Ray of Light: Joi Baba Felunath (1978)

It has been my pleasure to have the fortune to be born in the country of two people whom I admire and constantly remind myself that they will be them and never can I even think in their manner, one being the father of the nation and the other being the man who brought Indian cinema to its ultimate glory, no it is not Amitabh Bacchan, it is definitely not Aishwarya Rai. In fact I need not even mention the name of this great.

I must again thank god for giving me provison to watch the Ray Panorama on Zee Studio which was indeed a real tribute. I was able to watch four great movies which I will be able to remember for life and each would in a later day affect my life in sometime or other.

But why should I review Joi Baba Felunath when I had the standings of Apur Sansar and Devi at hand.

Joi Baba Felunath released in 1978 based on one of the short stories of Ray himself which I happen to read a translation late last year by Gopa Majumdar. The one titled “The Mystery of the elephant God”

Not only will Ray be remembered for his contribution to Indian Cinema industry but also for creating a near equivalent of Sherlock Holmes in India,Pradosh Mitter a.k.a Feluda and his eager sidekick Topshe.

I do not know how to begin to write a review of this movie, for one has to see Ray to know Ray and experience him and his characters.

Once again Soumitra Chatterjee takes up the role of Bengali Detective Feluda who on a vacation to Varanasi gets involved in the case of a missing Ganesha statue. I can remember every scene in the movie though I couldn’t follow a few scenes without the subtitles, the story being very Indian to the core citing examples of the character of Lalmohan Ganguly the bumbling author who comes up with unimaginable solutions like a gem in the mouth of a crocodile, the swamiji on the banks of the Ganges who calls himself Machli Baba, the small boy in the house who thinks he is a character out of comic books and an old man who reads detective novels, the movie swirls around with required amounts of comedy and thriller. No doubt Soumitra Chatterjee is a treat to watch. Watch it someday with children they are sure to enjoy even if they do not know the language, my eight year old cousin did.

All praises to Satyajit Ray

Satyeki