Feluda - WikiHQ

Feluda is a fictional detective and private investigator created by Indian director,writer and Oscar winner Satyajit Ray. Feluda (birth name: Pradosh Chandra Mitter) resides at 21 Rajani Sen Road, Ballygunge, Calcutta, West Bengal, India. He first made his appearance in a Bengali children's magazine called Sandesh in 1965, under the editorialship of Ray and Subhas Mukhopadhyay. His first adventure was "Feludar Goendagiri". Feluda is one of the most impactful and renowned Bengali characters of all time.

Feluda is often accompanied by his cousin, who is also his assistant, Tapesh Ranjan Mitter (affectionately called Topshe by Feluda), who serves as the narrator of the stories. From the sixth story, the novel Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress), the duo are joined by a popular thriller writer, Jatayu (Lalmohan Ganguli).

thumb|Illustration from Golokdham Rahasya. In the middle, Topshe (left) & Feluda (right). Topshe is 5'7" (1.70 m) and he looks 5inches shorter than Feluda (both are bending so it looks like a 7-in difference). This makes Feluda 6'.

Feluda has had been adapted at times, with the character been played and voiced by Soumitra Chatterjee (also voiced), Sabyasachi Chakrabarty (also voiced), Ahmed Rubel, Shashi Kapoor, Rahul Bose (BBC radio), Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Santu Mukherjee (Thursday Nightsaga) and Indraneil Sengupta. Satyajit Ray directed two Feluda movies — Sonar Kella (1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (1978). Sandip Ray made a new Feluda film series (a continuation of the original series) on Feluda's adventures which started from Baksho Rahashya (1996). In this series he made ten TV films and six theatrical films in Bengali on the character. Sandip Ray also made a stand-alone Feluda film Badshahi Angti (2014) which was intended to be the first film of a reboot series featuring Abir Chatterjee, but the projects were ultimately shelved and Sandip Ray revived his original film series starring Sabyasachi Chakrabarty. On 23 December 2022, Hatyapuri was released under the banner of Shadow Films. This was the reboot to the previous Feluda film series. The film was directed by Sandip Ray and starred Indraneil Sengupta as Feluda alongside Ayush Das and Abhijit Guha as Topshe and Jatayu respectively. In the stories of Feluda, he is displayed as a big admirer of Sherlock Holmes which he mentions multiple times. In Kailash Choudhury'r Pathar he praises the way Holmes used to draw large conclusions from observations. In Londone Feluda, when Feluda goes to Baker Street, he openly addresses Holmes as the "master" (Bengali: guru) of all private detectives.

Personality

Pradosh Chandra Mitter, popularly known by his nickname Feluda, first appeared in the eponymous Bengali short story Feludar Goyendagiri (Danger in Darjeeling) in 1965. The story, written by Satyajit Ray, was published in Sandesh, a children's periodical founded by Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury and edited by Ray himself. In the Feluda series that followed, he was portrayed as a man of around 27 (born around 1938) with a tall (almost 6'0"), athletic figure. Despite being a strongly built man adept in martial arts, Feluda relies mostly upon his superb analytical ability and observation skill (jokingly referred to as the Magajastra or brain-weapon) to solve cases instead of using physical strength or weapons. He is very choosy about taking up cases and prefers cases that require cerebral effort. He possesses a .32 Colt revolver, but the weapon is used very infrequently and mostly for non-violent purposes. However, contemporary (2000s) movies based on Feluda stories feature scenes of violence uncharacteristic in the literature, where Feluda demonstrates his martial art prowess. A master of disguises, Feluda is known to be an adept sleight-of-hand, and he puts these skills to use to solve multiple cases. Feluda often calls a meeting after solving the mystery, where he cajoles the culprit into admitting their crime.

