Feludar Goyendagiri

I've said it before, I'll say it again - Srijit Mukherji has bagged the best lead actors since Sandip Ray's original trio (Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee and Rabi Ghosh). All three leads look (and have been made to look) awfully similar to Ray's sketches and have clearly worked on 'becoming' the characters they play. Then again, nostalgia is a tough thing to beat. Our expectations would always remain sky-high.

With season 2, Anirban Chakrabarti has stopped being Ekendra Sen and has started to look and sound more like Lalmohan Ganguly without parroting his predecessors. He has understood the assignment (mostly) and has worked on delivering. Kalpan Mitra gets a lot of hate on social media, but I like him better than all his predecessors and peers post Saswata Chatterjee. Tota Roy Chowdhury's approach is more grounded and real, yet his portrayal elicits conflict. Despite wowing in some scenes, quite a few of his expressions and body language made me cringe. Even his voice sounded drab and too loud at times.

The supporting cast should've been stronger.

Kashmir has been used well, its ethereal beauty oozing in abundance in almost every shot; the 'travelogue' element well-incorporated. The colour-grading is definitely an issue, but can be overlooked if only the camerawork is taken into consideration.

As for the narrative, Mr Mukherji has kept the whodunit intact but has added elements of his own to spice things up a bit. The political tension was unnecessary in my opinion but does add another dimension for viewers who haven't read the story. Creative liberties here and there could've been avoided, especially the two big ones in the climax. The planchette scenes felt awfully underdone, comical even. Loved the "Hirak Rajar Deshe" reference, the "Sonar Kella" reference and, of course, the casebook montage.

The BGM, though repetitive, sounded good.

Our need for a Feluda story to look and feel like a Feluda story on screen is a mighty ask, for what we actually look for is the same feeling we feel every time we watch the two OG films and the OG TV series. Feludar Goyendagiri S02, like Feluda Pherot S01, is thankfully quite watchable.

Waited almost 2 years for Feluda, but it was a disappointment. Feluda, Jatayu and Topshe don't have the charm and somehow lack the chemistry. Overacting is at it's peak in all episodes. The cinematography wasn't even in a level and changed some plots without any good reason. Another film with Darjeeling background released last month, "The Eken" had much better cinematography and thriller. Overall, this series wasn't up to the mark.

The iconic character Pradosh Chandra Mitra alias Feluda created by none but Satyajit Ray takes one to the boyhood days and the thrill and excitement of the childhood days. Among the detective characters created by several renowned writers in Bengali, Feluda has been most impacting. This is what the mastery of Ray as a writer who opened a new door of literature for children in Bengali which became trend-setter in Indian literature as well. Ray's mastery of characterization and the unique thematic appeal make his detective novels so unique. Mere utterance of the name of Feluda projects a smart young man, very clever, well-versed in different languages, in-depth knowledge and the inimitable style and trajectory smoking, thinking and having great sense of humour.

Several actors have performed the role of Feluda, his cousin Topshe and the detective novelist Lalmohan Ganguly alias Jatayu so far. The saga starting from Saumitra Chatterjee has been continuing till date. But the second season, titled 'Feludar Goyendagiri': Bhuswargo Bhoyonkawr' directed by Srijit Mukherjee has some unique characteristics. One is obviously the effort to make it relevant in today's context. The action goes on in Kashmir and web series refers to insurgency and other issues to make it more relevant. But this is really hard to say whether Ray referred such sensitive issues in the original writing. Nevertheless, as these do not seem alienated from the crime story, the narrative should be credited. Similarly, the direction seems really good in the Second Season Bhuswargo Bhoyonkawr.

However, the credit definitely goes to Tota Roy Chaudhury for his brilliant performance in the role of Feluda. In fact, Tota Roy Chaudhury has enacted this character with far more perfection compared to others. Similarly, Anirban Chakraborty is excellent as usual. But the talent like Rajatava Dutta does not seem to get that much space to show talent. Anyway, the Web Series is excellent and much watch one for the youngsters.

It's been almost two years since I laid my eyes on a Feluda feature. Earlier it was with Chinnomostar Ovisaap, which by the way I adored despite others criticizing it heavily although this time around, I'm not that convinced, let's just say, I have had mixed reactions to it.

Whilst, I did cherish the chemistry in-between the three main protagonists (or Three Musketeers as Lalmohan Ganguly likes to call themselves); at the same time, I would have preferred if the writing was more productive.

It's a very simple story, a rudimentary narrative, so to speak; hence, and I'm sure all the people who will watch the show, amongst them, a vast majority will be Feluda fanatics and have already read the book. Therefore, at the end of the day, it all boils down to the execution (as we all are pretty much aware of the happenings) and how and in what way the director decides to adapt the original novel into a cinematic contour.

And I feel, that is precisely where Srijit Mukherjee has committed a few blunders. On one hand, he did manage to safeguard as well as maintain the conventional flavors of Feluda (by staying true to the source material) but on the other hand, he did miscalculate and took some erratic steps that just cannot be condoned.

How could anyone kill the beauty of Darjeeling with so much sepia tone! Chhinomostar Obhishaap atleast had warm colour palette. Even Hoichoi's Shobdo Jobdo or Murder in the Hills had beautiful cinematography. But this?

Also Shaheb's fake beard was so fake looking. Atrocious. Tota looks good but still doesn't have what it takes to be Feluda. Forced comedy by Jatayu was done too much. Also had pacing issues in middle episodes. Srijit Mukherji couldn't create the ambience needed for this story. This might be one of the weakest work in the Feluda legacy along with Parambrata's Feluda and Bangladesh' take on Feluda.