Five years after Bombaiyer Bombete and a year after Kailase Kelenkari, comes Sandip Ray’s Tintorettor Jishu. Nothing raises expectations among Tolly watchers like a Feluda film and if anything it is the weight of expectations that is TJ’s undoing.

Make no mistake, Ray junior does a lot: he takes Feluda to a foreign shore for the first time on screen and serves up a visually rich thriller with a gripping first half. But at the end of two hours it fails to leave a lasting impression.

Tintorettor Jishu begins with Feluda travelling to Baikunthapur to solve the mystery of a Jesus Christ painting by the Renaissance painter Tintoretto that belongs to the Niyogi family. At the Niyogi palace Feluda begins the probe puffing on his Charminar and using his Magajastra. Rudrashekar’s (Shilajit) dark glasses and Robin Chowdhury’s (Tota) diet provide just the clues the super sleuth needs. That the two are after the painting is clear from the beginning. Feluda also picks up the trail of Hiralal Somani (Biswajit Chakraborty), a Marwari who speaks Bangla with a smattering of Hindi and sips beer in social clubs.

But before Feluda can crack the mystery of who is after the painting and why, there’s a murder in the Niyogi family, a fake Jesus Christ painting with flies stuck on it replaces the original, Rudrashekar goes missing, Somani heads for Hong Kong and so do Feluda, Topse and Jatayu.

The first half is a real good watch with the palace, the long Jhargram roads and forest backdrop, the two (Tota and Shilajit) mysterious characters, Feluda fighting a goon in the dark and keeping a watch on his suspects at night by torchlight. Add to that Barun Raha and Sashanko Palit’s cinematography and you have all that you want from a Feluda film.

It’s the second half that becomes a tad too predictable and quite a bit less gripping. With Rudrashekar’s mystery solved, the suspense diminishes. And the entire finale of Feluda being targeted by Somani’s goons, the trussed-up trio landing up in a junk (Hong Kong boat), and the eventual escape with the help of Robin Chowdhury fall short of being edge-of-the-seat stuff.

Now to the players. Starting with Feluda of course. Sabyasachi is still a delight to watch. He is measured, restrained and poker-faced witty like he was in the last two films. [Statutory warning for Felu fans: ignore the dyed hair and the beginning of a belly]. Bibhu’s Jatayu is still over the top but his antics do draw a few laughs. Parambrata as Topse manages to look young and earnest.

Biswajit’s Somani is a weak link. He is not half as shrewd and spine-chilling as Kailase Kelenkari’s Chattaraj (Dipankar De). But Tota is a revelation. This macho man wasted in Tollywood potboilers makes quite an impression in a dual role (actor and fight choreographer for Feluda).

Finally, our main point of unease about the way Sandip Ray’s Feluda series is evolving — the trio looks a little out of place in today’s world. The biggest challenge for the son one realises is to make his father’s mastermind and his merry men contemporary. But it’s time he took a bold leap rather than a tentative step in crossing the great divide between yesterday and today. The trio seems stuck in the Seventies while the world around them has entered a new millennium.

It’s a brave new world out there, Babuda (Sandip Ray) and the time has come for Feluda to step into it with conviction.

Sandip Ray is engrossed in a discussion with his Topse (Parambrata) minutes before the premiere of Tintorettor Jishu at Priya on Thursday evening. “I am slightly nervous. It always happens with me before the release of my films. I hope Tintorettor Jishu does well,” smiled the maker.

 

Feluda’s ally Jatayu kept the team’s spirits high with a smiling face. “Our chemistry is much better this time and the audience will enjoy watching us,” claimed Bibhu Bhattacharya

 

 

 

 

Clad in a black polka-dot shirt and black trousers, Sabyasachi looked very different from his screen persona. And unlike Feluda, he was a little jittery too. “I am nervous because I have fought with my wife (Mithu) this morning! But I am also keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that Tintorettor Jishu, my 13th Feluda film proves lucky!” said Feluda.

 

 

 

Tota Roy Chowdhury was the only one who looked really relaxed before entering the theatre. “I am actually enjoying the tense atmosphere around me,” he quipped.

 

Pictures by Aranya Sen