Personal life

In his personal life, Feluda is a common Bengali youth who has been brought up by his father's younger brother (Tapesh/Topshe's father) after being orphaned when he was only 9. His father, the late Joykrishna Mitra, used to teach Mathematics and Sanskrit at Dhaka Collegiate School. According to the story 'Royal Bengal Rahasya', The ancestral Home of Feluda was in Sona Dighi Village of Bikrampur Region of Dhaka (Now Munshiganj District). His elder Uncle was a manager of an amindari Estate in Mymensingh and a hunter. After the Partition of 1947, his family moved from Dhaka to Calcutta, living in a rented house in Tara Road. Later, they moved to 21 Rajani Sen Road. Feluda had a job in the bank before his detective career. He finds an avid listener in his cousin Tapesh. He often uses his oratory skill at the climactic scenes to cajole the culprit into confessing his crime. He is an early riser and is frequently shown starting his day with exercises and yoga.

Contrary to his otherwise healthy lifestyle, Feluda enjoys smoking cigarettes and chewing betel leaves after lunch. His favourite brand of cigarettes is Charminar. He is a connoisseur of delicious food, popular music, movies, and books. He has a great appreciation for Sherlock Holmes and, according to the film Tintorettor Jishu and novel Bombaiyer Bombete, Bruce Lee. Similar to Sherlock Holmes, he has a voracious reading habit (reflecting that of Ray's own), which add up to his enormous general knowledge. This know-how often comes handy while socialising with people and unravelling mysteries. He always reads up about a place before visiting. He says it comes in handy sometimes. He is shown to be fond of Tintin, and specially his cousin, Topshe, is a fan of Tintin. Some of the Feluda stories and films have many references of The Adventures of Tintin. He is also a huge fan of the books by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson. His favourite book was "Aranyak" written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. He is also shown to be fond of non-fiction books like Aku-Aku, Chariots of the Gods? and The Numerology of Dr. Matrix.

Feluda has love and respect for Lalmohan Ganguly (Jatayu) and his fictional creation Prakhar Rudra is liked by Feluda. He also frequently points out errors and inaccuracies in Jatayu's adventure series,In the story Bombaiy-er Bombete (The Bandits of Bombay), Jatayu asks Feluda to accompany him to Mumbai to help with a script he has sold to a Bollywood producer. Feluda is protective and caring about his cousin, yet he always keeps picking mistakes or humor of or from Topshe. Topshe, the narrator, greatly admires his brother and loves to be a part of his adventures. Feluda has never shown interest in any woman, and there are very few female characters in the stories or films (except some minor characters like Topshe's mother).

Other characters

Topshe

Feluda's paternal (maternal in the first two stories) cousin Tapesh Ranjan Mitter, who is fondly referred to as Topshe, is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's conception of Dr. John Watson. In the first couple of stories, his surname was Bose, but later it changed to Mitra. Just like the former army surgeon, Topshe is the quintessential accomplice and faithfully records each of Pradosh Mitter's exploits accurately. Topshe is a smart teenager. In the first story of Feluda series (i.e. Feludar Goyendagiri), Topshe was thirteen and a half where Feluda's age was twenty-seven, just the double of Topshe. Though Feluda often teases his young cousin, he is extremely fond and very protective of him. Feluda lives with Topshe's family. Topshe's father, Binay Mitter is the younger brother of Feluda's father, and therefore his uncle, and they all reside at 21, Rajani Sen Road, Kolkata-700029. However, in 2016 Sandip Ray cancelled the reboot series because Abir Chatterjee started a new version of film series based on the Byomkesh Bakshi franchise under Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films. The other reason was the new Feluda movie Sandip Ray intended to make under a Mumbai-based production house Eros International, but Abir has a strict contract with Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films. For the cancellation of the reboot series Badshahi Angti is now considered as a stand-alone reboot film.

As a tribute to the 50-year anniversary of Feluda,a special film Double Feluda was released in December 2016. It was a continuation of the original Feluda movie series where Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Saheb Bhattacharya reprised their roles as Feluda and Topshe respectively. The movie consisted of two stories, Samaddar-er-Chabi and Golokdham Rahashya, shown on either half of the movie.

On 23 December 2022, Hatyapuri was released under the banner of Shadow Films. This was the reboot to the previous Feluda film series. The film was directed by Sandip Ray and starred Indraneil Sengupta as Feluda alongside Ayush Das and Abhijit Guha as Topshe and Jatayu respectively. Within a year and a half, Nayan Rahasya was released in May 2024, produced by Surinder Films. Indraneil Sengupta, Ayush Das and Abhijit Guha reprise the role of Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu respectively.

