When amitabh bachchan couldn't give us time, shashi kapoor slipped into the shoes of Feluda: The year was 1985. The series - Satyajit Presents I - was introduced on the small screen based on famous literary works of the master filmmaker.The year was 1985. The series - Satyajit Presents I - was introduced on the small screen based on famous literary works of the master filmmaker. It was an instant hit and a unanimous decision was taken to come up with Part II the following year. Back then, Ray used to select the stories, write the script and even score the music. He said Feluda could be made for national television and finally zeroed in on Kissa Kathmandu Ka based on his Jato Kando Kathmandute. Since it was for Doordarshan, considering his height and facial features, Amitabh Bachchan was the first choice for Feluda. The shooting schedule was long and spanned across Kolkata and Kathmandu. The thriller about busting of an international drug racket had to climax in Kathmandu and before that, there were shoots in many places in Kolkata. Initially thought to be an eight-part series, it needed a little less than a month from the megastar. HE REFUSED TO SMOKE, THOUGH IT WAS FELUDA'S CHARACTER TRAIT: SANDIP RAY Bachchan was caught up with films and it didn't work out with him. So, the team shot a letter to Shashi Kapoor, who gave his nod. Shashi, who was born in Kolkata, had a strong connect with the city and for him it was a homecoming of sorts.Sandip Ray, who directed the actor in the series, recalled, "He wanted to know the concept and it was communicated to him through a chain of letters. He got hooked to it on hearing that it was about the busting of a drug racket. He felt it was an important issue and wanted to be a part of it." The shoot's biggest challenge was to make Shashi Kapoor look like Feluda, Bengal's iconic sleuth with an athletic figure and enormous physical strength. The actor was in his late 40s and had to shed a few kilos for the part. "He couldn't do that. But he made up for it with his powerful acting. He was with us throughout. Baba had sent him a write-up on how he conceived Feluda and that helped Shashiji. The other challenge was that he refused to smoke the Charminar that was more of a character trait for the detective. He had quit smoking before that and said he'd rather stay away. He was propagating anti-smoking in his own way and we didn't mind. It was for national television and some relaxations could be made," said Sandip Ray.The series was made keeping the national audience in mind and didn't echo any Bengali sentiment. So, Jatayu's quirks couldn't be translated verbatim. "Baba wrote the script in English and later it was turned into Hindi," remembered Sandip Ray. A huge unit went to Kathmandu to shoot. Alankar Joshi played Topshe and Mohan Agashe got into the shoes of Jatayu; Maganlal Meghraj was none other than Utpal Dutt. "The Kapoors had been close to the Rays for decades and I knew him when he did movies for Merchant Ivory like The Householder, Shakespeare Wallah and others. Whenever we would go to Bombay, he used to come down to meet us with Jennifer (Kendal).
