Dawshom Awbotaar...For God's Sake (... For God's Sake) is a 2023 Indian Bengali-language neo-noir buddy cop black comedy action thriller film written and directed by Srijit Mukherji. Produced by Shrikant Mohta, Mahendra Soni and Jyoti Deshpande under the banners of Shree Venkatesh Films and Jio Studios, the film serves the fourth installment in Mukherji's Cop Universe. It stars Jisshu Sengupta in the titular role, alongside Prosenjit Chatterjee, Anirban Bhattacharya and Jaya Ahsan in lead roles. Set in 2003 Kolkata, the film follows Probir Roy Chowdhury and Bijoy Poddar, two serial-killing experts from Lalbazar, being hired to solve several gruesome murders of people involved with corruptions, where the killer claims himself to be the Kalki Avatar.
The film serves as a prequel crossover to the previous films of the franchise, Baishe Srabon (2011) and Vinci Da (2019) and the fourth film ever from a cinematic universe in Bengali cinema's first. Dawshom Awbotaar marks Mukherji's collaboration with Chatterjee for the eleventh time, with Bhattacharya in his seventh, with Sengupta in his eighth and with Ahsan for the third time. It was officially announced in March 2023, and principal photography commenced in July 2023, with filming taking places in Kolkata and Howrah. Songs of the film is composed by Anupam Roy, while Indraadip Dasgupta provides its score. The cinematography of the film is handled by Soumik Halder, while Pronoy Dasgupta edited the film. Filming wrapped by August 2023 in 12 working days, making as one of the shortest periods in which a Bengali film has been shot.
Dawshom Awobotaar theatrically released on 19 October 2023, on the occasion of Durga Puja. It was a box office blockbuster with the chemistry between Chatterjee and Bhattacharya and the songs gaining praise. However, criticism were directed towards the length, pace, climax, thrill and the romantic subplot of the movie.
A tribute to detective writer Agatha Christie, Dawshom Awbotaar is claimed by the makers to be the start of the Probir Roy Chowdhury franchise. A direct sequel, featuring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Anirban Bhattacharya reprising their roles, was confirmed at the end of the film.
Plot The film begins in 2003 where Probir Roy Chowdhury is reintroduced, with a slightly different hairstyle, as a serial killer expert who is notoriously ill-tempered and foul-mouthed. In 1999, he nearly avoided being suspended, with the help of special permission, after he was put up on a trial for shooting dead Monty Haldar, the son of an influential promoter (which thereby retcons his suspension date mentioned in Baishe Srabon to a year between 2004 and 2009). His colleague Amit Kumar Srivastava, irritated by his rash nature, reminded him that his trial is still going on and advised him to control his temper because the department still needs him. At a bar, Probir meets, in a hilarious encounter, a young, energetic, yet short-tempered Bijoy Poddar, then a clean-shaven inspector, who was shutting down the bar and was about to arrest Probir for his "annoying" nature before being embarrassed by Probir's identity card.
Around the same time, Probir, shown to be cynical yet overconfident about his capabilities, is brought in for investigating the murder of a promoter, devoured to death in his bathtub by a handful of red-bellied piranhas after being cornered at gunpoint by an intruder. He learns that the promoter is also a fearsome don of that area who had killed multiple people to usurp their lands. Also, he was further accused of creating faulty buildings after accepting bribes and has escaped the clutches of law due to his political connections. At the crime spot, Probir finds a Tulsi bead necklace which is used for worship by Vaishnavites; further investigating, he learns that red-bellied piranhas are rare to find and their sales are declared illegal. One month later, the same intruder, disguised as a massage parlour worker, brutally bludgeoned his client to death with a tortoise idol and leaves behind two Tulsi bead necklaces before escaping. The client turns out to be a businessman-cum-money-lender who was a politically influential associate of the sand and coal mafias. Investigating the crime and remembering the case of the promoter, he theorised a series of gruesome serial killings, using a modus operandi inspired by the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu where the victims would be influential figures in society, accused of heinous crimes or corruption. The first murder took inspiration from Matsya, while the second one from Kurma. Commissioner Rajat Basu of Kolkata Police assigns Probir to address this escalating crisis. Poddar, who takes a keen interest in serial killing cases, joins Probir in this mission at the behest of latter's request to the high authorities.
The duo immerses themselves in unravelling the motive behind the killings and deep dives into creating a profile as well as the anecdotes of the mythology to join the dots. However, they soon turn to be bickering in nature, constantly pulling each other's leg at the slightest opportunity. Meanwhile, Poddar's origin was revealed: he was born in a brothel in Kalighat after his mother was cheated and gives free tuition classes to children from red light area before going for duty. While casually talking about his origins to Probir, Poddar reveals that his father was a sex-addict and visited several prostitution houses throughout the city, leading to a possibility of him having a number of brothers and sisters, to whom he humorously refers as "Khoka"(s) or "Khuki"(s); this conversation implied that Poddar somewhat resembled his half-brother, i.e. the primary antagonist of Dwitiyo Purush, to the point he too likes chicken chowmein and chilli fish.