Television

Kissa Kathmandu Mein (in Hindi, based on Joto Kando Kathmandute for DD National) (1986).Feluda was played by Shashi Kapoor, Jatayu by Mohan Agashe, Topshe by Alankar Joshi and Magan Lal Meghraj once again by Utpal Dutt.
Ghurghutiyar Ghatona (1992) and Golokdham Rahasya (1992) were directed by Bibhash Chakraborty.Feluda was played by Soumitra Chatterjee in these two Bengali Feluda telefilms.

In addition to the feature films, 10 Feluda stories have been filmed by Sandip Ray.Sabyasachi Chakrabarty played that role in these Feluda telefilms.Jatayu was played by Rabi Ghosh in the first two TV films, after his death Anup Kumar played Jatayu and finally by Bibhu Bhattacharya.In all these Feluda TV films Topshe was played by Saswata Chatterjee.These television films under the names/packages:

Feluda 30 (1996–1998) (for DD Bangla, Later Repeated in Tara Muzik)

(The Episodes were -

Baksho Rahashya,

Gosaipur Sargaram,

Sheyal Devta Rahashya,

Bosepukure Khunkharapi,

Joto Kando Kathmandu)

Satyajiter Goppo (1999) (made for DD Bangla)

(The Episodes were -

Jahangirer Swarnamudra,

Ghurghutiyar Ghotona,

Golapi Mukto Rahashya,

Ambar Sen Antardhan Rahashya)

Satyajiter Priyo Golpo (2000) (for ETV Bangla)

(The Episode was - Dr Munshir Diary)

From 1999 to 2001 Bangladesh Television (BTV) aired nine Feluda TV films. The series gained a huge popularity in Bangladesh.

Sandip Ray has sold the rights of Feluda stories to Bangladeshi production company Kandy Productions, who are producing a TV series inspired by the original Feluda series. It premiered on Channel i as well as digitally on Bioscopelive from September, 2017. The series is available in India on the digital platform Addatimes Digital. Dhaka based Kandy Production is producing the series jointly with Top of Mind Creations, another Bangladeshi TV and film production house. This series depicted Feluda as a modern time detective. It has three episodes titled as 'Sheyal Devta Rahashya','Ghurghutiyar Ghotona' and 'Golokdham Rahashya.Parambrata Chatterjee plays Feluda and Riddhi Sen plays Topshe. The series is directed by Parambrata Chatterjee.'.

Feluda Pherot (Directed by Srijit Mukherji)

In 2020 a streaming television series was made, named Feluda Pherot, based on the iconic Bengali detective and there was two popular stories, the novels Chhinnamastar Abhishap and Joto Kando Kathmandute. Bengali actor Tota Roy Chowdhury is playing the main character "Feluda", and Kalpan Mitra as "Topesh" and the iconic character Lalmohan Ganguly, alias "Jatayu", is playing by Anirban Chakraborty, who played the main character in the detective series Eken babu before.

It is available to stream on the web platform Addatimes. Season 1 released on 26 December 2020. The Season 2 was released in October 2025.

Feludar Goyendagiri (Directed by Srijit Mukherji and Kamaleswar Mukherjee)

The second series named Feludar Goyendagiri is from Hoichoi streaming service with the same cast and crew of Feluda Pherot. Darjeeling Jamjamat, the first season released on 17 June 2022. Hoichoi has announced the release date for Feludar Goyendagiri 2: Bhuswargo Bhoyonkawr. This Feluda series released on 20 December 2023. A third season, based on Royal Bengal Rahashya has been released, directed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee.

Shabash Feluda (Directed by Arindam Sil)

The series is based on Gangtok-e-Gondogol, is centered on Feluda (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) and Topshe (Rwitobroto Mukherjee) who are on a family vacation in Gangtok. Shabash Feluda released on 5 May 2023 on ZEE5.

