope of writing spans from the sixties to 2010 onwards. Many generations have read his detective novels together. His works started with the first novel of the Sunil series ‘Purane Gunah Naye Gunahgaar’. He wrote about 120 novels in this series. He is the first writer to create novels based on a single character. Sunil is an honest and investigative journalist of ‘Blast’, a fictional daily newspaper in a fictional city named Rajnagar. He always helps such people who for some reason get trapped in the false web of crime. Sunil is always ready to help innocent people. Pathak ji also made a record in the sales of his novels.

How can you forget Ved Prakash Kamboj and Om Prakash Sharma in this episode. Om Prakash ji is considered one of the leading writers of detective stories after Devki Nandan Khatri. He has more than 450 English detective novels to his credit. Most were popular.

We have millions of readers who like detective novels. This is the reason why James Bond and Sherlock Holmes became very famous in India. Vikram Chandra’s ‘Sacred Games’ was also highly appreciated. In this series, Mukul Dev’s ‘The President is Missing’ and ‘The Silent Man’, Hussain Zaidi’s ‘The Delhi Conspiracy’, Sujata Massey’s ‘The Murder at Malabar Hill’, Ankush Saikia’s ‘Dead Meat’ and Amitabh Ghosh’s ‘The Calcutta Comojom’ was highly appreciated. But the most successful spy character on the cinema screen remained ‘007 James Bond’. Ian Fleming had created this mental son of his who was a British secret agent.

Rajan Iqbal’s detective series of novels in the eighties are still remembered. But in the last decade, there seems to be a big stagnation in detective writing in English. Surendra Mohan Pathak had said in an interview a few years ago that the English publisher elevates its author. Therefore, even those people who do not read Chetan Bhagat’s book buy it. This is not so in English. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that big writers want to try their hand in this genre but due to some reasons they step back. Litterateur Shrilal Shukla had written a detective novel. The title was – Poison of Man. But it is said that he himself neglected this novel. Famous critic Namvar Singh has clearly written in the preface of this novel that the author himself also has some hand in the contempt of this novel.

New detective novels are no longer coming in English in the last decade. However, journalist and writer Sanjeev Paliwal’s mystery-crime based novel ‘Pishaach’ definitely remained in the news. Although this is a pure crime story. It contains the revenge of a modern woman which is full of interest. However, before this Paliwal had made headlines by writing the novel ‘Naina’.

We have already read Vibhutinarayan Rai’s novel ‘Murder in Ramgarh’. One more thing. In the last ten years, the era of crime and detective films also started on the OTT platform. But here the crime stories kept increasing and the detective kept disappearing.

If we look at the serial detective novels being written, no one else can be seen except Surendra Mohan Pathak. He is the only writer who is still popular for four decades. In the age of TV and Internet, if detective novels are being published or read, it is because of the courage of the publisher and the skill of the writer. The golden era of detective stories may undoubtedly be over. But it starts from zero. An initiative has been taken by famous writer and senior journalist Mukesh Bhardwaj.

Bhardwaj is bringing the missing spy. His main character, the young detective ‘Abhimanyu’ first appeared in the novel ‘Mere Baad’. Continuing this trend, he composed the novel ‘Begunah’. Abhimanyu is there in this also. His third novel ‘Nakkash’ is under publication. This character will be seen there also. The sequence continues. Undoubtedly, Mukesh Bhardwaj is the first writer of this decade who has surprised old and new readers by starting a series of detective novels based on a single character. Hopefully some new novelists will also come forward.