Feluda

Feluda (Bengali: ফেলুদা), or Prodosh Chandra Mitter (Bengali: প্রদোষ চন্দ্র মিত্র), is a fictional Bengali private investigator starring in a series of Bengali novels of Indian fictional detective novels and short stories written by Indian Bengali film director and writer Satyajit Ray.[1] The detective resides at 21 Rajani Sen Road,[2] Ballygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Feluda first made his appearance in a Bengali children's magazine called Sandesh in 1965, under the editorialship of Satyajit and Subhas Mukhopadhyay. His first adventure was Feludar Goendagiri.[3]

Feluda (ফেলুদা)
Feluda character
Feluda (right) and Topshe in Feludar Goendagiri, drawing by Satyajit Ray
First appearance	Feludar Goendagiri
Last appearance	Robertsoner Ruby (according to time of writing); Indrajal Rahasya (according to time of publishing)
Created by	Satyajit Ray
Portrayed by	Soumitra Chatterjee Ahmed Rubel Shashi Kapoor Sabyasachi Chakrabarty Abir Chatterjee Tota Roychowdhury
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) (almost, according to Feluda himself while answering Lalmohan Ganguly's question -'Sonar Kella' ref)
Friend	Lalmohan Ganguly
In-universe information
Full name	Prodosh Chandra Mitter
Nickname	Felu (ফেলু)
Title	Mitter (Mitra)
Occupation	Private investigator
Family	Jaykrishna Mitter (Mitra) (father)
Relatives	Tapes (Topse) Ranjan Mitter (Mitra) (cousin)
Religion	Hindu(Brahmoism)
Home	21, Rajani Sen Road, Kolkata-700029.
Nationality	Indian

Feluda is often accompanied by his cousin who unofficialy is also his assistant Tapesh Ranjan Mitter (affectionately called Topshe by Feluda), who serves as the narrator of the stories. From the sixth story, Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress), the duo are joined by a popular thriller writer Jatayu (Lalmohon Ganguli).

Feluda has had been filmed at times, with the character been played by Soumitra Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Abir Chatterjee and Shashi Kapoor. Satyajit Ray directed two Feluda movies — Sonar Kella (1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (1978). Sandip Ray made a new Feluda film series (continuation of the original series) on Feluda's adventures which started from Baksho Rahashya (1996). In this series he made ten TV films and six theatrical films in Bengali on the character. Sandip Ray also made a stand-alone Feluda film Badshahi Angti (2014) which was intended to be the first film of a reboot series, but the series was cancelled and Sandip Ray came back to the previous film series.

Character development of Feluda

Inspiration from Sherlock Holmes

Feluda is a big admirer of Sherlock Holmes which he mentions multiple times. In Kailash Choudharyr Pathar he praises the way Holmes used to draw large conclusions from observations. In Londone Feluda, when Feluda goes to Baker Street, he openly considers Holmes as the "master" (Bengali: guru) of all private detectives.

Satyajit Ray had deep interests in crime fiction and he read all of Sherlock Holmes fictions in his school days. And when Ray himself started writing on crime fictions, unsurprisingly, the character Sherlock Holmes inspired his writings. Feluda's character resembles Sherlock Holmes and Tapesh/Topshe's character resembles Dr. Watson.[4] In the stories of Feluda, he is displayed as a big admirer of Sherlock Holmes which he mentions multiple times. In Kailash Choudhury'r Pathar he praises the way Holmes used to draw large conclusions from observations. In Londone Feluda, when Feluda goes to Baker Street, he openly considers Holmes as the "master" (Bengali: guru) of all private detectives.

Personality of Feluda

Prodosh Chandra Mitra, popularly known by his nickname Feluda, first appeared in the eponymous Bengali short story Feludar Goyendagiri (Danger in Darjeeling) in 1965.The story, written by Satyajit Ray, was published in Sandesh, a children's periodical founded by Ray's grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury and edited by Ray himself. In the Feluda series that followed, he was portrayed as a man of around 27 (born around 1938) with a tall (almost 6'2"), athletic figure. Despite being a strongly built man adept in martial arts, Feluda relies mostly upon his superb analytical ability and observation skill (jokingly referred to as the Magajastra or brain-weapon) to solve cases instead of using physical strength or weapons. He is very choosy about taking up cases and prefers cases that require cerebral effort. He possesses a .32 Colt revolver, but the weapon is used very infrequently and mostly for non-violent purposes. However, contemporary (2000s) movies based on Feluda stories feature scenes of violence uncharacteristic of the series, where Feluda demonstrates his martial art powers. Feluda is known to be a good sleight-of-hand, and he put that skill to use for solving couple of cases. He is also good at disguises. Feluda often calls a meeting while solving the mystery, where he cajoles the culprit in admitting their crime.

Feluda's personal life

In his personal life, Feluda is a common Bengali youth who has been brought up by his father's younger brother (Tapesh/Topshe's father) after his parent's death when he was only 9. His father, the late Joykrishna Mitra, used to teach Mathematics and Sanskrit at Dhaka Collegiate School. Feluda had a job in bank before his detective career. He finds an avid listener in his cousin Tapesh. Also, he often uses his oratory skill at the climactic scenes to cajole the culprit in confessing his crime. He is an early riser and is often shown starting his day with exercises and yoga.

