Le dieu éléphant

The way Satyajit played with light and shadow is a thing of enjoyment! And the folk music he used at perfect moments!

The movie is about a idol theft from the house of a old-time Benares family. Feluda, who is in Benares on holiday with his cousin and assistant Topshe and the inimitable Jatayu, is asked to help find the thief. The story moves along at a fast clip from the opening scenes when we see the holidaying trio arrive in rickshaws, with Jatayu having to constantly raise his folded hands to his forehead as they pass one temple after another. Ray is a master at showing the timeless beauty of this ancient city with its ghats, bazaars, havelis and gallis, and leverages this to the fullest to transform a mundane whodunit with a twist into a moody, sensuous, intensely funny and hauntingly musical piece of cinema which transcends its humble subject matter, but still delivers a darkly dreadful murder scene!

Feluda, The Bengali Sherlock Holmes comes alive on screen again in this highly entertaining film. Based on the book and characters written by Ray himself he did a great job in creating a good follow up to the highly successful and intriguing 'Sonar Kella – The Golden fort '. Just like in the previous movie this one also contains a bunch of colorful characters played by the Crème de la crème of Bengali cinema most notably Mr. Utpal Dutta who plays a shady businessman involved in smuggling antiquities. This one is about a theft of a very valuable antique gold statue. So in comes Feluda accompanied by his faithful Topshe and the very hilarious Jatayu (Santosh Dutta at his comic best) and he is asked to investigate the theft by the owner and if possible retrieve the invaluable statue. The entire movie is set in the holy city of Varanasi and we get to witness a lot of the religious ceremonies associated with Hinduism and how the crime has intertwined itself with it. A lot of suspense and some very funny segments(especially the one with Jatayu and the knife thrower) make this movie totally worth the watch. It may not be a Sonar Kella but it definitely is in a class of its own. I recommend this film very highly. You will not be disappointed.

I read some Feluda stories in my childhood. Since then I haven't ventured towards the book of the ace sleuth written by Ray that have endeared him to millions across the globe. I have seen several films of the detective though, two directed by Satyajit Ray himself, and quite a few directed by his son Sandip Ray. Among the multiplicity of themes that Ray explored in his films and in his writings, one often finds a thematic recurrence interspersed among his works. The core theme in JOYBABA FELUNATH - about a thriving business involving smuggling of heritage art objects from India to the West was also seen in his book KAILASHE KELENKARI, which has been made into a film by Sandip Ray. The penchant of Ray to showcase rare skills such as jugglery (Phatikchand) is again seen in this film in the spine-chilling act of a skilled marksman aiming at humans - it was filmed on 'Jatayu.' JOYBABA .. is an engaging, suspenseful film from the master filmmaker. The film has the Hindu holy city of Benaras as the backdrop. Apart from a fine performance by Soumitro Chatterjee in the role of Feluda, the film was elevated several notches by the terrific performance of Utpal Dutta as Maganlal Meghraj - rarely has Utpal Dutta looked so menacing as a villain, his act in Bollywood films playing the evil man was mostly comical. The pivotal child character in the film, endearing called Captain Spark, brought out the child that used to reside in Ray who was enchanted by magic, mysterious occurrences & other aspects of the supernatural, besides his love of adventure. Rating; 4 out of 5

The sequel of 'Sonar Kella'. And much better in art and camera. I mentioned earlier that Ray was an admirer of Benares' geometry and loved shooting there. You will find another set of cooler shots of the alleys of the city, which itself is a metaphor to a detective story. Contrary to the previous film, we will get to know about all the guilts at the end of this movie. And, the best villain played by the great Utpal Dutt. Someone told me West Anderson was inspired by the symmetrical shots here, to use later in his movies.