Oct 14, 2003 11:29 AM
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(Updated Oct 14, 2003 11:34 AM)
It is said that Raj Kapoor, after watching Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali was so overwhelmed that all he did the next day was speak about this debutant director’s movie. “See what this man has done. He has made pygmies out of us filmmakers,” he is reported to have told Kishore Kumar.
What does one say of a man who made internationally renowned and path-breaking cinema, wrote the scenario of his films, composed music for them, made documentaries, wrote stories for children, edited a magazine for kids, invented a font … all in one lifetime? GENIUS or simply, Satyajit Ray. Critics consider Ray the most accomplished international artist from Bengal, after Tagore.
In 1969, Satyajit Ray revived Sandesh, the children’s magazine started by his grandfather in 1894. And with it was born our very own Sherlock Holmes – Prodosh Mitter, better known as Feluda and an indigenous Watson – his fourteen-year-old cousin Tapesh, a.k.a. Tosphe.
In his foreword to The Adventures of Feluda, Satyajit Ray wrote:
“ I have been an avid reader of crime fiction for a very long time. I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories while still at school.” He continues. “To write a whodunit while keeping in mind a young readership is not an easy task, because the stories have to be kept clean. No illicit love, no crime personnel, and only a modicum of violence. I hope adult readers will bear this in mind when reading these stories.”
Characterization is Satyajit Ray’s forte in these stories. Essentially a man of the cinema, Ray has the unique quality of enabling his readers to visualize his characters. Thus, you can see Feluda thinking hard while trying to solve a crime or even smoke a Charminar; see Topshe diligently take down notes; seeLalmohan Babu the bumbling novelist of thriller novels clumsily make his notes; seeUncle Sindhu impart his encyclopedic knowledge to Feluda. In short, each gesture is palpable, each movement recorded with visual precision. Thus, the reader ends up seeing each of the stories rather than merely reading them.
My favorites
The Golden Fortress
The entire action takes place in Rajasthan. A young boy who claims rebirth has been kidnapped. Why? That’s the answer Feluda and gang strive to find. In this story, Feluda and Topshe are first introduced to Lalmohan Babu.
Mystery at Golok Lodge
A blind scientist stays at Golok Lodge with his brother. One day his research papers are stolen. Just as Feluda is trying to resolve the case, one of the tenants of Golok Lodge is murdered.
Trouble in the Graveyard
Would Job Charnock, the founder of Calcutta be involved in a murder case? To find this answer he lands up at a graveyard and discovers something amiss.
The Bucaneer of Bombay
Lalmohan Babu has been invited by a movie producer to Bombay to film his novel The Bucaneer of Bombay. He takes along with him Feluda (who had provided him with the plot of the novel) and Topshe to a free holiday. The trio reaches Bombay and almost immediately is confronted with a murder.
Besides these, there are many other Feluda stories that I have enjoyed. And yes, Satyajit Ray also wrote some chilling supernatural stories … stories that continue to haunt you long after you have read them.
Ray’s style is simple, not for him labyrinthine descriptions that astound and perplex readers; his characterizations are vivid; and the tempo he sets for each of the stories is racy. Then, there is another BIG PLUS POINT. People like me, who have been interested in Bengal and its culture are instantly transported there.
Pick up a Feluda story and see how entertaining this world will be.