Contrary to his otherwise healthy lifestyle, Feluda enjoys smoking charminar cigarettes, exercising and chewing betel leaves. His favourite brand of cigarettes is Charminar. He is a connoisseur of delicious foods, popular music and movies, and books. He has a great appreciation for Sherlock Holmes and, according to the film Tintorettor Jishu, Bruce Lee. Like Sherlock Holmes, he has an voracious reading habit (reflecting that of Ray's own), which add up to his enormous general knowledge. This know-how often comes handy while socialising with people and unravelling mysteries. He always reads about the place he is visiting. He says it comes in handy sometimes. He is also fond of Tintin, specially his cousin Topshe is a fan of Tintin. Some of the Feluda stories and films have many references of The Adventures of Tintin. He is also a huge fan of the books by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay and Jim Corbett.

Feluda has love and respect for Lalmohan Ganguly (Jatayu) and his fictional creation Prakhar Rudra is liked by Feluda. Feluda is protective and caring about his cousin, yet he always keeps picking mistakes or humor of or from Topshe. Topshe, the narrator, greatly admires his brother and loves to be with his adventures. Feluda has never shown interest in any woman, and there are very few female characters (except some minor like Topshe's mother).

Other characters

Tapesh Ranjan Mitra

Feluda's cousin Tapesh Ranjan Mitter (Mittir in casual Bengali), who is fondly referred to as Topshe,[5] is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's conception of Dr. John Watson. In the first couple of stories, his surname was Bose, but later it changed to Mitra. Just like the former army surgeon, Topshe is the quintessential accomplice and faithfully records each of Prodosh Mitra's exploits accurately. Topshe is a smart teenager. In the first story of Feluda series (i.e. Feludar Goyendagiri), Topshe was thirteen and a half where Feluda's age was twenty seven, just the double of Topshe. Though Feluda often teases his young cousin, he is extremely fond and very protective of him. Feluda lives with Topshe's family. Topshe's father, Binay Mitter is the younger brother of Feluda's father, and therefore his uncle, and they all reside at 21, Rajani Sen Road, Kolkata-700029.[2] Although there really is a 'Rajani Sen Road'[2] in Kolkata, the house number is missing. Formerly, they all used to live in Tara road, Kolkata. Though not mentioned explicitly, Topshe is good-looking, fair, tall and handsome, as per different illustrations made by Satyajit Ray himself.

Detailed knowledge regarding Topshe's high school education is not available, but he used to go to school during the adventure of Sonar Kella (the sixth book of Feluda series). In the film adaptation of Sonar Kella, Topshe's mother shows her concern regarding his career and study as he spends a lots of time in case solving with Feluda. By the time of Kailashe Kelenkari (the eighth book of the series) he have had his secondary examination ('Madhyamik Pariksha'). Just like Feluda, Topshe also used to read lot of books to enhance his knowledge. Topshe often gets his lessons from Feluda himself. In many cases, Feluda tests his deductive knowledge and he usually passes the test satisfactorily. In the movie Sonar Kella Topshe's father aptly said that Topshe is a lucky boy who got Feluda as his mentor. Topshe is fond of 'Adventures of Tintin' comic series. In the book Kailashe Kelenkari, he is found reading 'Tintin in Tibet'.

Topshe always takes an active part in Feluda's adventure. Though in most cases, he follows Feluda's instructions or indications, there are instances where he himself gets involved into some action/investigation. To mention a few, he and Jatayu (a.k.a. Lalmohan Ganguly) sneaks into a warehouse in 'Patan' (Nepal) to discover vast collection of smuggled narcotics (book Jato Kando Kathmandute); finds out the stabbed body of a missing man in the woods (book Darjeeling Jomjomat); replaces the pink pearl with a fake for safe-keeping (book Golapi Mukta Rahasya). The last incident impressed Feluda as well. However, all these activities mainly comes in the latter part of the series. He also interrogated the suspects in Apsara Theaterer Mamla when Feluda was sick and bed-ridden. Feluda solved the case just from the report of that interrogation.

In movies and TV films the character of Feluda has been played by Soumitra Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and recently Abir Chatterjee, while Topshe has been played by Siddartha Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Saheb Bhattacharjee over the years. In Sandip Ray's 2014 film Badshahi Angti, actor Sourav Das played the role.

