Feluda. Pradosh Chandra Mitter. A name all Bengalis adore, many generations have grown up with, kids adore…even to this day. Thanks to translations even non-Bengalis and so called Bongs who are ashamed to acknowledge their mother tongue now are no strangers to this brilliant, thinking, astonishingly real detective created by the great Satyajit Ray. Feluda, inspired by Sherlock Holmes, is an inspiration to many for his focused brain, fitness quotient( his fitness regime would put even the 6 pack brigade to shame) and knowledge bank.

When Feluda came alive on screen, the adrenaline rush to solve the known case with Shoumitra Chatterjee Feluda, directed by Ray was no less fun than reading the book( some may say it was in fact more!)And the magic was rewound with Joy Baba Felunath( case of the Elephant God). Not only Feluda but his amazing sidekick Topshe who idolized him, took pride in being his satellite ,learnt from him without being an overbearing over inquisitive irritating companinion and friend Jatayu the less knowlegable but highly imaginative, genuine and genius in his own way became etched in history as 3 of the most loved characters of Bengali literature.As did Shoumitra Chatterjee, Siddharta and Santosh Dutta.

Then came the age of new Feluda. Recreated by Sandip Ray, son of the legendary Ray and reportrayed by Sabyasachi undoubtedly one of the better actors in Tollywood. Things were fine till we came to Jatayu. No one just no one could replace Santosh Datta’s adorable Jatayu . as Ray as pointed out in Nayan Rahasya , Jatayu is not a joker. He does things in a way or speaks in a way which brings a smile but he is not a Mr. Bean. This is where is find Bibhu Bhattacharya impossibly joker-like. He tries too hard to make you laugh. For god’s sake, JAtayu was an author give him his due respect. And the new Topshe seems more upbeat about the new cases than feluda. He mouths all the imp lines, explains all the crucial clues and overall gives a feeling of an overgrown bat. Now we come to Feluda himself. Till the point he was a contstantly thinking actor remembering the laurels of the earlier Feluda he was fine. But as he became accepeted, he became condescending and complacent. So gone were the expressions from the eyes which used to speak volumes instead he actually started speaking volumes. Gone were his fit days and now he sports XL shirts with a neat little paunch. Gone were the sarcastic caustic comments which made us smile ruefully instead he became an extremely dull eyebrow always perched on the third floor generic detective. He could have been just any detective but he is not feluda. Not anymore.

Now we come to the root of the problems. Sabyasachi can become thinner, his actions could be changed but what about the man behind the camera who hold the reigns?? Why did he need to give Lalmohan a green Santro first and then a bluish green Indica?? If the logic is that Jatayu is a rich man and no rich man drives an ambassador any more then give him a mobile phone God damn it and Feluda too. In his last 3 movies Feluda has been living on borrowed mobiles. You cant be so contradictory. And as an avid Feluda lover it was a nightmare to see the amazing Tintoretor Jishu being translated into an action movie wherein Feluda had no role to play. Sandip Ray changed the most imp sequences of the film( may be because Tota looked better in action scenes)and made a Feluda which looked like B-grade Tarantino adaptation.

Request you Mr. Ray Jr. if you ever read this blog, read your father’s masterpieces again before making a movie. Let’s excuse you one last time thinking that may be you were depending on your memory. Or else you will surely never see a hitlist again!!

Joy Baba Felunath!!!