Feluda Theme || ফেলুদা থিম
Harmonica / Credit – Gourab Das
Nick Name: FELUDA
Real Name: PRADOSH CHANDRA MITTER
Age: Thirty – something
Profession: Private Investigator
Created by: Indian filmmakerSatyajit Ray
History of Feluda:
Feluda made his debut in 1965 in the popular Bengali children’s magazine Sandesh.
The magazine was founded and edited by Satyajit Ray himself, and loved by both children and adults.
Know more about the magazine at Wikipedia.org
From then on, Feluda appeared regularly in novels and short stories, until the author’s death in the 1990s.
Character Development:
Ray portrayed the character of Feluda as a private detective in his thirties, living at Rajani Sen Road – a middle class suburban area in Southern Kolkata.
The character of Feluda was based on the legendary Sherlock Holmes, creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
In the Feluda stories, he plays the character of Sherlock Holmes. His younger teenage cousin, Topshe plays the role of John Watson.
The duo were usually accompanied by pulp writer Lalmohan Ganguli, whom they met in a train journey during the case Sonar Kella (The Golden Fort).
The inclusion of Lalmohan Ganguli(screen name: Jatayu), offered some comic relief to the otherwise plain and serious detective plots.
Although the character of Feluda was influenced by Sherlock Holmes, the stories were written for children, and therefore went easy on sex. In fact, the stories were almost void of female characters other than the aunts and grandmothers.
The stories contained minimal violence due to the same reason. The villains in Feluda’s cases were simply afraid to see his colt revolver in his hand!
The Feluda stories are one of the most famous Indian literary creations. For somebody who loves detective fiction, Feluda is simply a must read.
The Feluda stories were originally written in easy-to-understand Bengali, but many of the books have been translated into English and published by Penguin Books.
Proof of his popularity comes in the form of features films. Two of which were directed by Satyajit Ray himself and a couple directed by his son, Sandip Ray(also a noted director).
Other than feature films, Feluda has also been featured in TV adaptations, radio shows and a comic strip.
He made his first film debut in Satyajit Ray directed feature film Sonar Kella (1974).
His fans and supporters argue that it is the most popular Bengali children’s movie ever.