Lalmohan Ganguli or Jatayu

Lalmohan Ganguli is a close friend of Prodosh Chandra Mitra, and is described as the author of a series of Bengali crime thrillers written under the pseudonym 'Jatayu'. His crime stories and novels are usually derided as unbelievable, considering that his main character is always the superhero Prakhar Rudra, and in his words, Height:6 ft 3 1/2 inches, waist:36, chest:46, shoulders:22 and wrist:8 1/2. Though all his novels seem to have become best-sellers, he often tends to make extremely silly mistakes such as spelling igloos as 'ilgoos'. In Baksho Rahasya or Incident On The Kalka Mail, he confuses hippos with walruses — a tendency that Feluda often tries to correct. He sometimes serves as a perfect foil to the group and in Ray's own words provides 'dollops of humour', although he sometimes does some brave acts not expected of him. To mention a few, he knocked out goons in Baksho Rahasya, Joto Kando Kathmandute, Tintorettor Jishu and Ebar Kando Kedarnathe, which impressed Feluda as well. He owns a 'Madrasi green' Ambassador car. Jatayu makes his first appearance in Sonar Kella joining Feluda and Topshe in the train at Kanpur, on their way to Jodhpur. In the first two films on Feluda, which were directed by Ray himself, the character was played by Santosh Dutta, and after the first one, Ray modified the literary character to some extent, making him look and behave quite like Dutta himself. In the next films directed by Ray's son, Sandip Ray, this character was played by Mohan Agashe, Rabi Ghosh, Anup Kumar and Bibhu Bhattacharya respectively. Jatayu also has a fantasy of collecting weapons. In various books he carried weapons like 'kukri' (Nepali knife), and smoke bomb. Jatayu lives at Garpar in Kolkata, and it may be recalled that Satyajit Ray himself passed his childhood at 100, Garpar.

Sidhu Jetha

Sidhu Jetha's formal name is Siddheshwar Bose. He is an aged character who has described himself to be like Sherlock Holmes's brother Mycroft, living in Sardar Sankar Road, Lake Market, Kalighat, Kolkata. He is a bibliophile, and has an extensive base of general knowledge, current and historical affairs. He is a close friend of Feluda's father, being former neighbours in their ancestral village in Bangladesh. Feluda's jyatha (that is, uncle) is said to have a 'photographic memory', and is a vast source of information which comes in handy when Feluda is in need of some. His vast knowledge comes from his collection of varied kinds of newspaper clippings which he has accumulated over the years. The role was played by Harindranath Chattopadhyay in Sonar Kella, Ajit Bandopadhyay in Baksho Rahashya , Dibya Bhattacharya in Golapi Mukto Rahashya, Haradhan Banerjee in Kailashe Kelenkari and in Gorosthaney Sabdhan and by Paran Bandyopadhyay in Double Feluda. Following recent Feluda films made by Sandip Ray, Satyajit Ray's son, there have been questions over Sidhu Jyatha's continued relevance in the stories considering technologies such as the internet offer a faster, wider and more effective knowledge base than a well-read person.

Haripada Datta

Haripada Datta is the driver of Lalmohon Ganguli's second-hand green Mark II Ambassador car. He is a loyal, intelligent and reliable person and is of great help when needed. He played a crucial role in Gorosthaney Sabhdhan where he saved the lives of Feluda, Jatayu, and Topshe. He also has a minor role in Boshpukery Khunkharapi, where he takes part in a surveillance mission with the rest of Feluda's gang in disguise playing 29 cardgame.

Maganlal Meghraj

Maganlal Meghraj, as drawn by Satyajit Ray

Meghraj is a villainous character who appears in three Feluda stories, including Joi Baba Felunath, Joto Kando Kathmandute, and Golapi Mukta Rahasya. He has been compared to Professor Moriarty of the Sherlock Holmes series. Utpal Dutta immortalised this character in one Feluda movie Joi Baba Felunath, which Satyajit Ray directed. After him Mohan Agashe played this character two times in telefilms.

Maganlal lives in Benaras. He has a house in Joka, Kolkata also. His son's name is Surajlal Meghraj. He is officially a money-lender but is involved in smuggling artifacts, narcotics (through Indo-Nepal border) and jewellery. His Kolkata house had been raided once but he escaped any charges until Feluda caught him red-handed in smuggling an invaluable Ganesh Murti (an idol of the elephant god) during the case of Joi Baba Felunath. However, he was not behind bars for a long time. In the nineteenth book, Jato Kando Kathmandute, Feluda said that he was not at all surprised seeing Meghraj out of jail as that was nothing for such an influential person. Once again he was arrested in charge of murder and smuggling, yet he averted any long term punishment and we saw him once again in the thirty-first story, Golapi Mukta Rahasya.

Maganlal is a good judge of human character. He lured Bikash Sinha, secretary of Umanath Ghoshal, to steal the invaluable 'Ganesh Murti' from the Ghoshal-house. He also has a special interest in humiliating Jatayu. In Joi Baba Felunath he made Jatayu the subject of a knife-throwing play. In Jato Kando Kathmandute, he purposefully slips an LSD-laced sugar cube in Jatayu's tea. In his third appearance, he made Jatayu to sing a Tagore song (which Jatayu said his first time experience of singing a song). Surprisingly, he shows a queer fondness to Jatayu and usually calls him 'Uncle'.

During these three stories, we see many accomplices of Maganlal. Some of them are Machhli-Baba, Bikash Sinha, Arjun the knife thrower, Anantalaal Bantra, Dr. Dibakar and Manohar. Maganlaal has his own Bajra by which he travels in Ganga near Benaras. The door of his house in Benaras is painted with figures of two swordsmen. During the making of the movie, Joi Baba Felunath, this swordsmen were painted by Satyajit Ray himself.

