Fantastico Sherlock

Unless one has been living under a cave, there is hardly anyone in the modern world who has never heard of Sherlock Holmes. This fantastico fictional character created more than 125 years ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has withstood the test of time and continues to capture the imagination of the world; and in all probability, it is likely to go on doing so for many more years to come. It has also been re-enacted and re-imagined numerous times in various TV shows and movies that have been immensely popular. So, what is it about this only consulting detective in the world that makes him so fantastico?

The charm in Sherlock Holmes was evident from the very first chapter of the first book - A Study in Scarlet. His cold, logical reasoning with absolute mathematical perfection is a beauty to read and watch. And the most incredible thing about it is he is able to deduce stuff from objects that are plainly in front of the naked eye! There are no complex puzzles or code-cracking involved; more often than not, his companions (and the readers as well) are left with a feeling of “Damn, why didn’t I figure that out?”!

The detective has been recently portrayed both on the big screen as well as the small one by two extremely talented actors – Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch. I am a big fan of the TV series Sherlock, played by Cumberbatch; the man looks like he was born to play the role.

The most fantastico thing about the show is the way in which they have adapted the series to the 21^st century world and yet tried to stay true to the original stories as much as possible. It’s like fan-fiction with a twist, and it pays an amazing tribute to the original Holmes. So A Study in Scarlet becomes A Study in Pink, The Hound of the Baskervilles retains the title with the plot now involving a radiation factory – and so on. Everything – starting from the background score, the body language of the characters and the attention to the minutest detail possible give it a flair that takes this TV show to another level altogether. I would not quote any example in too much detail here for the purpose of not giving away spoilers for those who haven’t watched the show yet, but I think this would suffice – even the position in which Sherlock places his doorknob after leaving his apartment, the design of the wallpaper in his room and random whispers which would probably go unnoticed by most viewers – each of these adds something unique and fits within the story in such a beautiful fashion that once you see the whole picture, the result is absolutely stunning.

Sherlock is truly a fantastico show – the show that television deserves.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.