In the 1960s, at the height of his early international fame, Indian writer/director Satyajit Ray was also putting out YA novels (in Bengali) for local consumption. (Were they ever translated for Stateside publication?) The most popular featured private investigator Feluda (more Holmes than Maigret), played here by Ray regular Soumitra Chatterjee, a know-it-all with modest eccentricities. (The character went on to further film & tv adventures, but after the first two without Ray or Chatterjee.*) You can see the appeal, even if much of the fun & charm gets lost in translation, especially in some of the broader characterizations (comic & villain) whose reactions wouldn’t feel out of place on a TeleMundo soap. This story concerns an 8-yr-old kid more communicative with drawing than with words, currently fixated on a hard to find Golden Fortress and the gems supposedly hidden inside. That possibility enough to bring out a trio of bad guys claiming to have the boy’s interest at heart, along with an opposing trio of protectors, including Feluda, hoping to find the castle first, then wait to nab the abductors. With better picture elements (the colors look right, but the image isn’t sharp), the picaresque elements built into the storyline might carry us past any weak spots, but I’d guess it would still seem too local for broad appeal.
DOUBLE-BILL: *The second of the Ray-helmed Feluda films, THE ELEPHANT GOD/’79 (not seen here) sounds pretty similar in style & quality. Perhaps it’s out in better condition.
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