Pulak Ghoshal

Ghoshal is a Mumbai-based popular Hindi film director hailing from Kolkata. His original home in Kolkata is in the neighbourhood of Lalmohonbabu's in northern Kolkata's Garpar. He has directed two films based on Lalmohonbabu's stories. During the shooting of both these films, dangerous events took place, resulting in arrest of a producer in one film (Bombaiyer Bombete) and arrest of an actor in another film (Darjeeling Jamjomat).

Minor characters

• Srinath is the domestic help of Feluda and Topshe. He is often seen serving tea for Feluda and his clients. He is also a good cook of Bengali food.
• Bharadwaj is a minor character who is the household cook at Jatayu's place.
• Baikuntha Mallik was Jatayu's Bengali teacher at Ethenium Institution when he was in the seventh grade. Lalmohan Babu often describes him as a great poet who did not get the adulation he deserved. There is no presence of him in the story but in some stories we can see Jatayu reciting his poems.

Feluda series

In the Feluda series there are 35 published and four unpublished stories. The list is chronologically arranged.

Color key

•      indicates "story".
•      indicates "novel".
•      indicates unfinished writings.

Novel/story	English title	First publication details	Plot outline	Setting	Characters
					Topshe	Jatayu	Sidhu Jyatha
Feludar Goendagiri	Danger in Darjeeling	Sandesh, December 1965—February 1966	Feluda goes to Darjeeling with Topshe, meets Rajen Babu who gets a life threat in a letter. Feluda investigates.	Darjeeling	Yes	No	No
Badshahi Angti	The Emperor's Ring	Sandesh, May 1966—May 1967	Feluda with Topshe and Topshe's father goes to meet Dhiru Kaka, their advocate uncle in Lucknow. There they find Dr Srivastav's house burgled the previous night and a precious ring was stolen. Feluda starts investigating secretly	Lucknow, Haridwar, Lakshman Jhula	Yes	No	No
Kailash Choudhury'r Pathar	Kailash Choudhury's Jewel	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1967	Feluda investigates a complex case involving twins and a rare valuable gem.	Kolkata	Yes	No	No
Sheyal Debota Rahasya	The Anubis Mystery	Sandesh, Summer issue, May—June 1970	Nilmoni Sanyal buys a precious statue of Anubis from an auction. But soon the statue goes missing. Feluda is appointed to investigate.	Kolkata	Yes	No	No
Gangtokey Gondogol	Trouble in Gangtok	Sharadiya Desh, 1970	Feluda and Topshe visit Gangtok for a vacation and meet some interesting people, each having a key role in a case of a car accident, later revealed to be a well planned murder.	Gangtok, Rumtek	Yes	No	No
Sonar Kella	The Golden Fortress	Sharadiya Desh, 1971	Mukul Dhar, a child of Kolkata claims that he can remember events of his previous life and informs that in his previous life he used to stay in a "Golden Fortress" of Rajasthan. Feluda finds out the truth behind it!	Rajasthan	Yes	Yes	Yes
Baksho Rahashya	Incident on the Kalka Mail	Sharadiya Desh, 1972	Dinanath Lahiri, an aged Bengali man, meets Feluda and informs that he has mistakenly swapped his suitcase in a train with one belonging to one of his co-passengers and asks Feluda to return it. Feluda discovers that there was a valuable manuscript in the suitcase of Mr. Lahiri. Feluda takes the responsibility to find out the suitcase and the manuscript.	Kolkata, Shimla	Yes	Yes	Yes
Samaddarer Chabi	The Key	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1973	Radharaman Samaddar, a Bengali wealthy musician, dies keeping all his money in an unknown secret place. Before dying, he utters the word "In my name... key". This might be the clue to find the hidden wealth. Feluda is asked for assistance to find out the money.	Bamungachhi	Yes	No	No
Kailashey Kelenkari	A Killer in Kailash	Sharadiya Desh, 1973	Feluda investigates a case of illegal trade of valuable artefacts stolen from ancient Indian temples, the latest being a 'yakshi' head sculpt from a temple in Orissa	Kolkata, Aurangabad	Yes	Yes	Yes
Royal Bengal Rahashya	The Royal Bengal Mystery	Sharadiya Desh, 1974	On an invitation by Mahitosh Sinha Roy, Lalmohon Babu takes Feluda and Topshe to a forest near Bhutan where Feluda is given a puzzle to solve. He solves that successfully, unearths hidden secrets of the Singha Ray family, solves a murder and kills a man-eater tiger in the process. He, at the end of the story is rewarded with a Tiger-skin.	Laxman Bari, an imaginary place near Bhutan border, 46 miles from New Jalpaiguri Railway Station	Yes	Yes	No
