Actor Tota Roy Choudhury, who returns as the iconic sleuth created by Satyajit Ray in Feludar Goyendagiri: Royal Bengal Rawhoshyo, has said he would rather see the series break new ground than keep revisiting stories that have already been adapted before.

“I honestly want to do something which has not been done,” Tota told The Telegraph Online. “I don’t want to do any more Feludas which have already been adapted. But the decision is not mine,” he added.

The actor’s remarks come even as the latest season records strong viewership on Hoichoi.

Roy Choudhury admitted he was initially unsure about Royal Bengal Rawhoshyo, a story that had earlier been adapted into a film starring Sabyasachi Chakrabarty. “I was apprehensive. I knew there would be comparisons,” he said. “For me, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty is the ideal Feluda. He, along with Soumitra babu (Chatterjee). There is no competition there,” he admitted candidly.

“When you know there’s no chance of winning a comparison, you stop worrying about it. You just do your thing,” Tota said. He added that his version of Feluda is rooted in how he grew up reading Satyajit Ray’s stories. “Feluda speaks in a certain way, he moves in a certain way. That’s the Feluda in my head, and that’s what I try to bring on screen.”

Despite his doubts, the actor said the response from the audience has been emphatic. “The viewership is off the charts,” he said, crediting the research team for backing a story they believed audiences still wanted to watch. “In that sense, they were absolutely right.”

Tota also spoke about the creative freedom he received from director Kamaleswar Mukherjee. “I told him very clearly that I would do Feluda the way I’ve been doing for the last few seasons. He said, ‘Don’t change. That’s the Feluda I want to see.’ That kind of support matters a lot,” he said.

And how was the transition from Srijit Mukherji to Kamaleshwar as the director of the series? Tota says both the directors bring different energies on set — Srijit is more ‘hot’ while Kamaleshwar is ‘cold’ — but they are similar in terms of their love for Feluda. “Both of them have grown up reading Feluda, and that shows in their work,” he says.

Tota has often faced criticism for being too self-aware in his early outings as Feluda. But the actor pushed back against the idea that he took time to “ease into” the role. “It wasn’t about the years,” he said. “In Chhinnamastar Abhishap, the costumes weren’t tailored properly. They restricted my movement. People underestimate how much something like that can affect a performance.”

“But I shot Jawto Kando Kathmandute simultaneously, and the feedback was extremely positive,” he added.

On the much-loved chemistry between Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu, Tota said the ease is real. “Off screen, we behave like schoolboys. Our median age becomes 15,” he said, referring to co-stars Anirban Chakrabarti and Kalpan Mitra. “We genuinely enjoy each other’s company, and that shows.”

As speculation grows about where Feluda might head next, the actor returned to his core argument. “I would love to do something new, something we haven’t seen before,” he said. “But again, it’s not up to me.”