Feludar Goyendagiri

I've said it before, I'll say it again - Srijit Mukherji has bagged the best lead actors since Sandip Ray's original trio (Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee and Rabi Ghosh). All three leads look (and have been made to look) awfully similar to Ray's sketches and have clearly worked on 'becoming' the characters they play. Then again, nostalgia is a tough thing to beat. Our expectations would always remain sky-high.

With season 2, Anirban Chakrabarti has stopped being Ekendra Sen and has started to look and sound more like Lalmohan Ganguly without parroting his predecessors. He has understood the assignment (mostly) and has worked on delivering. Kalpan Mitra gets a lot of hate on social media, but I like him better than all his predecessors and peers post Saswata Chatterjee. Tota Roy Chowdhury's approach is more grounded and real, yet his portrayal elicits conflict. Despite wowing in some scenes, quite a few of his expressions and body language made me cringe. Even his voice sounded drab and too loud at times.

The supporting cast should've been stronger.

Kashmir has been used well, its ethereal beauty oozing in abundance in almost every shot; the 'travelogue' element well-incorporated. The colour-grading is definitely an issue, but can be overlooked if only the camerawork is taken into consideration.

As for the narrative, Mr Mukherji has kept the whodunit intact but has added elements of his own to spice things up a bit. The political tension was unnecessary in my opinion but does add another dimension for viewers who haven't read the story. Creative liberties here and there could've been avoided, especially the two big ones in the climax. The planchette scenes felt awfully underdone, comical even. Loved the "Hirak Rajar Deshe" reference, the "Sonar Kella" reference and, of course, the casebook montage.

The BGM, though repetitive, sounded good.

Our need for a Feluda story to look and feel like a Feluda story on screen is a mighty ask, for what we actually look for is the same feeling we feel every time we watch the two OG films and the OG TV series. Feludar Goyendagiri S02, like Feluda Pherot S01, is thankfully quite watchable.

The iconic character Pradosh Chandra Mitra alias Feluda created by none but Satyajit Ray takes one to the boyhood days and the thrill and excitement of the childhood days. Among the detective characters created by several renowned writers in Bengali, Feluda has been most impacting. This is what the mastery of Ray as a writer who opened a new door of literature for children in Bengali which became trend-setter in Indian literature as well. Ray's mastery of characterization and the unique thematic appeal make his detective novels so unique. Mere utterance of the name of Feluda projects a smart young man, very clever, well-versed in different languages, in-depth knowledge and the inimitable style and trajectory smoking, thinking and having great sense of humour.

Several actors have performed the role of Feluda, his cousin Topshe and the detective novelist Lalmohan Ganguly alias Jatayu so far. The saga starting from Saumitra Chatterjee has been continuing till date. But the second season, titled 'Feludar Goyendagiri': Bhuswargo Bhoyonkawr' directed by Srijit Mukherjee has some unique characteristics. One is obviously the effort to make it relevant in today's context. The action goes on in Kashmir and web series refers to insurgency and other issues to make it more relevant. But this is really hard to say whether Ray referred such sensitive issues in the original writing. Nevertheless, as these do not seem alienated from the crime story, the narrative should be credited. Similarly, the direction seems really good in the Second Season Bhuswargo Bhoyonkawr.

However, the credit definitely goes to Tota Roy Chaudhury for his brilliant performance in the role of Feluda. In fact, Tota Roy Chaudhury has enacted this character with far more perfection compared to others. Similarly, Anirban Chakraborty is excellent as usual. But the talent like Rajatava Dutta does not seem to get that much space to show talent. Anyway, the Web Series is excellent and much watch one for the youngsters.

Waited almost 2 years for Feluda, but it was a disappointment. Feluda, Jatayu and Topshe don't have the charm and somehow lack the chemistry. Overacting is at it's peak in all episodes. The cinematography wasn't even in a level and changed some plots without any good reason. Another film with Darjeeling background released last month, "The Eken" had much better cinematography and thriller. Overall, this series wasn't up to the mark.

How could anyone kill the beauty of Darjeeling with so much sepia tone! Chhinomostar Obhishaap atleast had warm colour palette. Even Hoichoi's Shobdo Jobdo or Murder in the Hills had beautiful cinematography. But this?

Also Shaheb's fake beard was so fake looking. Atrocious. Tota looks good but still doesn't have what it takes to be Feluda. Forced comedy by Jatayu was done too much. Also had pacing issues in middle episodes. Srijit Mukherji couldn't create the ambience needed for this story. This might be one of the weakest work in the Feluda legacy along with Parambrata's Feluda and Bangladesh' take on Feluda.

Feluda is not just a name, Feluda is an emotion which only the fanatics can relate to. Over the years there were many movies on Feluda with some new twists here, some new additions to the story there, some parts omitted from the books, and terrible side casts. But Sabyasachi made the movies work. He was nowhere near the Feluda Satyajit Ray drew, but he was the Feluda he wrote. The charisma Soumitra and Sabyasachi brought to screen as Feluda is really hard to match and Tota had a huge responsibility to fill in the shoe. When i saw him as Feluda the first time, i was pleasantly surprised cause he does resemble young Sabyasachi and he has been in the previous Feluda movies. But then i saw Chinnomostar Obhishap and royally disappointed with his performance. It was so stoic and unemotional, his nervousness for the role showed throughout the series.

Then came Darjeeling Jomjomat. As someone mentioned in his/her review that the fanatics already know the story, so what matters most is the execution. Tota RC was more at ease this time around and i liked the Jatayu & Topshe. Some might find Jatayu overacting but no one can top Shaheb in that department. The guy who was Topshe once upon a time came back as a villain and delivered such a sub-par performance. I liked this Pulok Ghoshal better than the ones in Sandip Ray's movies. In the book, Jatayu mentions Pulok as chokra, some young guy. So this casting was better than those ancient Pulok Sandip Ray cast. The story telling through Sepia tone was a nice touch. And it was a straight story just like the book, no fantasy addition which Mr. Srijit likes to incorporate in most of his films and ruin them. So i am very surprised he managed to make something decent.

But this series wasn't without any faults. The worst thing was the theme song. It was like a cheerleading song for Feluda. It should have played only once in the first episode, not in all 6 of them. The background score when Feluda did find some clue or saying something intelligent, very annoying. The makeup for Tota RC in places were so heavy, especially in one shot when he was standing near a window and sunlight falling on his face, the make up looked like it was melting. The wigs used in the series looked so fake that u can say it's fake. Shaheb got the worst deal. Lip sync was below average, especially for the Police guy. Also Tota bro. And that shot with the leopard was so unnecessary, what can i say.

Yes, it's hard to match the personality of Soumitra and Sabyasachi as Feluda, but Tota RC has done a commendable job in this one which i can't say for Chinnomostar Obhishap. And this series was very straightforward which is something Srijit has never done before. As a Feluda fanatic, i would say a job well done. Could have been better? Maybe.