Feluda investigates fake medicine trafficking in Nepal. With Jatayu and Topse, he pursues a murderer but finds a complex case. Jatayu is drugged, and Feluda encounters his nemesis Maganlal M... Read allFeluda investigates fake medicine trafficking in Nepal. With Jatayu and Topse, he pursues a murderer but finds a complex case. Jatayu is drugged, and Feluda encounters his nemesis Maganlal Meghraj in Kathmandu.Feluda investigates fake medicine trafficking in Nepal. With Jatayu and Topse, he pursues a murderer but finds a complex case. Jatayu is drugged, and Feluda encounters his nemesis Maganlal Meghraj in Kathmandu.
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For a generation of 1980s Doordarshan kids like me the old time serials and series always have a special place in heart. One of the rare tv series whose memory lingered on me for almost 35 years was Satyajit Ray Presents Kissa Kathmandu Mein starring Shashi Kapoor in lead and directed by Sandeep Ray.
This short series was very special to us in 1986 as we saw a big Hindi film star Shashi Kapoor in lead on Doordarshan.
I just remembered his interaction with Utpal dutt,Pankaj kapurs sinister look and Mohan Agashe playing Casino at Kathmandu. This series was unavailable for decades and many of us used to search for it every now and then. Then finally last month couple of dear friends finally messaged "It's Finally there " and before wasting any time I saw it immediately, scared that it might go offline again. The print available on YouTube is not fine and some places is bad but is still watchable for sure.
The TV series was actually Season 2 of Satyajit Ray for Doordarshan, where Sandeep took the idea of making tv shows for Hindi speaking audience to get even wider range for Ray's writings. This season was actually a mini series based on One of the most popular characters of Bangla novels-Felu Da created by legendary Satyajit Ray.
The Hindi version is based on Ray's story Jato Kando Kathmandute and has Shashi as Pradosh Mitter known as Feluda a popular detective based in Calcutta. He is aided by Jatayu(Mohan Agashe) and Topshe(Alankar). On investigating a murder Feluda gets the connection of a fake medicine racket being run in Kathmandu Nepal.
To catch the killers Feluda and team fly to Kathamndu and try to nab the chief Maganlal Meghraj (Utpal Dutt) and also solve the mystery of Jagdish(Pankaj Kapur).
The series is very well shot and Sandeep has done tremendous justice to his dad's story and characters. He has shot the Kolkata scenes very well and Kathmandu becomes a chatacter in itself in the series. The screenplay and dialogues are so well written and enacted that it feels Ray(s) are also sharing information to the audience about Nepal in narrative. The suspense as such is not nail biting to be honest but the overall aura has mystery and even spooky to it.
Shashi Kapoor does a tremendous justice as the HINDI speaking Feluda, though he had put on lot of weight and was middle aged,in his only television outing. For Bangla fans however ,I understand it was disappointing seeing a fat Feluda as Soumitra Chaterjee had immortalised it as a dynamic young Feluda. However for Hindi belt fans,Shashi was totally in form and he gave Feluda a whole new bunch of audience as well. Utpal Dutt replays his villanous Meghraj act perfectly and his character has shades of his comic villains even from Barsaat ki ek Raat and even later in Byomkesh Bakshi. Mohan Agashe as eccentric Jatayu is very funny and was loved by us wayback as kids. Alankar also does justice to his character and Pankaj Kapoor looks scary even with his short stature.
Overall the series has loads of nostalgia, charm of Shashi and insight of Feluda for Hindi audience.
Hoping now that order stories from season 1 of Satyajit Ray Presents also are available!!
This short series was very special to us in 1986 as we saw a big Hindi film star Shashi Kapoor in lead on Doordarshan.
I just remembered his interaction with Utpal dutt,Pankaj kapurs sinister look and Mohan Agashe playing Casino at Kathmandu. This series was unavailable for decades and many of us used to search for it every now and then. Then finally last month couple of dear friends finally messaged "It's Finally there " and before wasting any time I saw it immediately, scared that it might go offline again. The print available on YouTube is not fine and some places is bad but is still watchable for sure.
The TV series was actually Season 2 of Satyajit Ray for Doordarshan, where Sandeep took the idea of making tv shows for Hindi speaking audience to get even wider range for Ray's writings. This season was actually a mini series based on One of the most popular characters of Bangla novels-Felu Da created by legendary Satyajit Ray.
The Hindi version is based on Ray's story Jato Kando Kathmandute and has Shashi as Pradosh Mitter known as Feluda a popular detective based in Calcutta. He is aided by Jatayu(Mohan Agashe) and Topshe(Alankar). On investigating a murder Feluda gets the connection of a fake medicine racket being run in Kathmandu Nepal.
