Srijit Mukherji’s upcoming series Feluda Pherot is creating a buzz for introducing fresh elements to the iconic character's cinematic legacy. Slated to be streamed on Addatimes, Feluda Pherot is the second web adaptation of Feluda after Parambrata Chatterjee’s version that was streamed on the same platform in 2017.
Lead actor Tota Roy Chowdhury’s striking resemblance to Satyajit Ray’s sketches of the character has been commented upon while Mukherji himself is confident that Anirban Chakrabarti is going to turn heads with his performance as Jatayu, who was immortalised by Santosh Dutta in Ray’s Sonar Kella (1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (1979).
Apart from the casting, Feluda Pherot’s music, composed by Joy Sarkar, is also drawing attention. For the first time, a title song, 'Golpo Nie Feluda Phirchhe Abar', has been composed, deriving inspiration from the iconic theme tune of Feluda that was originally composed by Ray.
Since Ray was heavily involved in his film music, which instantly brings to mind particular sequences, the composer was asked whether he could deal with the heavy baggage of Ray's legacy while working on the film. Sarkar replied that he would use the deep associations fans have with the music to his advantage as he had harboured the dream of working on Feluda project for a long time.
“I have known Srijit for a long time but this is my first job with him and that too on a dream project. Hence, I couldn’t afford to pressurise myself in light of this rare opportunity,” said the composer.
Addatimes managing director Rajiv Mehra reportedly had some issues with Sarkar’s initial score. “I didn’t want to take chances this time and hence, I prepared a background score for all sequences,” laughed Sarkar. However, Mukherji required some silence too though Sarkar thought that there was no harm in delivering more than the requirement.
Mukherji is happy that Sarkar has been able to retain his originality despite deriving inspiration from Ray. “I think it’s not an easy task to follow the tradition of Ray’s gharana of music. He preferred a certain kind of note progressions and particular instruments. We have made our best efforts to retain the flavour by using those instruments,” stated the director as he applauded Sarkar’s work.
Feluda Pherot is slated to be released this month.