Nayan Rahasya

After Hatyapuri, the fresh chemistry of Indranil Sengupta, Abhijit Guha and Ayush Das return to solve mysteries as Feluda, Jatayu and Topshe respectively on a new adventure that spans across a part of the country. This time the plot centres a little boy, Nayan, who apparently can see decimal digits in front of his eyes that helps him to correctly answer any numeric question posed to him by anybody.

Identifying the paranormal trait in his son, his needy father takes him to a budding magician, Sunil Tarafdar, who immediately assures to include Nayan in his stage shows against a monthly allowance to the father and providing upkeep for the boy. With his position becoming regular in the magic shows, Nayan instantly attracts attention of many with varied interests. There are some who would like him to assure their gambling wins while others would want to showcase his abilities worldwide. Again there were others who would want Nayan to reveal their forgotten passkeys while there would be obsessive collectors lurking, ready to stoop low enough to snatch Nayan away from his free life and place him among their prized collections. Everything happens as Tarafdar gears up for his South India tour, backed by his mysterious sponsor, who wishes to remain anonymous.

Soon a kidnapping attempt on the boy right from the residence of Tarafdar follows. The worried wizard seeks the help of Feluda and Co who offers to help by accompanying the boy and the magic party through their upcoming tour. But the task of protecting the boy becomes difficult as, thanks to Tarafdar, media is briefed of the tour well in advance who publicizes the event much before the tour begins. Also, Feluda is forced to take another case of a businessman, allegedly fearing for his life. Thus the stage is set for a showdown as threats pile up while protecting both his clients.

The original novel had never been my favourite as fantasy prevailed over mystery but it seemed on afterthought, that the novel had the ingredients for a commercial movie with magic, action, paranormal, theft, murder and the climactic twist. Curiously however, all these being shown, but the actual essence of suspense and tension is missed somehow. The entire presentation thus becomes bland and only fit for the less matured. The background score was insufficient and the direction was not up to the mark. Infact, pondering over whatever the film offered, the editing will also be held responsible for the less crisp finale. Thus, Sandip Ray gives us something that the entire family may watch together but the refreshing Ray touch is disregarded entirely.

As to the acting, two persons stand out among the flock. They are Abhinav Barua as Nayan putting up a splendid show, perfect and naive, just what the character required and Supriyo Dutta as the crazy collector, T N T. Indeed, Dutta steals the limelight in most of the scenes he features and breathes the much needed energy and relief in the otherwise impassive settings with his animatedly menacing gestures and spontaneous playacting. Frankly speaking, I have liked Indranil Sengupta with his natural smartness and humility as Feluda and if he could manage to improve his dialect, he will indeed be a better Feluda, given his characteristic inclination of not copying the style of any of his predecessors. Ayush Das complements well as Topshe and devoid of any street smartness, might shine as a better successor if he matures in the line that the character demands, the subtle apprentice and the primary admirer of the sleuth. Abhijeet Guha is another person who understands Jatayu better than many and thus we get a happily comical Jatayu, in a more responsible role this time, instead of a jester that many had previously and of course, mistakenly, characterized.

In summary, similar to what Feluda advised to Tarafdar about the missing splendour and grandeur that his neat magic show demanded, we can reiterate only similarly the need of a bit of intellectual sparkle in future Feluda movies to augment the appeal of the uncomplainingly compact version of the silver screen release.

Gorosthane Sabdhan!

Feluda returns this year with a hint of nostalgia as the mystery he is about to solve is in the city of joy. Alas, the year is advanced to 2010 and with hi tech gadgets like the mobile and the www, Feluda’s research work seems easier enough. Also at times the Feluda like observations apparently lacks in edge but truly speaking, this seems to be Sandip Ray’s best venture with the trio as the calm and composed Sabysachi apparently strikes the best impression in this adventure. He is accompanied by the new Topshe in Saheb Bhatacharya whose age and looks are by far the best and most noticeably offers the more apt chemistry with Bivu Bhattacharya’s characterization of Lalmohanbabu. But having said these, it must also be mentioned that Bhattacharya is gradually becoming unbearable since appearing as Lalmohanbabu for the fourth time in a row he should have improved more.

This adventure, in search of Perigal Repeater - don’t ask me what it is, as it’s part of the mystery – takes Feluda to the Gorosthan (the Park Street cemetery). Or shall we say that his hunts in the Gorosthan led him to the deep rooted mystery. Yes, the mystery was surely deep rooted as it dates back to eighteenth century when a British named Thomas Godwin settled in Calcutta. With him came the precious Perigal Repeater. Now it seems, evil collectors were after it and it’s up to Feluda to save the day. But most mysteriously it was not the primary motivation. Feluda, on his own, had started investigating the cause of a reported accident in Gorosthan when his instincts drove him to further his searches.

