It’s become a ritual of sorts. Sandip Ray makes the film, I dig out the book and relive the magical mystery. Sometimes the film delights, sometimes it disappoints but the highpoint is always this chance to go back to Feluda. But it was different with Royal Bengal Rahasya. I re-read the book with a heavy heart, I came out of the hall with a sad smile.

While each one of us has a favourite Feluda (mine is Sonar Kella; “Aachhe, aachhe amader telepathy-r jor aachhe!!!” being just one of the reasons), RBR will figure in the top three for most.

So, when t2 told me in March that RBR was Sandip Ray’s next project, as Topshe would say, “mon ta neche uthlo”.

The release date was fixed as December 23 and a week before, I brought out my copy (35th edition, price Rs 14).

But with the turn of hardly a few pages, I found the going tough. I read on with growing alarm and disbelief as Satyajit Ray waxed eloquent about the hunting prowess of Mahitosh Singha Roy and his clan.

All I remembered from this tale of mystery and maneater was a simple yet mind-boggling riddle that led to a hidden treasure amid a formidable forest. But now I cringed as Topshe proudly proclaimed that his and Feluda’s family had a history of hunting too. And I almost shut the book in disgust at the staggering number of big cats that everyone seemed to have shot!

I know it is wrong to foist our present concerns of wildlife protection on a generation past. I know that the wildlife protection act came into effect only in 1972 and Ray wrote RBR around 1975, by when such sensibilities wouldn’t have percolated down to social custom. I know I am being unfair. But Satyajit Ray is my hero. He always has been, what with his chiselled features, sexy baritone and magic stories, whether on paper or celluloid.

Why couldn’t he have at least condemned the mindless killings even as he spun his treasure hunt-cum-whodunit around this gun-toting zamindar? I continued reading, hoping and praying for some redemption for my hero.

It came a few pages on, when Mahitosh Singha Roy acknowledged that it was he and his ilk who were responsible for stripping the forests of wild animals. But all was lost once I read about the fee Singha Roy offered Feluda for solving the riddle — a “prized” tiger skin!

So, as I walked into the theatre, I wasn’t really expecting much. But I perked up right from the opening credits. A disclaimer said no animals were hurt during the shoot, and the tiger was a computer simulation. Later, I realised I needn’t have fretted at all. While remaining faithful to the smallest detail in the story, Sandip Ray has left behind every shameful reference to animal cruelty, from Feluda killing snakes with his .32 Colt to the Royal Bengal Tiger being shot in the end. There’s no reference to the tiger skin fee either. I was so impressed.

There’s much to be impressed with in RBR the film. While the background score by Sandip Ray builds the suspense brilliantly, the sporadic use of silence works wonders. Paran Bandyopadhyay stands out as the mentally disturbed brother of Mahitosh. Sadly, character artistes in Bengali cinema remain unsung heroes.

But the biggest takeaway was the late Bibhu Bhattacharya and the reckless abandon with which he played Jatayu, sometimes even matching the comic timing of our original Jatayu, Santosh Dutta. As for Feluda, I just hope Sabyasachi Chakrabarty isn’t taking all this talk of him being too old to play our favourite sleuth too seriously. For he’s just awesome in RBR!

But even as I revelled in all the joys that RBR brought me, I was saddened by one thought — never again will we see this trio together.