Hatyapuri is one of my favourite Feluda stories, says director Sandip Ray

Director Sandip Ray has started shooting for his much anticipated Feluda film Hatyapuri, based on Satyajit Ray’s story with the same title.

The murder mystery will see Indraneil Sengupta essaying the role of the Bengali sleuth, while Ayush Das and Abhijit Guha will be seen as Feluda’s sidekicks Topse and Jatayu, respectively.

Sandip Ray made his previous Feluda movie, Double Feluda (2016), with Sabyasachi Chakraborty featuring as the detective for the last time, six years ago. Since then, he had been planning to make a film on Hatyapuri, one of his favourite Feluda stories.

“Hatyapuri is set in Puri, a place loved by my father," the director explained. "The film has some excellent twists, and the supporting characters are quite interesting too." Sandip Ray also thought that logistically it would be easier to shoot in Puri, which is quite close to Kolkata.

While staying true to the story, the director has made some changes to the narrative to set it in 2019.

Speaking of the fresh casting of the popular detective, Ray recalled that Sengupta had approached him a long time ago to be considered as the next Feluda after Chakraborty announced that he would not be playing the character any more.

Mentally, Sandip Ray is stronger than most of us, says the filmmaker's Feluda, Sabyasachi Chakraborty

“I think the time to cast Indraneil as Feluda has arrived," he said. "It has been interesting working with him because it has been his dream to play the character for a long time. It gives a different kind of kick, which is already working for him, I guess.”

Hatyapuri also features Paran Bandopadhyay, Subhasish Mukherjee, Saheb Chatterjee and Bharat Kaul in crucial roles. Bandopadhyay has been part of all of Sandip Ray’s Feluda films since Bombaiyer Bombete (2003) and the director was keen to feature all the artistes who have been part of his previous Feluda films.

“All of these actors have the experience of working with me, while newer actors might be finding it quite a tough job,” the director joked. “I know I am quite strict on the shooting floor. Some of the actors might be reconsidering their decision to work in the film.”

Abhijit Guha as Lalmohan Ganguly aka Jatayu is another crucial addition to the Feluda franchise. Satyajit Ray himself stopped making Feluda films when he failed to find a perfect fit for Jatayu after actor Sontosh Dutta's death. Bibhu Bhattacharya, who played the dramatic character in Sandip Ray's films, died in 2011.

“We kind of got used to making Feluda films without Jatayu," the director admitted. "But then my wife [Lalita Ray] urged me to consider Abhijit for the role. We had been watching his performances and films, and her suggestion gave me the confidence to cast him.”

While anticipation for Hatyapuri’s Christmas release this year is rising, filmmaker Srijit Mukherji’s Feludar Goyendagiri (2022), featuring Tota Roy Chowdhury as the detective, is slated to be streamed on Hoichoi from 17 June.

Asked whether he is worried about audiences getting confused with multiple actors playing Feluda, Ray replied, “Not really. We have seen different actors play Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot at the same time and audiences have been receptive to them. So I don’t think this should be an issue here either."