''Joi Baba Felunath'' () is a 1979 Indian

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

-language mystery film directed and written by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of ...

. Featuring an ensemble cast of

Soumitra Chatterjee Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; 16 June 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of I ...

Santosh Dutta Santosh Dutta ( Bengali: সন্তোষ দত্ত; 2 December 1925 – 5 March 1988) was a Bengali actor, best known for playing the character of Jatayu in Satyajit Ray's Feluda movie series ''Sonar Kella'' and '' Joi Baba Felunath''. Ea ...

Siddartha Chatterjee Siddhartha Chatterjee is a Bengali actor, although he has not appeared in many films. He is best known for playing the role of Topshe in Satyajit Ray's films. He went on to become a qualified chartered accountant and currently is one of the foundi ...

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Th ...

amongst others, it is an adaption of the eponymous

Feluda Feluda, or Prodosh Chandra Mitra itter'', is a fictional detective, Private investigator created by famous Indian director and writer Satyajit Ray. Feluda resides at 21 Rajani Sen Road, Ballygunge, Calcutta, West Bengal. Feluda first made his ap ...

novel and serves as the sequel of ''

Sonar Kella ''Sonar Kella'' ( bn, সোনার কেল্লা), also ''Shonar Kella'', is a 1971 mystery novel written by by Bengali writer and filmmaker Satyajit Ray. In 1974, Ray directed a film adaption of the book, also named ''Sonar Kella'', ...

''. Shortly after the demise of actor Santosh Dutta who portrayed Jatayu's role, Ray remarked that it was impossible to ever make a Feluda film again without Dutta.

Plot

Pradosh C. Mitter (a.k.a.

), his cousin Tapesh (a.k.a. Topshe) and the thriller writer

Lalmohan Ganguly Lalmohan Ganguly, alias Jatayu () (also spelled Jotayu), is a fictional character in the Feluda stories written by Satyajit Ray. He writes pulp crime thrillers, but is quite weak and nervous in real life. He is fairly wealthy due to the immense ...

(a.k.a. Jatayu) go to

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

during the

Durga Puja Durga Puja ( bn, দুর্গা পূজা), also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsava, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated ...

for vacation. There they meet a Bengali family, the Ghosals. Upon hearing that Feluda is a private investigator, the Ghosal family patriarch entrusts him with the task of finding out the thief of the attempted theft that took place in their house. Meanwhile, the arrival of a saint by the name of 'Machhli Baba' in Varanasi rouses the excitement of the local people. A very valuable property of the Ghosals, a golden

Ganesh Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...

statue, about three inches in height, was the target of the thief. On the other hand, Maganlal Meghraj, a wealthy Marwari businessman, had his eyes on the Ganesh for a very long time. He learns about Feluda's involvement in this case. He invites the trio to his house and tries to bribe Feluda with Rs.2,000 in order to stop the investigation. Feluda refuses to do so, which angers Maganlal, and he sets up a

knife throwing Knife throwing is an art, sport, combat skill, or variously an entertainment technique, involving an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapons thrown, and a target. In some stage performances, the knife thrower ties an assista ...

show, using Jatayu as bait (much to the viewer's amusement). After the incidents in Maganlal's house, Feluda takes a vow - either he'll avenge Jatayu's harassment, or he'll quit his job of being a detective. Although warned by Maganlal, Feluda didn't lose interest in the case, and deduces that Machhli Baba is actually a

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

working for Maganlal. A member of the Ghosal family, Bikash Singha, was also bribed by Maganlal to steal the Ganesh and hand it over to him. Feluda gets hold of Bikash and makes him confess his involvement in the theft. But Bikash states that when he went to steal the Ganesh, it was not there. Several questions arise in Feluda's mind. Where is the Ganesh, then? Why was the innocent idol-maker of the Ghosals, Shashibhushan Pal, murdered brutally? What plan did the Ghosal family head hatch upon with his grandson to save the Ganesh? Finally, everything is revealed: Umanath Ghoshal's son, Rukminikumar (a.k.a. Ruku) got to know that Maganlal was planning to steal the Ganesh statue, so he hid the Ganesh statue in the idol of Maa Durga's Lion. Shashibabu, while painting the lion got the statue and handed it to Bikash—without knowing his involvement with Maganlal—before going home because of his sudden illness. Afraid that Shashibabu would reveal everything and would unintentionally ruin his plan, Maganlal sends a henchman with Bikash to liquidate Shashibabu. The henchman with the help of Bikash, tracks down Shashibabu, murders him brutally by stabbing him and disposes off the knife in the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. Subsequently, after an intricately planned

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role ...

, Maganlal and Machhli Baba are arrested by the Varanasi police. The story ends with Lalmohan Babu realising that Ruku's plan of hiding the statue inside Maa Durga's Lion idol actually came from one of his own thriller novels and Feluda praising him for creating such an idea.

Cast

, the Bengali detective from

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

as Maganlal Meghraj, a Marwari businessman and the main antagonist of the film *

a.k.a. Jatayu. *

as Tapesh a.k.a. Topshe, Feluda's cousin and assistant * Jit Bose as Rukminikumar a.k.a. Ruku *

Haradhan Bandopadhyay Haradhan Bandopadhyay (6 November 1926 – 5 January 2013) was a Bengali Indian male actor of television and films. He made his debut in the 1948 Bengali film ''Devdut'', directed by Atanu Bandopadhyay. He worked with some of the most prominent ...

as Umanath Ghosal, Ruku's father *

Biplab Chatterjee Biplab Chatterjee is an Indian actor and director of television and films. Career Biplab started his film career with Satyajit Ray in his film ''Pratidwandi''. He is popular for his antagonistic character in Bengali films. Apart from his career ...

as Bikash Singha *

Kamu Mukherjee Kamu Mukherjee (14 June 1931 – 6 December 2003) was a Bengali actor, best known for his role as Mandar Bose in '' Sonar Kella'' and Harun in Sandip Ray's first film '' Phatik Chand''. Career Mukherjee's first film appearance was in the 1959 fi ...

as Arjun, the knife-thrower in Maganlal's house (cameo) * Monu Mukherjee as Machhli Baba (cameo) * Panineeta Bandhyopadhyay * Subhadra Devi * Satya Banerjee (P.L.T.) as Niranjan Chakrabarty, the hotel manager * Indubhushan Gujral as Inspector Tiwari * Moloy Roy as Biswasree Gunomoy Bagchi, a

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

* Santosh Sinha as Shashibhushan Pal a.k.a. Shashibabu, the idol maker * Bimal Chatterjee as Ambika Ghosal, the Ghoshal family patriarch

References

External links

Joi Baba Felunath (SatyajitRay.org)
* * {{Satyajit Ray 1979 films Films directed by Satyajit Ray Bengali-language Indian films Indian detective films Films set in Uttar Pradesh Films with screenplays by Satyajit Ray Best Children's Film National Film Award winners 1970s Bengali-language films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links