Aka - Joi Baba Felunath
I will be the first to admit that I have not delved into the films of Satyajit Ray very extensively even though he is considered by the critics to be one of the great directors of the 20th century. I saw the Apu Trilogy years ago and thought it brilliant and perhaps two since then - Charulata (The Lonely Wife) and The Chess Players - also wonderful. I suppose it is his reputation for being serious - for exploring the inequities of the Indian social system - the poverty, the caste system. the corruption, the position of the Indian woman - social issues. I am just not often in the mood for such fare. That is on me. The older I get, the more shallow my viewing habits as I indulge in and love genre films and usually stay away from what are considered the canonical classics. So imagine my surprise when I read that Ray had directed two mystery films that though not ranked among his best are suppose to be good fun. Fun. Not a word I associated with Ray. But not only did he direct these two films, but they are based on his stories.
Satyajit wrote a series of mystery books termed the Feluda series named after the Bengali detective. Some are up on Amazon in English. Ray based him on Sherlock Holmes as he uses his brain to figure things out. He generally has two companions - his young cousin Topshe and a writer of Indian pulp novels, Jatayu. These mystery novels were very popular and though Ray only directed two, others have been made and his son Sandip made a series of them for TV. Based on this one I definitely have to find the other one - Sonar Kella (1974). This is terrific.
It is beautifully shot and framed with abundant colors and the location shooting in the city of Kashi (Varanasi) is stunning. The city sits on the banks of the Ganges and is one of the oldest cities known to exist and one of India's most important religious pilgrimages to its many temples. Everything looks ancient, unmaintained, paint peeling from everything and it is magnificent. Temples, holy men, bathing in the Ganges, narrow alleyways that feel like a labyrinth, bazaars and old mansions ready to crumble. The film is a tour as much as a mystery and it is spectacular.
Feluda or his full name Prodosh Mitra (Soumitra Chatterjee) has come to Kashi (the ancient name) along with his two companions for a vacation. He is a famous detective back in his home town of Calcutta and his reputation as they say precedes him. They stay in a small friendly hotel without a lot of amenities and they are given a roommate - a muscle man (Moloy Roy) who gives shows. Feluda is approached by a man who wants to hire his services. A valuable miniature statue of Ganesh has been stolen from the safe of his father while he was sleeping. A big gangster had been trying to buy it just the day before so he is the main suspect but its more complicated than that. The gangster Meghraj is played by Utpal Dutt with enough simmering menace to terrify just with his look.
The solution is quite clever and a Tintin book is one of the clues. Topshe is played by Siddhartha Chatterjee with likable charm and Santosh Dutta as Jatayu, the balding, harmless novelist who carries around a smile like we do spare change is wonderful. All three of them play the same characters in the first Feluda film. This was just great though much of my pleasure was derived by the setting. I use to live in India as a boy and this brought back sounds and smells. The film has its own slow rhythm with nothing rushed - not the solution or a meal - it feels fitting for the location and the sacred Ganges flowing by.
The Golden Fortress (1974) - 7.5
Director: Satyajit Ray
Year: 1974
Rating: 7.5
Country: India
Aka - Sonar Kella
After watching The Elephant God, I was hoping I would be able to come across this film. The Movie Gods came through again. These two films directed by Satyajit Ray are based on his own stories about the fictional Indian detective Feluda aka Prodosh Mitra. This was the first film actually followed by The Elephant God five years later. I wish there were a dozen more. They are entertaining, relaxing and visually lovely. Between films, I purchased Vol I of the stories of Feluda and read a few of them - some only 20 pages long; others much longer. Volume I runs over 800 pages on Kindle. This one is in volume 1. Though they were initially published in children's magazines, they became so popular that adults began to read them as well. There are 35 cases in all. They are quite fun - told through the eyes of Feluda's young nephew Tapesh who hero worships his uncle. They may have been meant for children - but smart children as Ray throws in a lot about history, science, religion, how to do things, facts, Bollywood songs, the diverse ethnic groups and the geography of India. Read and learn. Each adventure takes place in a different part of India. Feluda and Tapesh live in Calcutta and speak Bengali along with Hindi. They were written in Bengali but have been translated into English.
It isn't really the mystery that counts in these two films. They are not complicated and in this one Ray simplifies the story. In the book since it is told by Tapesh the reader only knows half of what is going on - so the solution is a puzzle - but in the film Ray gives it away very early since he also shows what the villains are up to. At 135 minutes it turns into somewhat of a Shaggy Dog adventure as the film takes its time, visits many places in India, rides taxis, camels and trains, has a few narrow calls and eventually brings the case to a close in an appropriately anti-climatic manner. You are just along for a leisurely charming ride and get to see some stunning parts of India and a number of these grand fort structures that dot the country from a few hundred years ago.
It begins with a young boy named Mukul in Calcutta (now Kolkata) who begins acting strangely by drawing pictures of ancient battles and a golden fort. He may be a Jatismar - a person who can see a past life. The boy mentions that in this past life there was sand, a peacock, a battle, his father had jewels and the town had a Golden Fort. Two men read about this and decide to kidnap the boy and have him lead them to the jewels. A parapsychologist Dr. Hajra persuades Mukul's parents to allow him to take the boy in search of the fort - he wants to research this phenomenon. When another Mukul is mistakenly kidnapped and released, the father comes to Feluda and asks him to go locate Dr. Hajra and his son and protect them.
And so Feluda (Soumitra Chatterjee - who was a favorite of Ray's in many of his films) and Tapesh (Siddhartha Chatterjee) are off on another adventure that takes them way into the rugged northwest state of Rajasthan. Along the way on the train they make the acquaintance of Lalmohan Ganguly (Santosh Dutta), a very cheerful balding detective writer. He was to become a regular in the remainder of the book series and is in the other film. Hard to completely understand why I enjoyed these films so much - perhaps partly my past life when I lived in Calcutta as a boy and have vague memories of traveling around India. For a detective film there is a paucity of action or tension - we know who the villains are - they just fit my mood. Have an Indian dinner and watch these films.