To catch the killers Feluda and team fly to Kathamndu and try to nab the chief Maganlal Meghraj (Utpal Dutt) and also solve the mystery of Jagdish(Pankaj Kapur).
The series is very well shot and Sandeep has done tremendous justice to his dad's story and characters. He has shot the Kolkata scenes very well and Kathmandu becomes a chatacter in itself in the series. The screenplay and dialogues are so well written and enacted that it feels Ray(s) are also sharing information to the audience about Nepal in narrative. The suspense as such is not nail biting to be honest but the overall aura has mystery and even spooky to it.
Shashi Kapoor does a tremendous justice as the HINDI speaking Feluda, though he had put on lot of weight and was middle aged,in his only television outing. For Bangla fans however ,I understand it was disappointing seeing a fat Feluda as Soumitra Chaterjee had immortalised it as a dynamic young Feluda. However for Hindi belt fans,Shashi was totally in form and he gave Feluda a whole new bunch of audience as well. Utpal Dutt replays his villanous Meghraj act perfectly and his character has shades of his comic villains even from Barsaat ki ek Raat and even later in Byomkesh Bakshi. Mohan Agashe as eccentric Jatayu is very funny and was loved by us wayback as kids. Alankar also does justice to his character and Pankaj Kapoor looks scary even with his short stature.
Overall the series has loads of nostalgia, charm of Shashi and insight of Feluda for Hindi audience.
Hoping now that order stories from season 1 of Satyajit Ray Presents also are available!!
The name is " kissa kathmandu mein" as opposed to the wrong name given here and also in the wikepedia page title as " kissa kathmandu ka"
Did you know
- TriviaWhen amitabh bachchan couldn't give us time, shashi kapoor slipped into the shoes of Feluda: The year was 1985. The series - Satyajit Presents I - was introduced on the small screen based on famous literary works of the master filmmaker.The year was 1985. The series - Satyajit Presents I - was introduced on the small screen based on famous literary works of the master filmmaker. It was an instant hit and a unanimous decision was taken to come up with Part II the following year. Back then, Ray used to select the stories, write the script and even score the music. He said Feluda could be made for national television and finally zeroed in on Kissa Kathmandu Ka based on his Jato Kando Kathmandute. Since it was for Doordarshan, considering his height and facial features, Amitabh Bachchan was the first choice for Feluda. The shooting schedule was long and spanned across Kolkata and Kathmandu. The thriller about busting of an international drug racket had to climax in Kathmandu and before that, there were shoots in many places in Kolkata. Initially thought to be an eight-part series, it needed a little less than a month from the megastar. HE REFUSED TO SMOKE, THOUGH IT WAS FELUDA'S CHARACTER TRAIT: SANDIP RAY Bachchan was caught up with films and it didn't work out with him. So, the team shot a letter to Shashi Kapoor, who gave his nod. Shashi, who was born in Kolkata, had a strong connect with the city and for him it was a homecoming of sorts.Sandip Ray, who directed the actor in the series, recalled, "He wanted to know the concept and it was communicated to him through a chain of letters. He got hooked to it on hearing that it was about the busting of a drug racket. He felt it was an important issue and wanted to be a part of it." The shoot's biggest challenge was to make Shashi Kapoor look like Feluda, Bengal's iconic sleuth with an athletic figure and enormous physical strength. The actor was in his late 40s and had to shed a few kilos for the part. "He couldn't do that. But he made up for it with his powerful acting. He was with us throughout. Baba had sent him a write-up on how he conceived Feluda and that helped Shashiji. The other challenge was that he refused to smoke the Charminar that was more of a character trait for the detective. He had quit smoking before that and said he'd rather stay away. He was propagating anti-smoking in his own way and we didn't mind. It was for national television and some relaxations could be made," said Sandip Ray.The series was made keeping the national audience in mind and didn't echo any Bengali sentiment. So, Jatayu's quirks couldn't be translated verbatim. "Baba wrote the script in English and later it was turned into Hindi," remembered Sandip Ray. A huge unit went to Kathmandu to shoot. Alankar Joshi played Topshe and Mohan Agashe got into the shoes of Jatayu; Maganlal Meghraj was none other than Utpal Dutt. "The Kapoors had been close to the Rays for decades and I knew him when he did movies for Merchant Ivory like The Householder, Shakespeare Wallah and others. Whenever we would go to Bombay, he used to come down to meet us with Jennifer (Kendal).
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