Mirror had reported in December, 2013, about Ananth Mahadevan incorporating popular Bengali fictional character, Satyajit Ray's Tarini Ranjan Bandopadhyay, in his upcoming film, The Storyteller, with Paresh Rawal in the titular character. However, the filmmaker-actor got busy with other films and is now reviving this project by roping in Naseeruddin Shah to play another pivotal role.

“It's Ray-meets Hitchcock in a quaint manner with two delightful twists in the tale. It is one of the few Tarini stories grounded in reality, without a touch of the supernatural,“ Mahadevan had told Mirror in the interview, adding that after procuring the rights to the story, which revolves around Tarini Khuro (a colloquial Bengali term for paternal uncle) and a Gujarati businessman, Ananth approached Paresh Rawal to play the latter role.

“But he didn't want to play a Gujarati and pointed out that it would be stereotyped casting. He asked if he could play Khuro instead,“ Ananth had said. Now, Naseer is set to step into the role of the Gujarati businessman. While Paresh confirmed the news, all that producer Joydeep Biswas was willing to reveal was that the makers have roped in “two powerhouse actors as the leads“. Ananth refused to comment, saying, “Nothing is official yet.“

Tarini Khuro was the third character developed by Ray after Feluda and Professor Shonku. The character whose adventure stories are accentuated by a touch of supernatural forces is central to about fifteen stories written by Ray.