Shoojit Sircar hopes to remake Satyajit Ray’s Feluda series in Hindi. The director, who is confident the Feluda series has all the trappings of a franchise formula, is trying to acquire rights to 'Sonar Kella'
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; September 10, 2016)

For someone whose office walls are covered with original posters of Satyajit Ray’s classic films — Pather Panchali (1955) and Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969) — the influence of the maverick filmmaker’s craft is inevitable. “From Ray, we descend,” says Shoojit Sircar as he announces that his long-standing dream of making Feluda in Hindi could soon be a reality.

“I have wanted to make Sonar Kella in Hindi. I am trying to acquire the rights to the movie. But, I am still not 100 per cent confident if I can make Feluda appeal to a national level audience, but I am certainly toying with the idea. Feluda has all the trappings of a franchise formula and it might just work, if made well.”

About his undying love for Ray’s films, Shoojit adds, “In terms of filmmaking, we haven’t been able to touch Ray till date. Without technical support, the man attained much more 50 years ago than we do today. We aren’t anywhere close to his genius. He is the only world-standard filmmaker India has ever produced.”

But, he does not confirm whether this will be his next film. He says he is reading a lot of scripts although he is yet to zero in on one. “I have the film, 1911, which is still being written. I don’t want to announce anything till I am certain. I am not one of those filmmakers who say they are making something and the film never happens. An announcement will be made when the script is confirmed and actors are cast,” he says.


Who is Feluda?
Written by Satyajit Ray, Feluda first appeared in 1965 in a Bengali magazine, Sandesh. The man was desi Sherlock Holmes with two Watsons, namely his cousin Topshe and novelist Jatayu. Sonar Kella, which starred Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee as the titular character, went on to win four National Awards in 1974.