Soon, another murder takes place and this time, it's of a politically influential doctor, who was accused of three medical negligence, who consumed poisoned pork sausage while having breakfast in a hotel; clearly, this murder took inspiration from Varaha, as the killer, taking job as a janitor in the hotel, replaced the non-poisonous sausage with the poisonous one. While investigating, the duo retrieved three Tulsi bead necklaces and learnt that the janitor has escaped the hotel leading to a chase between the duo and the killer. However, even after a hilarious near-accident, the duo fail to capture him. A few days later, a young psychiatrist named Moitreyee Ghatak reaches out to Probir and Poddar, claiming to know the killer's identity. One of Moitreyee's patients, Biswaroop Bardhan, suffers from an extreme case of god complex, firmly believing himself to be Kalki, the Dawshom Awbotaar (tenth avatar) of Vishnu. He justifies the killings as a moral cleansing of society, targeting those he perceives as evil. Having grown up listening to the stories of Dashavatara from his father ever since his childhood, he developed an obsession with the stories and was indeed behind the three murders.
That same evening, the fourth murder took place: a renowned criminal lawyer, infamous for commuting the death penalty of Ajmal Sheikh (apparently the mastermind behind the infamous Chakdaha bomb blast) to life imprisonment, was killed when the lift of his flat, sabotaged by Biswaroop, crashed down after being stuck mid-way. Moitreyee was evidently disturbed by the mourning of the lawyer's family while Probir admires Biswaroop's intelligence, considering him to be a worthy opponent. After finding four Tulsi bead necklaces from the crime scene, Probir explains to the stunned Poddar how this fourth murder indeed took inspiration from Narasimha: the lift was neither a man nor a beast, neither in indoors nor in outdoors, neither on the top floor nor on the ground floor and of course, not a weapon while the death itself took place neither in day nor in night. With this breakthrough revelation, the hunt for Biswaroop intensifies throughout the city.
Meanwhile, Poddar and Moitreyee form a close bond as she assists the police in gathering more information on Biswaroop, much to the disdain of Probir, whose wife and son were brutally murdered years back, leaving Probir broken, deranged and alcoholic. When Probir decided to use Moitreyee as a bait to capture Bishwaroop (and in the process mocked her), Poddar furiously lashes against him; he accuses Probir of being mentally insane who suffers from schadenfreude and that he can't tolerate anyone's happiness after his family died. This led to an infuriated Probir engaging in a brawl with Poddar, leaving the latter traumatised. Nevertheless, at the behest of Moitreyee, Poddar apologised to Probir and the duo reconciled.
As a sleazy college teacher is murdered by being kicked down onto the Metro tracks (with the murder evidently taking inspiration from Vamana, as evident from five Tulsi bead necklaces found from the crime scene) and their search for the serial killer yields no positive results, Probir and Poddar find themselves once again in a heated argument as the former wanted to gamble Moitreyee's life and use her as a bait to draw Biswaroop out. Despite Poddar's disapproval, Moitreyee agrees to the plan, and the police keep watch on her, hoping the killer to make contact. However, Moitreyee has one condition: since Biswaroop is mentally unstable, he shouldn't be killed but sent to medical supervision. To this, Probir claims that he will do so but will indeed kill Biswaroop if he tries to attack him. One night, when Poddar leaves Moitreyee at her place, she is shocked to find Biswaroop, wearing the prosthetic mask of an old man, waiting for her. He confronts her angrily, accusing her of being a spy who betrayed his trust and revealing his identity to the police. Probir's intuition compels him and Poddar to rush back to Moitreyee's place, only to be greeted by Biswaroop, having removed his mask, holding Moitreeyee at gunpoint.
Holding them captive, Biswaroop reveals his motives and why he executed all the five murders. He opens up on the gruesome murder of his father (an honest and brave journalist) by the businessman and how it affected his psyche. He declares that now he is determined to continue his duty of morally cleansing the society and tells the cops that they're the befitting targets on his list (Probir because he is extremely sadistic in nature and Poddar simply because he is Probir's side-kick). Probir provokes Bishwaroop by labelling him not as an avatar but as an asura to which, Biswaroop moves close to strike a fatal blow with an axe. But Probir unties himself just in time and shoots dead Biswaroop at point blank range with a mini-pistol, hidden in his shoe. In a twisted revelation, it is revealed that Moitreyee is, in fact, Biswaroop's younger sister, who is now devastated and begins to mourn Biswaroop. Days later, as Moitreyee visits the hills for a vacation with Poddar after completing the legal formalities of being the royal witness, Probir, while filing the final reports back in Kolkata, goes through the files of this case and senses that something is amiss.