Sandip Ray to make another Feluda film soon

Kolkata: With the ‘Royal Bengal Rahasya’, based on Satyajit Ray`s fictional detective Feluda, drawing full houses, the film`s director, Sandip Ray, has planned to direct another film on the super sleuth in two years.

Sandip, son of Satyajit Ray, would rather for the moment not disclose what story in the Feluda franchise he intends to turn into celluloid. "Since Sabyasachi Chakraborty, the actor playing Feluda`s role, is ageing, we cannot afford to delay much in making the the movie," Sandip said. He hinted that Sabyasachi would at best make another one or two Feluda films and said for future productions a fitter and younger actor has to be found out. For the present, however, the director would focus on trying out a different movie format, a film stringing together different short stories written by famed writers. "I am reading short stories by both Bengali and English writers, including my father`s, and I am still in the process of soaking in the spirit of reliving the reading experience of my younger days. He said it would be different from his `Nishijapan` and `Hitlist`, two earlier feature films. Sandip also harbours a plan to make a sci-fi movie based on his father`s immortal scientist-character Professor Shonku which, he says, has to be done on a bigger scale. "Yes, may be in another three-four years I will work on the project, but I have to find the right producer for the film as it will have to be a bigger one in look and treatment and in English with dubbings in Bengali," he said. About the success of his Royal Bengal Rahasya, the director said he was relieved that the audience had liked the `layered cerebral plot`. "I had some apprehension of how the audience would take the multi-layered plot without much action. Not a single negative comment!`` Sandip said with a chuckle. The film is running to packed houses in over 70 theatres all over the country, both multiplexes and single screen theatres, he told PTI as the film entered its fourth week run. He said considering that there had been a lot of restrictions on activities in forest areas where much of the action of the movie is based, the crew took every precaution before shooting. The script was vetted by the forest department officials themselves and their feedback was incorporated. Sandip said he missed comedian Bibhu Bhattacharya who played Jatayu, a funny character integral to every Feluda short story penned by Satyajit Ray, who died on the day he completed dubbing for the film. PTI