Paresh Rawal and Naseeruddin Shah are likely to team up for Anant Mahadevan's adaptation of Satyajit Ray's short story, The Story Teller. Reports suggest that Rawal is likely to play Tarini Khuro, an iconic character in Ray's works. The filmmaker confirmed the project in a quote to Mumbai Mirror, a tabloid.
Mahadevan had announced the film, tentatively titled The Storyteller, in 2013, and has now reportedly put it on a fast track. In a quote to the tabloid, the director said, "It’s Ray-meets-Hitchcock in a quaint manner with two delightful twists in the tale. It is one of the few Tarini stories grounded in reality, without a touch of the supernatural."
The film will also see a role reversal in the sense that the Gujarati Paresh Rawal will play the Bengali storyteller, while Shah is likely to play a Gujarati businessman.
Tarini Khuro is the third iconic character from Ray's literature, after the detective Feluda and Professor Shonku. The character is a genial storytelling uncle, who narrates his adventures encountered during his lifetime to an audience of 5 young students.
Bengali films Tollywoodey Tarinikhuro (2001) and Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy (2012) have previously depicted the character on screen.