Joi Baba Felunath	The Mystery of the Elephant God	Sharadiya Desh, 1975	Feluda, his cousin Topshe and the thriller writer Jatayu visit Benaras during the Durga Pujas. There a valuable small Ganesh statue from a Ghoshal family gets stolen. Feluda is appointed to find out the thief. This is also Feluda's first meeting with his nemesis Maganlal Meghraj	Benaras	Yes	Yes	No
Ghurghutiyar Ghatona	The Locked Chest	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1975	Kalikinkar Majumdar from Ghughutiya, Nadia, West Bengal sends a mail to Feluda claiming him to be an admirer of Feluda and invites him to Ghurghutiya. Felua and Topshe go to the place. There in the house Kalikinkar Mukherjee shows them a talking parrot which only knows number combination to unlock a locker. The parrot says— Trinayan, o trinayan, ektu jiro. Now Feluda has to find out the number combination from those unclear words uttered by the parrot. Feluda finds that out, in addition he finds out something more— a murder.	Ghurghutiya, Nadia, West Bengal	Yes	No	No
Bombaiyer Bombete	The Bandits of Bombay	Sharadiya Desh, 1976	Pulak Ghoshal is making a Hindi film based on Jatayu's bestseller. But a mysterious man named Sanyal has other plans for the simpleton thriller writer	Mumbai	Yes	Yes	No
Gosainpur Sargaram	The Mystery of the Walking Dead	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1976	Gosaipur is a small town, not far from Kolkata. But the erstwhile zamindar of that area has lost faith in his son, and is becoming increasingly dependent on an astrologer who claims to bring back the dead! Feluda investigates.	Gosainpur, Burdwan District, West Bengal	Yes	Yes	No
Gorosthaney Sabdhan	The Secret of the Cemetery	Sharadiya Desh, 1977	A man is found lying unconscious after a stormy evening at South Park Street Cemetery. Feluda goes to investigates and finds the man's wallet there. He meets the injured victim himself. He senses something wrong and starts an investigation on his own, which leads him to deep secrets lying in the history of the city of Kolkata.	Kolkata	Yes	Yes	Yes
Chhinnamastar Abhishap	The Curse of the Goddess	Sharadiya Desh, 1978	Feluda and team visits Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, and gets invited by a puzzle loving retired advocate in his birthday party. The advocate dies in an incident but not before giving cryptic clues to Feluda.	Hazaribagh	Yes	Yes	No
Hatyapuri	The House of Death	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1979	Feluda and Co goes to Puri to escape the heat of Kolkata. The mystery revolves around Mr. D.G. Sen, an elderly gentleman, who has the hobby of collecting rare 'Puthis' (old hand written books/manuscripts). He is a true collector and denies lucrative offers from prospective buyers. However, a group of people are determined to steal the most valuable manuscripts from his collection. Topshe and Jatayu discover a dead body lying on the beach. The story takes a big turn when one of the prime suspects is found to be murdered. Feluda investigates.	Puri, Odisha	Yes	Yes	No
Golokdham Rahasya	The Mysterious Tenant	Sandesh May—August 1980	A theft of immensely valuable research papers takes place in the house of a retired scientist. Feluda is called in to investigate, and finds the case much more complex than expected as a tenant of the house is murdered.	Kolkata	Yes	No	Yes
Joto Kando Kathmandute	The Criminals of Kathmandu	Sharadiya Desh, 1980	Feluda goes to Nepal to catch a murderer, and discovers the case to be far more complicating than it seems. While investigating, Jatayu gets drugged and Feluda meets an old enemy.	Kathmandu, Patan, Nepal	Yes	Yes	No
Napoleoner Chithi	Napoleon's Letter	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1981	A pet bird gets stolen the day after it was bought. And in the same house, an aged curio collector is murdered by a person who seemingly doesn't exist. Do the two mysteries have any link? Feluda investigates.	Kolkata and 24 Pargana District, West Bengal	Yes	Yes	No
Tintorettor Jishu	Tintoretto's Jesus	Sharadiya Desh, 1982	Feluda meets an aristocratic Bengali family with a rich history. During his stay, a valuable painting by Italian painter Tintoretto is stolen, Feluda investigates and lands up in Hong Kong.	Baikunthapur, Jabalpur, Hong Kong	Yes	Yes	No
Ambar Sen Antordhan Rahasya	The Disappearance of Ambar Sen	Anandamela 4 May—15 June 1983	Ambar Sen, a Bengali comes to Feluda and informs him that he has got threatening mail. Later Mr. Sen is kidnapped. Feluda investigates.	Kolkata	Yes	Yes	No
Jahangirer Swarnamudra	The Gold Coins of Jahangir	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1983	The trio of Feluda, Jatayu and Tapesh has been invited to Panihati to investigate the case of a missing gold coin of Jahangir. The client had a collection of 12 gold coins but on his last birthday, one of them was stolen by one of his most trusted invitees. He invites the same group of people this year and asks Feluda to catch the culprit while hiding his true identity.	Panihati	Yes	Yes	No
