Double Feluda (2016) Online

What is the point in listing this movie when it is not available for viewing anywhere. In this day and age one would expect the movie to be made available by the producers in all possible platforms, but alas they seem to want to keep this movie for their own personal viewing.

The biggest problem in making a film from a popular detective series is that the audience is already aware of the crime and the denouement of the same. Bengalis in particular hold Satyajit Ray's iconic creation Prodosh C Mitter aka Feluda in very high esteem. So every time Sandip Ray buckles up to deliver the Sleuth's tales on screen, he faces this mammoth challenge. Normally directors morph or at least twist the plot here and there to introduce a surprise element. Often there is a change in essence. In Kailashe Kelengkari Sandip himself gave us an action hero of sorts in Felu.

But in this film, he rolls out a bland treatment staying as close as possible to the text. The film is about two Feluda short stories - Samaddar er Chabi (Samaddar's key) and Golokdham Rahasya (Golokdham Mystery) respectively. Samaddar er Chabi is about a frugal old man who dies apparently without leaving a will or fortune. However the miser old man's parting words to his nephew were gibberish but indicative of a hidden meaning. Convinced of the fact that his uncle has hidden his earnings somewhere and with an aim to decipher the clue, the nephew (Bratya) seeks Felu's help. The plain and simple mystery which ensues amidst an array of musical instruments, deceit and revelation draws to a close just before the interval. There is nothing much to talk about this one apart from an impressive performance of Bratya Basu.

The second story is a lot gore. Unlike the first one which dealt with searching for a will or treasure, this one deals with theft and murder. Golokdham is a bungalow just outside the peripheral limits of Kolkata near the banks of the Ganges. Its inhabitant Nihar Dutta who was once a reputed scientist researching something grand in the Michigan University was blinded due to an explosion in the laboratory some twenty years back. He now lived in this house along with his brother, his rogue nephew, a few servants and two tenants. His unfinished research papers which were still of immense value were tried to be stolen. The evening when the detective arrived, the research papers appeared missing. The very next day, one of the tenants Mr. Dastoor is found killed. The story traverses curves and ridges before the real truth unfolds. I am not going to deal with that not because it's going to be a total spoiler but since most you must have read these stories in childhood.

Regarding the cast, Dhritiman Chatterjee as Nihar Dutta clearly steals the show. It's quite strange that this man has never performed badly in his entire career. He exudes a charisma which is distinguishable on screen quite prominently without resorting to cheap antics or mouthing lousy dialogues. That's what a real superstar is, something we have failed to understood. The rest like Bhaskar Banerjee (Nihar's brother), Gourab Chakraboty (His secretary), Biswanath (Dastoor) all chip in well. Sad to see talents like Rajesh Sharma (Sukhwani ) and Paran Bandopadhyay (Sidhu Jyatha) in such minor cameos. However the latter in a scene rebuking Felu for infrequent coming to his house clearly creates a stronghold on the audience.

Coming to the main characters, Satyajit created the titular character as a youth and his aide Topshe as a young adult. Here we see Felu as an aged man and Topshe as a youth. What's the point in bringing back the 60 year old Sabyasachi? Does that indicate a dearth of lead actors in Bengal who could have pulled this one off? Both the tales are sans Jatayu. So here we see an aged Feluda who wears a punjabi or let's his shirt loose lest his pot belly becomes further prominent. Saheb as Topshe was always a misfit and continues to be. This man should learn to pronounce Bengali properly first. Despite this, one needs to give some marks to the man who has played Felu for the maximum number of times. He tries to be natural with a candour of a sleuth who was relying even more this time on Magajastra - the grey cells of the brain.

Sandip Ray tries to be utterly simple in treatment. The camera angle, moving shots were all neat and single frame keeping up with the linear storytelling. However one gets repeatedly the feeling that what basically were two usual serial episodes were just juxtaposed on celluloid. When Ray filmed Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress ), he cut certain scenes, introduced new ones just to make the script for cinema without disrupting the fabric. This is the cinematic angle which needs to be explored while telling a well known story. Sandip seemed to be too comfortable in the safe shelter in the ambiance of creations of Manik. Even though it was an imitation of Ray's way of filming, it was nevertheless a bad imitation. Why was the marble engraving in the Golokdham entrance brand new? Mr. Dastoor's room was locked from the outside. How did he order the servant at once while entering? Sadly enough Junior Ray, your Father would have taken grater care of these details. Riding on the wheels of memory, the title card was a big bonus. Ray's sketches with exquisite colouring really makes one nostalgic. But the mini confessions during the end credits were not so gratifying. We are not watching a biopic of Ray but merely a script of his transformed on screen. Why this elevation every time? We have permanently placed him on a very high pedestal. Don't toss him up further, master his creations Babuda.

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