Sandip Ray gave interview on Zee Bangla.

Sandip Ray gave interview on Zee Bangla.

Sandip Ray, the son of renowned director Satyajit Ray gave interview on Zee TV Bangla on the birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray on 2nd May, 2011. Ray had died almost 20 years ago, but his works had remained immortal over the years.

When Sandip Ray was asked about his experience in working with his father he gave an elaborate answer. He said that he got the greatest teacher ever to be born in the field of filmmaking. But he said while independently working he never thought about being the son of Oscar Winning director Satyajit Ray. It would have created huge pressure which could have affected his filmmaking.

He made his directorial debut with the film Fotik Chand in the 70s. Satyajit Ray had helped him with the script, but after that he allowed his son to direct the film independently. The film received very good reviews. Sandip Ray said, some section of the critics said that the film had been made by Satyajit Ray himself. It did not hurt Sandip Ray because he realized if people associated his work with his father’s work he had made a film which could meet the standard already created by his father.

Later on he made other landmark films like Target, Gupi Bagha Phire Elo, Baksho Rahasya, Bombaiyer Bombete, Tintoretor Jishu, Kolilashe Kelenkari, etc. He mainly worked on stories written by Ray on Feluda series, that means the detective stories of Prodosh Chandra Mitra.

Ray’s films like Pather Panchali, Kanchenjungha, Ghare Baire, still are classical creations which help new directors all across the world the art of film making. His films and works should be preserved and restored.

Review of Sandip Ray's Baksho Rahasya.

Review of Sandip Ray’s Baksho Rahasya.

Sandip Ray had the huge challenge of satisfying the tastes of readers of Satyajit Ray’s detective stories while making the film Baksho Rahashya based on the epic literature of Satyajit Ray. Satyajit Ray previously made films based on Feluda stories including Sonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath in the 70s.

Sandip Ray used a different team in the film Baksho Rahasya, with Sabyasachi Chakravarty playing the role of Feluda, Saswata Chatterji playing the role of Topse and Robi Ghosh playing the role of Lalmohan Ganguly (Jatuyu). Previously the roles were played by Soumitra Chatterji, Siddharta Chatterji and Santosh Dutta.

In this film Feluda had to go to Shimla from Kolkata to bring back the suitcase of Haradhon Banerjee that got interchanged in train. He had to give the suitcase to Mr. Dhameja and take Haradhon Banerjee’s suitcase in turn. Feluda, Topse and Jatayu travelled from Kolkata to New Delhi in flight. From there they boarded Kalka Mail and reached Shimla.

After exchanging the bag in Shimla, Feluda was attacked by Pradip Mukherjee, the relative of Haradhon Banerjee. He kept a diamond in a kodak’s empty filmbox, which he coloured. He attacked Feluda to get it back. Feluda showed his daringness to manage him and get the diamond back. He was assaulted with a boomerang thrown by Jatayu.

The other complication arose out of a manuscript of a Book written by writer Shambhucharan who was famous for writing stories based on travel experiences. The manuscript was stolen by Mr. Pakrasi, who knew its value and who typed most of it in his type writer, as the book was unpublished and Mr. Shambhucharan’s copyright ended. Feluda to the book and the manuscript away and returned it to Haradhan Banerjee.

Feluda was attacked a number of times in the film, one time at Pretoria Street, the other times in hotel in New Delhi. The shooting of Sandip Ray in the hills of Shimla and Kufri was excellent. Although Rabi Ghosh could not match the expectation created by Santosh Dutta in the role of Jatayu, Sabyasachi Chakravarty did a great job in the role of Feluda.

The film should be preserved with English sub-titles to reach Satyajit Ray’s literature the international audience.

Feluda Team in Dadagiri

Feluda Team in Dadagiri

The different teams of Satyajit Ray's immortal creation Feluda series appeared in Sourav Ganguly's program Dadagiri in Zee Bangla. The team included old Feluda team like Soumitra Chatterji (Feluda), Siddharta Chatterji (Topse) and Kushal Chakravarty (Mukul). The new Feluda team included Sabyasachi Chakravarty (Feluda), Saswata Chatterji (Topse) and Bibhu Bhattacharya (Jatayu).

While quiz questions were asked the nostalgia relating to Satyajit Ray's immortal creation Sonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath reflected across everybody's mind. Soumitra admitted the classic shooting in the romantic landscapes of Rajasthan in Sonar Kella gave a new dimension to the film.

It was mentioned that after the death of Santosh Dutta who had previously played the role of Jatayu, Satyajit Ray declined to make any other film on the Feluda series. Jatayu's daughter was called in the program to share her experience.

Sabyasachi Chakravarty reflected about the fact when Satyajit Ray made the films on Feluda within one year of writing the story the picture of Kolkata did not change. But When Sandip Ray made the same films after 20 years of creation of the literature he had to make alterations in the film considering the change of lifestyle of people in Kolkata. During Ray's time Green Ambassador of Jatayu showed status. During Sandip Ray's time BMW cars are common in Kolkata.

Sourav Ganguly conducted the program with brilliance. The viewers expect Sandip Ray to make more films relating to Feluda Series written by Satyajit Ray.