Ebar Kando Kedarnathe	Crime in Kedarnath	Sharadiya Desh, 1984	Feluda, along with Jatayu and Topshe goes to Kedarnath, in the Himalayan belt, to stop a possible crime which can happen against a retired maverick chemist, Bhavani Upadhay. It soon turns out that Upadhyay has, in his possession, a valuable artefact, awarded to him for his services to a king. The trio, while trying to find out the man and warn him of the coming danger, also learn about Upadhyay's life, which is somehow connected to Jatayu.	Kedarnath	Yes	Yes	No
Bosepukure Khunkharapi	The Acharya Murder Case	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1985	Indra Narayan Acharya, a theatre artist from a rich family gets murdered. Is it one of the rival theatre groups, or a person Acharya thought to be trustworthy? Feluda investigates.	Kolkata	Yes	Yes	No
Darjeeling Jamjomat	Murder in the Mountains	Sharadiya Desh, 1986	Feluda and team joins a film crew shooting the 2nd film based on Jatayu's books. A murder happens during the shoot. A body is found in the forest. Feluda investigates.	Darjeeling	Yes	Yes	No
Bhuswarga Bhoyonkor	Peril in Paradise	Sharadiya Desh, 1987	Feluda and trio goes to Kashmir. They meet a retired judge who attempts calling the spirits of the criminals whom he sentenced to death, but is secretly unconvinced by their crime. He is found murdered after a few days. Feluda tries to find out the murderer.	Kashmir	Yes	Yes	No
Apsara Theaterer Mamla	The Case of Apsara Theatre	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1987	A notable theatre personality is found murdered, and Feluda attempts to uncover the mystery.	Kolkata	Yes	Yes	No
Shakuntalar Kanthahaar	Shakuntala's Necklace	Sharadiya Desh, 1988	Feluda and Co meet and befriend a Lucknow resident, whose family is a fan of the investigator, on a pleasure trip to the same city and get invited to his house. There, a necklace of late actress Shakuntala Devi, mother-in-law of the host, gets stolen, and Feluda must unmask the culprit of not only the theft, but also a murder.	Lucknow	Yes	Yes	No
Golapi Mukta Rahasya	The Mystery of the Pink Pearl	Sharadiya Desh, 1989	Joychaand Baral possesses an extremely rare object – a Pink Pearl, which has sought attention of quite a few influential people, notably Maganlal Meghraj, the nemesis of Feluda. Can Feluda stop him before he plans another crime to possess the pearl?	Kolkata, Benaras	Yes	Yes	Yes
Londone Feluda	Feluda in London	Sharadiya Desh, 1989	Feluda goes to London on request of Ranjan Majumdar, a client, to find out about a British man who is dead. The person is connected to Majumdar's student life in London, which Majumdar has no memory of.	London, Kolkata	Yes	Yes	No
Dr. Munshir Diary	Dr. Munshi's Diary	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1990	Eminent psychiatrist Dr. Munshi engages Feluda in a 'simple' task of ensuring cooperation of 2 men with a criminal history, whom Munshi had previously cured of mental disorder, as he is about to release facts about their treatment in his autobiography. Soon, however, Feluda finds himself in the thick of matters as Dr. Munshi is murdered, and the autobiography goes missing.	Kolkata	Yes	Yes	No
Nayan Rahasya	The Mystery Of Nayan	Sharadiya Desh, 1990	A magician finds a boy with special abilities and takes him to Chennai for a show. Feluda is asked to ensure the boy's safety.	Chennai	Yes	Yes	No
Robertsoner Ruby	Robertson's Ruby	Sharadiya Desh, 1992	Feluda & Co. is involved in a quest to save a valuable Ruby which was taken from India to London during the Sepoy Mutiny. During the course of events, old wounds resurface, uncovering a brutal event which happened when India was under British rule.	Birbhum, West Bengal	Yes	Yes	No
Indrajal Rahasya	The Magical Mystery	Sandesh December 1995—February 1996	A retired magician calls Feluda to check a manuscript of a book, which will be bought by another magician, Suryakumar. A small statue of Krishna gets stolen and a murder also occurs, which Feluda investigates, while bringing to light the buried secrets of the magician's family.	Kolkata	Yes	Yes	No
Baksho Rahasya (first draft)	The Mystery of the Box	Sharadiya Sandesh, 1995		on Kalka Mail	Yes	Yes	No
Tota Rahasya (first draft)	The Mystery of the Parrot	Sharadiya Sandesh
Tota Rahasya (second draft)	The Mystery of the Parrot	Sharadiya Sandesh
Aditya Bardhaner Abishkar	The Discovery by Aditya Vardhan	Sharadiya Sandesh		Agra	Yes	Yes	No