The viewers are next led through a maze of complex characters and a thrilling ride through the Victorian remains of the city. Starting from séances and old chests the mystery spreads its knotty hues among academicians, gamblers, antique collectors and of course the private investigator Pradosh C. Mitter.

Sashanka Palit’s cinematography is excellent as are the shot compositions but if Sandip Ray’s style of story telling may be changed a bit to keep the mystery shrouded till the very end, the excitement could have been much more intense. Produced by Mou Roychoudhury, the team could have been more selective of the casting. While some, specially Tinu Anand blended into his role perfectly but contrastingly that of Subhashish Mukherjee failed to draw appreciation. Dhritiman Chatterjee was good during the start but at the final scenes his overacting was too much for the character. Dwijen Bandyopadhyay in his short appearance provided a wonderful relief that was so absent in Bivu’s entire performance. Infact, after viewing this, my opinion is the next Lalmohanbabu might be selected from Haradhan Bannerjee and Dwijen Bandyopadhyay. But surely one of the best performances come from Sabyasachi who seemed more relaxed in this role and though whispers about him gaining weight seemed going against his Feluda image but his acting reflected the sharp intellect much more than any other previous ventures.

Hit List

http://calcuttatube.com/hitlist-2009-bengali-movie-review/

Tintoretor Jishu

To me this is the best directed Feluda movie by Sandip Ray. The ingenious plot of the father is efficiently picturised by the son and perhaps this is the later's best tribute to the legend called Feluda till date.

The story starts with the arrival of a stranger in Baikunthapur’s Neogi family, introducing himself as Rudrashekhar, son of late Chandrasekhar who is brother to Soumyasekhar, the current head of Neogi family. Chandra was an artist who died in foreign lands after being married to an Italian lady. It was there that he received a painting of Jesus Christ by a famous Renaissance painter, Tintoretto. Rudra is wholeheartedly welcomed by Soumyasekhar but along came the news of death of Thumri, Soumya’s pet golden retriever. Then, following a chance meeting with Soumya’s son, Naba, the three musketeers, Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu, gets invited to Baikunthapur to have a look at the famous painting and also to offer some clues to the dog’s killers. Though the case was proposed in a light-hearted manner, but Feluda smells rat and starts some investigation on his own. His hunch of something fishy proves correct following a failed attempt to steal the picture. Feluda learns an international buyer called Krikorian got information of the painting from an article by Bhagwangarh’s Bhudev Singh, a friend to Chandra and tries to buy it through a villainous art dealer Hiralal Somani. The story gathers a sudden momentum as Bankim, manager to Soumya gets murdered and Rudra gets missing while the painting gets replaced by a fake one. Now the chase begins with Feluda and his companions trying to foil the art deal between Krikorian and Hiralal at Hong Kong and the stage is set for the final showdown that keeps the audience glued to their seats.

The story has been followed with some modifications that have never felt damaging to the original plot and the wonderful fusion of oriental tunes with the traditional Feluda tune really deserves applause as do the use of witty dialogues that adds humorous flavour of the movie. As to the suspense account, it must be admitted that foretelling a part of the criminal's approach damps the thrill a bit but the use of action and chase sequences compensate them to a great extent. While the fictional portrait of Jesus by Sagar Bhowmick provides the much needed realistic touch to the historical part but Feluda's explanation while unravelling minute but important points could well have been enhanced by using flashbacks as those who have not read the book will be kept searching for the missed portions especially while revealing the true identity of an important character. But the thing that I disliked most was the transformation of the period to the 21^st century as I feel that the story had all the materials for a grand success without cell phones, lappys and modern vehicles (Lalmohan’s ambassador converted to indica was not required as such). Just imagine Holmes dressed in modern outfit or Poirot losing his fussiness over symmetry or Marple without her stitching set or Father Brown without the meek appearance or watching Byomkesh searching for clues wearing jeans! It is not that the period transformation produces giggles among the audience but it was an adjustment quite uncalled for.

As to the acting, Paran bandopadhyay tops the list with his subtle comedies while Bibhu Bhattacharya as Lalmohan is a dissapointment this time. While Shilajit excels with his stubborn looks and Sabsyasachi maintains the balance of sharp intellect and skilled karateka, Tota Roychowdhury offers a pleasant dimension to this intriguing plot. Biswajit Chakraborty plays the wicked Hiralal Somani to perfection while Parambrata and Bhaskar plays their supporting roles nicely. Just as an afterthought, Tota can be the next replacement of Feluda in some future screenplays!
As to the detailing I think two glaring errors are very much apparent. Firstly while Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu were seen sleeping at the Neogi’s, they didn’t even change their dresses! Secondly while following a footstep in the house at night, Feluda is wearing shoes, that is so unlike a proper detective.