For director-actor Kamaleswar Mukherjee, stepping into the Tota Roychoudhury, Anirban Chakrabarti, and Kalpan Mitra Feluda universe as a director was a challenge. As the latest season of Feludar Goyendagiri: Royal Bengal Rahasyo streams on hoichoi, he opens up on taking the challenge, why Feluda is timeless, and if he would have given other faces to the characters.
Excerpts:
Do you think it was a challenge to take up Feluda since several directors and actors have already tried their hands at it?
It was a challenge, because I have never directed Feluda or a detective-thriller before. We have seen Satyajit Ray’s Feluda as children, and then came Sandip Ray’s Feluda films. I have been a fan of both Soumitra Chattopadhyay and Sabyasachi Chakraborty. After that Srijit [ Mukherji] started his Feluda franchise. When the offer came to me to direct Feluda, I did not change the cast of the trio. However, supporting characters were definitely introduced, like Chiranjeet Chakraborty, the star of commercial Bengali cinema and a director who guided us a lot; Dipankar De, Pratik Dutta, and Sankar Debnath. With the cast support, it seemed fairly easy. But, for someone like me who was never into this universe before, it was a challenge and, learning experience.
If the project was given to you without a set cast, would you have changed anything?
No. I wouldn’t have changed the cast. Rather, I would have stalled the story because I think that Tota, Anirban, and Kalpan click the bill. They are apt. It’s very difficult to find anybody like them.
Why do you think Feluda is so timeless?
Feluda is timeless because he has some Bengali nuances, which are central to making one relate to him. He is very educated, physically fit, and comes from a very humble background. But he is never portrayed in a larger-than-life manner. He is supposedly the next-door neighbour. In the psyche of the young generation Bengalis, Feluda is an icon they love to create or follow, and one they can connect to instantly through similarities.
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