Feluda in other media

Films

Satyajit Ray directed Sonar Kella (1974) and Joi Baba Felunath (1979) into movies in Bengali, starring actor Soumitra Chatterjee as Feluda, Santosh Dutta as Jatayu and Siddartha Chatterjee as Topshe. This two films created a cult following in Bengali cinema later years.

Until 2011, Sandip Ray directed five Feluda theatrical feature-length films. The first theatrically released Feluda film directed by Ray was Baksho Rahashya (1996) which was the first film of the Feluda TV film series.

• Baksho Rahashya (1996) was released in theaters in December 2001. It was made for television release only in 1996, unlike the next five theatrical feature film. This film was the first TV film of Sandip Ray's new Feluda film series which was the continuation of original Feluda film series. In this TV film Sabyasachi Chakrabarty was Feluda, Saswata Chatterjee was Topshe and Rabi Ghosh was Jatayu. All films of the new Feluda film series (the continuation of the original series) were directed by Sandip Ray. In this series he made ten TV films and five full-length films in Bengali on the character.
• Bombaiyer Bombete was released in December 2003. In this movie Sabyasachi Chakrabarty reprised his role as Feluda, Parambrata Chatterjee as Topshe and Bibhu Bhattacharya as Jatayu.
• Kailashey Kelenkari was released in December 2007.
• Tintorettor Jishu was released in December 2008.
• In December 2010, Sandip Ray made another Feluda movie, Gorosthaney Sabdhan. In it, Bibhu Bhattacharyya and Sabyasachi Chakroborty reprised their roles, but Paramabrata was replaced by Saheb Bhattacharyya as Topshe.
• Royal Bengal Rahashya, released in December 2011. It is the last film portraying Bibhu Bhattacharya as Jatayu.
• Badshahi Angti released in November 2014, in which Abir Chatterjee is playing Feluda for first time. This was going to be a reboot to previous the Feluda film series after Royal Bengal Rahashya.[6] However, in 2016 Sandip Ray cancelled the reboot series because Abir Chatterjee started a new version of film series based on the Byomkesh Bakshi franchise under Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films.[7] The other reason was the new Feluda movie Sandip Ray intended to make under a Mumbai-based production house Eros International, but Abir has a strict contract with Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films. For the cancellation of the reboot series Badshahi Angti is now considered as a stand-alone reboot film.
• Double Feluda was released in December 2016. It was a continuation of the original Feluda movie series where Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Saheb Bhattacharya reprised their roles as Feluda and Topshe respectively. The movie consisted of two stories, Samaddar-er-Chabi and Golokdham Rahashya, shown on either half of the movie. It was a tribute to the 50 year anniversary of Feluda and a sequel to Royal Bengal Rahashya(2011).

Television

In addition to the feature films, 10 Feluda stories have been filmed by Sandip Ray as television films under the names/packages:

• Noyon Rohossho-Feluda, Feluda is plyed by versatile actor, Ahmed Rubel.
• Kissa Kathmandu Ka (in Hindi, based on Joto Kando Kathmandute for DD National) (1986)
• Ghurghutiyar Ghatona (1992) and Golokdham Rahasya (1992) were directed by Bibhash Chakraborty.
• Feluda 30 (Baksho Rahashya, Gosaipur Sargaram, Sheyal Devta Rahashya, Bosepukure Khunkharapi, Joto Kando Kathmandu for DD Bangla, Later Repeated in Tara Muzik) (1996–1998)
• Satyajiter Goppo (Jahangirer Swarnamudra, Ghurghutiyar Ghotona, Golapi Mukto Rahashya, Ambar Sen Antardhan Rahashya for DD Bangla) (1999)
• Satyajiter Priyo Golpo (Dr Munshir Diary for ETV Bangla) (2000)

From 1999 to 2001 Bangladesh Television (BTV) aired nine Feluda TV films. The series gained a huge popularity in Bangladesh.

In the Hindi telefilm Kissa Kathmandu Mein (1985), Feluda was played by Shashi Kapoor, Jatayu by Mohan Agashe, Topshe by Alankar Joshi and Magan Lal Meghraj once again by Utpal Dutt. Feluda was played by Soumitra Chatterjee in two Bengali Feluda telefilms made in 1992, while Sabyasachi Chakrabarty played that role in Feluda telefilms made later. After the death of Santosh Dutta Jatayu was played by Rabi Ghosh in the first two TV films, after his death Anup Kumar played Jatayu and finally by Bibhu Bhattacharya. In Sandip Ray's ten Feluda TV films Topshe was played by Saswata Chatterjee.

Sandip Ray has sold the rights of Feluda stories to Bangladeshi production company Kandy Productions, who are producing a TV series inspired by the original Feluda series. It premiered on Channel i[8][9] as well as digitally on Bioscopelive from September, 2017. The series will be available in India on the digital platform Addatimes Digital.[10] Dhaka based Kandy Production is producing the series jointly with Top of Mind Creations, another Bangladeshi TV and film production house. Parambrata Chatterjee plays Feluda and Riddhi Sen plays Topshe. The first season of the series is directed by Parambrata Chatterjee.[10]

Animation

In 2010 an animated TV film produced by DQE Productions titled Feluda: The Kathmandu Caper was produced and the rights were acquired by Disney Channel (India). The movie premiered on 1 January 2011.[11] DQE Productions also made a 13-episode animation series named Mysteries and Feluda after the animated TV film for Disney XD. The series including the TV film was set into a new universe, where Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu have many gadgets.

