In response to the review posted by PrashD, I thought I would share some info about the Feluda movies and serials. I know PrashD’s review is over 3 years old, but hoping that interest in Feluda has not waned...
1) Ray made movies out of 2 of Feluda’s adventures. These are ’’Sonar Kella’’ or the Golden Fortress, and ’’Joy Baba Felunath’’ aka The Elephant God. Both movies are in Bengali, and are available in VCD/DVD from Planet-M stores. The movies deviate slightly from the stories; for example, in Golden Fortress, it is revealed to the viewer that Dr. Hajra has been replaced by an imposter, while in the book, the reader is kept in the dark untill the last few pages. Similarly, in Elephant God, the climax is totally different - in the movie, Feluda gets into the guise of ’’Machli Baba’’ and catches Magan lal as he comes for darshan, and there is also a funny anti-climax when Feluda wants to take the Ganesh idol as his fees, as he knows that his client has replaced the expensive idol with a fake replica. In the book, it’s totally different, and the idol is found to be hidden in a transistor radio.
Both these movies are, in my opinion, masterpieces, like all of Ray’s movies. Only, drawback is that both these are in Bengali, and even in the DVD version, the subtitles are terrible. There are scenes where there is no sync between the subtitles and what the actors are saying, while in other, there are spelling mistakes, even Feluda’s name, Pradosh C Mitter, is mis-spelled! However, if you can understand Bengali, I would higly recommend that you buy these VCD or DVDs. I have had them for for years, but still enjoy watching them once in a while.
2) There was also a Feluda serial on DD, long back, maybe the 80’s, when DD was the only channel available to us! I dont remember the details as to which Feluda story it was based on, but I just remember a few things - It was in Hindi, Sashi Kapoor was Feluda, and it was based in Kathmandu. So I am guessing that it was based on the story ’’Criminals of Kathmandu’’ or ’’Joto Kando Kathmandutey’’, the original Bengali title. I dont think it was made by Ray, and I think they were quite forgetable.
3) Ray’s son, Sandeep Ray, has also made a movie based on one of the Feluda books, and is about to make another, based on ’’Bombay’er Bombatey’’ aka Dacoits of Bombay or Thieves of Bombay (I am not sure about the title). I have not seen them, but the general comments from people who have is that Sandeep Ray does not do justice to his father’s creation. Still, I would like to have a look at these movies, as I am sure, any hardcore Ray/Feluda fan would.