Shooting for next film on Satyajit Ray's detective 'Feluda' to begin in May

Kolkata, Apr 19 (PTI) Filmmaker Sandip Ray on Tuesday said he will start shooting for the next movie involving Feluda, the popular detective character created by his father Satyajit Ray, by the end of May and the film is likely to hit the screen on Christmas.

'Hatyapuri' (Murder in Puri), the upcoming movie, will see Pradosh Chandra Mitter aka Feluda, along with his companions - cousin Topse and friend Lalmohan Ganguly - visiting the Odisha town famous for its sea beach and Lord Jagannath temple for a holiday only to end up investigating a murder.

"I and my team have done a detailed recce in Puri and shooting is likely to begin in May end. I want to complete the film by December so that people can watch it during Christmas," Ray told PTI.

"I had long wished to bring Haytapuri which was first published in children's magazine 'Sandesh' on the big screen," he said.

However, the mystery about who will play the role of Feluda remains as the director refused to divulge the name.

On the speculation that either Anirban Bhattacharya or Tota Roychowdhury will be cast in that iconic role, he said, "It will be someone having a combination of athleticism and sharpness in his look. Wait for a few days and you will know." In his earlier seven Feluda films made between 2003 and 2016, Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Abir Chatterjee brought the sleuth's character to life.

Ray had merged two stories to make his last Feluda movie 'Double Feluda' in 2016, the 50th anniversary of the birth of the fictional character created by Satyajit Ray.

From the 35 Feluda stories written by him, Satyajit Ray had directed two films - Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress, 1974) and Jai Baba Felunath (The Elephant God, 1979). However, the maestro's first detective film was 'Chiriakhana' (The Zoo, 1967) which was centred on Byomkesh Bakshi, another popular sleuth created by Saradindu Bandyopadhyay.

While Soumitra Chattopadhyay had been cast as Feluda in senior Ray's films, Uttam Kumar essayed the role of Byomkesh Bakshi. PTI SUS ACD NN NN