Sarkar’s film inspired by Sonar Kella not a remake: Sandip Ray

Director Sandip Ray says the proposed Hindi film on Satyajit Ray’s classic Sonar Kella will not be a remake but only inspired by the award-winning movie, narrating the exploits of fictional detective Feluda. Sandip, Satyajit Ray’s son, says the Hindi film, to be directed by Pradeep Sarkar of Parineeta fame, would have no character taken from the original work.

“Pradeep Sarkar had approached me and promised that no character will be taken from the original Bengali film and that he will only project it as being inspired by Ray’s Sonar Kella. When I sold the Hindi rights of Sonar Kella to Pradeep, there were these riders,” the popular filmmaker said.

Asked why he had put these riders, the filmmaker, whose Double Feluda is doing well at the box office, explained that some Bengali dialogues cannot just be reproduced without diluting the original sense that Ray conveyed.

Sandip had put his foot down when director Arindam Sil approached him with the request to create a Feluda franchise in which competent writers would tell new stories retaining the original literary style of Ray.

“Let me say that we cannot allow anyone to write new stories of Feluda as only the existing works, written by father, can be filmed,” Sandip said.

Arindam has been eying on a new Feluda film in Bengali for quite some time and had publicly urged Sandip to allow him to set up a franchise.

“There can be different schools of opinion, but I don’t think Feluda can be contemporised in this high tech age. I think he will lose his unique appeal if such a scenario emerged. I cannot let that happen.” 

Sonar Kella, which Ray made in the early 70s, won four national awards in 1975 including that of best director.