Animation

In 2010 an animated TV film produced by DQE Productions titled Feluda: The Kathmandu Caper was produced and the rights were acquired by Disney Channel (India). The movie premiered on 1 January 2011. DQE Productions also made a 13-episode animation series named Mysteries and Feluda after the animated TV film for Disney XD. The series including the TV film was set into a new universe, where Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu have many gadgets.

Radio

The first radio adaptation of Feluda was made by Satyajit Ray in the early 80s, Baksho Rahsaya with his usual cast like Soumitra Chatterjee as Feluda, Santosh Dutta as Jatayu, Siddartha Chatterjee as Topshe and Sushil Majumdar as Sidhu Jyatha along with other prominent actors like Haradhan Bandopadhyay, Biplab Chatterjee and Bikash Roy.
Akashabani had produced Darjeeling Jomjomat casting a set of regular actors in radio.
In January 2007, the BBC World Service announced that it would produce at least two 'episodes' of the popular detective stories. Hindi film star Rahul Bose speaks the leading role, with Anupam Kher voicing Lalmohan and Hari Balasubramaniam providing the role of Topshe. The first episode, "The Golden Fortress", aired on 10 February 2007 with the second episode, "The Mystery of the Elephant God", following on 11 August 2007.
In 2007 Sandip Ray rebooted the radio series with his own set of actors as Sabyasachi Chakrabarty as Feluda, Parambrata Chatterjee as Topshe and Bibhu Bhattacharya as Jatayu. He made two new dramas based on, Gosainpur Sargaram and Dr. Munshir Diary. They with Baksho Rahashya, directed by Satyajit Ray, aired together on Big FM.
Radio Mirchi Kolkata station airs thrillers in a radio drama format, under the programme name 'Sunday Suspense' which includes some Feluda stories. Feluda is voiced by Sabyasachi Chakrabarty. Dip and Somak voices Topshe and Mir Afsar Ali voices the other characters. Bibhu Bhattacharya voiced Jatayu in only one episode. After Bhattacharya's death Jagannath Basu voices Jatayu.
Radio Today airs thrillers in a radio format, under the programme name Thursday Nightsaga, which includes some Feluda stories. However, it stopped before finishing the Feluda novel Baksho Rahasya.

Comics

Some of the Feluda stories have been made into comic strips by artists and authors. Abhijit Chattopadhyay creates a comic strip based on Feluda stories in every Pujabarshiki Anondomela. The comics are published by Ananda Publishers. English versions of comics have appeared in The Telegraph.

Penguin Books has released comic book versions of around 6 Feluda mysteries. The art is drawn by Tapas Guha and the script is by Subhadra Sen Gupta.

Music

In a collaborative album brought out in 1996 by His Master's Voice, Kabir Suman sings a 'Feludar Gaan' (Feluda's song). The song written by Kabir Suman was first publicised at Sandesh magazine on the special Feluda 30 issue released in December 1995 on the completion of 30 years of Feluda stories. Later, in a collaborative album by His Master's Voice, Choto Boro Miley (1996), the song was composed and performed by three-legend singer-songwriter Kabir Suman, Nachiketa Chakraborty and Anjan Dutt.

Later many of Bengali songs have references and symbols of Feluda franchise including "Calcium" by Anjan Dutt from the album Purono Guitar (1995).

Documentary

A Bengali documentary film Feluda: 50 Years of Ray's Detective in 2019 was directed by Sagnik Chatterjee. This is the first biopic of India based on a fictional character. This film was released on 7 June 2019.

In Pujabarshiki

Nearly every Feluda story was published annually in the Pujabarshiki Sandesh and Desh (the edition of Desh and Sandesh commemorating the Durgapuja published every year). Thereafter the stories were published as hard-back editions by Ananda Publishers.In 2015 Feluda celebrates his 50th years after appearance. This is printed as 'Feluda 50' in Anandamela.

Notes

References

External links

Feluda Films – BBC, 18 Jan 2010.
Roy, Pinaki. "The Postcolonial Sleuth for Adoloscents: Rereading Satyajit Ray's Feluda-narratives". Clues: A Journal of Detection (McFarland). 36.1 (Spring 2018): 78–89.