Bomkesh Bakshi has become Prodosh Mitter. And a suave Abir Chatterjee as Feluda did not miss a cue during a drawing room sequence of Badshahi Angti being shot by Sandip Ray.

But that doesn’t mean our Feluda No. 3 (after Soumitra Chatterjee and Sabyasachi Chakrabarty) was all serious on the sets of Badshahi Angti (produced by Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films) at Purple Movietown off Kabardanga on Saturday afternoon. After every shot, he fiddled with his phone, played pranks on Topshe (Sourav Das) and cracked jokes with co-actor Bharat Kaul.

The full blast of the AC had everyone on the hop, except the cast who had woollens on to suit the scene. The studio set in the film is the drawing room of Dhiru kaka (Biswajit Chakraborty), Topshe’s father’s friend at whose house Feluda, Topshe and Binoy (Dipankar De) are putting up.

Badshahi Angti revolves around a precious ring which gets stolen and Feluda is called in to crack the mystery. And the sequence in question finds Feluda enquiring about the missing ring.

“It’s chilly on the floors!” smiled Abir, munching on chicken sandwich and spicy chilli chicken during the lunch break. “Feluda is my dream-come-true role. He’s my childhood idol. I read Feluda first when I was in Class V,” said the handsome actor who was apprehensive about the Calcutta leg of the shoot restarting almost three months after the Badshahi Angti team had shot the major portions in Lucknow and Haridwar.

“It’s like reconnecting with Feluda after a three-month gap. I was a little hesitant about how to do that. Babuda (Sandip Ray) could sense that, so we began on July 21 with a small scene. That helped me reconnect with Feluda.”

What about Bomkesh becoming Feluda? “Yes, I have to be extremely cautious while essaying this role because I have also played Bomkesh. My constant attempt is to make Feluda absolutely different because there are a few basic similarities as well as differences between the two sleuths,” said Abir.

BECOMING TOPSHE: “Sourav, have you told them that you played my childhood role in Banhishikha (ETV Bangla mega serial),” Feluda asks Topshe! “Yes, I played Abirda’s childhood and Bumbada’s (Prosenjit) too, in a couple of Swapan Saha films. But bagging the role of Topshe is a different experience altogether!” smiled Sourav Das. “My friends are more excited than I am! They call me in the middle of the shoot to find out how everything’s going!” laughed the 23-year-old Behala boy who had played Rituparna Sengupta’s mentally challenged son in Aparna Sen’s Paromitar Ekdin. “My favourite Feluda film is Joi Baba Felunath and my favourite Feluda is Benukaku (Sabyasachi)... and, of course, Abirda!”

FELUDA FAN: A blazer and thick-framed glasses gave the look of Dr Srivastav to Bharat Kaul. “Dr Srivastav stays in Lucknow and is Dhiru’s family friend. I had got the ring as a gift and fearing that it will get stolen, I had kept it with Dhiru. My character is there from the beginning till the end. I am a great Feluda fan and have watched Sonar Kella 40-45 times. I am a great Soumitra Chatterjee fan too,” said Kaul.

FELUDA OLD AND NEW: “Some of the characters in Badshahi Angti are using mobile phones because the story is set in 2014,” said Sandip, settling down after hollering “wrap-up” to his team. But no, Feluda still doesn’t flash a cell phone. “Let’s see how long I can pull this off. Let Feluda be like me or Apu (Saswata Chatterjee),” referring to two ‘non-mobile’ celebrities in Tollywood. And how’s his new Feluda doing? “I’m very pleased with Abir. He is very good and also looks the part. If this works, I will make a few more Feluda films with him because Abir is still very young.”

FATHER AND SON: “I play Binoy, Topshe’s father,” said Dipankar De, who worked in five films with Satyajit Ray. “This is the first time I am working in a Feluda film and with Babu. I am very comfortable because Babu follows the exact gharana of filmmaking that his father used to follow,” smiled De.

RING-KEEPER: “I play Dhiru kaka, who lives in Lucknow. I keep the ring in my safe custody but it still gets stolen,” said Biswajit Chakraborty.

Text: Kushali Nag
Pictures: Anindya Shankar Ray