Radio

• The first radio adaptation of Feluda was made by Satyajit Ray in the early 80s, Baksho Rahsaya with his usual cast like Soumitra Chatterjee as Feluda, Santosh Dutta as Jatayu, Siddartha Chatterjee as Topshe and Sushil Majumdar as Sidhu Jyatha along with other prominent actors like Haradhan Bandopadhyay, Biplab Chatterjee and Bikash Roy.
• Akashabani had produced Darjeeling Jomjomat casting a set of regular actors in radio.
• In January 2007, the BBC World Service announced that it would produce at least two 'episodes' of the popular detective stories. Hindi film star Rahul Bose speaks the leading role, with Anupam Kher voicing Lalmohan. The first episode, "The Golden Fortress", aired on 10 February 2007 with the second episode, "The Mystery of the Elephant God", following on 11 August 2007.
• In 2007 Sandip Ray rebooted the radio series with his own set of actors as Sabyasachi Chakrabarty as Feluda, Parambrata Chatterjee as Topshe and Bibhu Bhattacharya as Jatayu. He made two new dramas based on, Gosainpur Sargaram and Dr. Munshir Diary. They with Baksho Rahashya, directed by Satyajit Ray, aired together on Big FM.
• Radio Mirchi Kolkata station airs thrillers in a radio drama format, under the programme name 'Sunday Suspense' which includes some Feluda stories. Feluda is voiced by Sabyasachi Chakrabarty. Dip and Somak voices Topshe and Mir Afsar Ali voices the other characters. Bibhu Bhattacharya voiced Jatayu in only one episode. After Bhattacharya's death Jagannath Basu voices Jatayu.
• Radio Today airs thrillers in a radio format, under the programme name Thursday Nightsaga, which includes some Feluda stories. However, it stopped before finishing the Feluda novel Baksho Rahasya.

Comics

Some of the Feluda stories have been made into comic strips by artists and authors. Abhijit Chattopadhyay creates a comic strip based on Feluda stories in every Pujabarshiki Anondomela. The comics are published by Ananda Publishers. English versions of comics have appeared in The Telegraph.

Penguin Books has released comic book versions of around 6 Feluda mysteries. The art is drawn by Tapas Guha and the script is by Subhadra Sen Gupta.[12]

Music

In a collaborative album brought out in 1996 by HMV, Kabir Suman sings a 'Feludar Gaan' (Feluda's song). The song written by Kabir Suman was first publicised at Sandesh magazine on the special Feluda 30 issue released in December 1995 on the completion of 30 years of Feluda stories. Later in a collaborative album by HMV Choto Boro Miley (1996) the song was composed and performed by three-legend singer-songwriter Kabir Suman, Nachiketa Chakraborty and Anjan Dutt.

Later many of Bengali songs have references and symbols of Feluda franchise including "Calcium" by Anjan Dutt from the album Purono Guitar (1995).

Documentary

A Bengali documentary film Feluda: 50 Years Of Ray's Detective was directed by Sagnik Chatterjee. This is the first biopic of India based on a fictional character. This film was released on 7 June 2019.[13]

Feluda in Pujabarshiki

Nearly every Feluda story was published annually in the Pujabarshiki Desh (the edition of Desh commemorating the Durgapuja published every year). Thereafter the stories were published as hard-back editions by Ananda Publishers. Some of the stories were published originally in Sandesh, a children's magazine co-edited by Satyajit Ray. In 2015 Feluda celebrates his 50 th years after appearance. This is printed as 'Feluda 50' in anandamela.

See also

• Satyajit Ray
• Sandip Ray
• Feluda in film
• Literary works of Satyajit Ray
• Professor Shonku
• Tarini khuro
• Tarini Khuro in other media
• Parashor Barma
• Kakababu
• Kakababu in other media
• Byomkesh Bakshi
• Byomkesh Bakshi in other media
• Kolkata culture
• Culture of Bengal
• Culture of West Bengal
• Bengali literature
• History of Bengali literature
• List of Bengali-language authors (chronological)

References

1. Andrew Robinson (1989). Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye. University of California Press. pp. 233–. ISBN 978-0-520-06946-6. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
2. Susnato Chowdhury (2007). "Feluda's Home". Kolkata TV. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
3. Satyajit Ray (1 February 2005). Complete Adventures of Feluda. Penguin Books India. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-0-14-303278-6. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
4. Ray; Satyajit & Sen Gupta; Subhadra (text) (2011). Feluda Mysteries : The Criminals Of. Penguin Books India. pp. 2–. ISBN 978-0-14-333154-4. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
5. Ravi N. Pandey (1 January 2008). Encyclopaedia of Great Indian Novels And Novelists (Set of 3 Vols.). Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 228. ISBN 978-81-261-3700-8. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
6. Ruman Ganguly (14 May 2013) "Feluda's comeback with Badshahi Angti". The Times of India.
7. . ABP Ananda
8. "Bangladeshi Feluda TV series detailed". The Daily Star. 24 August 2017.
9. "Feluda series: Bangladesh TV's first-ever Feluda series starring Parambrata courts controversy | Kolkata News - Times of India". The Times of India.
10. DelhiAugust 16, India Today Web Desk New; August 16, 2017UPDATED:; Ist, 2017 20:13. "Feluda is back: Parambrata brings to life Satyajit Ray's master sleuth". India Today.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. "Disney brings Satyajit Ray's detective Feluda to the small screen". 30 December 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
12. "Penguin India". penguin.co.in.
13. Feluda: 50 Years Of Rays Detective Movie: Showtimes, Review, Trailer, Posters, News & Videos | eTimes, retrieved 13 July 2019

External links

• Feluda Films – BBC 18 Jan 2010
• Roy, Pinaki. " The Postcolonial Sleuth for Adoloscents: Rereading Satyajit Ray's Feluda-narratives". Clues: A Journal of Detection (McFarland). 36.1 (Spring 2018): 78–89.