Royal Challenge

Sandip Ray

By Shoma A. Chatterji

Badshahi Angti (The Royal Ring) directed by Sandip Ray is based on an adventure thriller by his father Satyajit Ray. It features the very interesting detective Feluda who, besides his detecting skills, as a walking-talking Encyclopedia with ready answer to every question. The warm and soft-spoken Sandip does not wear the aura of being the only son of one of the greatest film-makers the world has produced. He is a disciplined director who not only chooses his subjects with great care but also regulates his film-making to not more than two films a year.
Sandip says, “Badshahi Angti is the first Feluda novel my father wrote way back in 1966. Some think it was Sonar Kella but this is incorrect. The biggest sense of fulfillment for me is I finally got my replacement for Feluda in Abir Chatterjee. Sabyasachi Chakraborty, who has been playing Feluda in all my films, had been persuading me to let him go because he was outgrowing Feluda in terms of his age. I was looking for the right actor to replace him .”
Sabyasachi Chakraborty, who has worked in every Sandip Ray film on the Feluda series, has been replaced by Abir Chatterjee with his classic looks, great height and a dignified screen presence. Sandip adds that it was Sabyasachi who suggested that Abir would be the ideal choice to replace him. “I do not think there is anyone in Tollygunge who can play Feluda with the conviction Sabyasachi had. Casually suggesting Abir’s name way back in 2010-2011, he had said that if anyone could play Feluda after him, it was Abir,” informs Sandip.
But Chatterjee was already playing another classic detective Byomkesh Bakshi. How could he play two famous detectives at the same time? Would the characters not clash? Sandip says, “Of course, they would clash and confuse the audience. So, I called Abir and asked whether he would agree to quit Byomkesh Bakshi films for good in favour of Feluda. It was like placing him on the horns of a dilemma. He was already popular as Byomkesh Bakshi. He pondered over the question for some time and then came back to tell me that after the third Byomkesh Bakshi mystery, he would never become Byomkesh Bakshi again. For me, it was like Hannah from heaven and we decided to make Badshahi Angti with Abir.”
It was painful to part company with Sabyasachi because the director-actor-character bonding was very strong. But it was also necessary to find a newer and younger Feluda to keep the series going. Sandip is very happy with Abir as an actor who had earlier directed him in his non-Feluda features – Jekhani Bhooter Bhoy and Chaa. “It was a screen test for him in a manner of speaking,” laughs Sandip.
Abir, according to Sandip, is a technically skilled actor. He has an outstanding memory that helps him remember the exact continuity of the shots. “He is dynamic, disciplined and obedient so I now have the Feluda I need for as many sequels as I can make. This gives me the option of making one Feluda film every year and deal with another subject the next year. All this while, I was concentrating on Feluda films because I could see Sabyasachi ageing for the role and missed out on other kinds of films. Abir is young and a long time ahead of him to journey as Feluda”
“Badshahi Angti has been cinematographed by Shirsa Ray. It has been shot in Lucknow, around heritage sites that have not changed since my father wrote the novel. I have introduced a new boy, Saurav Das to play Topshe, Feluda’s nephew-cum-assistant. The other actors are my ‘regulars’ – Paran Bandopadhyay, Dipankar De, Biswajit Chakraborty and Rajatava Datta. The original novel had a character who owns a private zoo. But as per the new regulations, we had to change it to the man running a business in snakes,” Sandip elaborates. The theme music is Satyajit Ray’s original score while the background score is by Sandip himself. Subrata Ray has edited the film and Manik Bhattacharjee has done the production design. Badshahi Angti is slated to release by the year-end, Sandip’s regulated slot.