Super Sleuth

Film: Tintorettor Jishu
Director: Sandip Ray
Cast: Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Parambrata Chatterjee, Bibhu Bhattacharya, Paran Bandyopadhyay
Rating: ******
Running at: Inox (Forum, City Centre, Swabhumi)
There’s something about Feluda. Something that makes us very forgiving, very proud and a little self righteous also about most things about him. But there was little Sandip Ray could have done, if the same current, which could take his denim-clad Feluda places, decided to turn against him had he failed to negotiate his way amid the clutter of nostalgia and expectations. However, with Tintorettor Jishu, Ray Junior finally seems to be finding his anchor amid the mess of comparisons and cynicism.
A murder in the most ancient way possible. A baddie whose only claim to villainy being his efforts to sell off a painting, efforts which do start with negotiation. A car chase which doesn’t leave even a scratch on the vehicles. And roughly ten goons in the whole film. If you have already started shaking your head at the implausibility of the same as a cinematic venture in the present times, take heart. Because Sandip Ray doesn’t seek your uncritical affections for the cult of Prodosh Mitter to make even a single frame look meaningful and relevant. The ease with which the events, the characters, and the action fall in place, without looking dated or forced ever, is probably the best thing about Tintorettor Jishu. The duration (less than two hours) adds to the crispness of the film.
The plot, for the uninitiated, is about Feluda on the trail of the priceless Renaissance painting by Italian great Tintoretto which stands the risk off being sold off. Sabyasachi Chakraborty makes Feluda completely his own in Ray Junior’s third outing with the sleuth. He brings in a sharp agility in the body language as opposed to Soumitro Chatterjee’s completely cerebral Feluda. At the same time the timbre of his voice and the impassive, no-nonsense expressions retain the aura of profundity that we usually associate with the character. Parambrata Chatterjee as Topshe has nothing much to do but Bibhu Bhattacharya’s Lal Mohan Babu is almost cute in parts though he is not a patch on Santosh Dutta’s Jatayu. Tota Roychowdhury comes as a surprise package as his sleek personality adds a refreshing newness to the familiar tropes of a Feluda movie.