Satyajit Ray, if you were to believe a significant number of serious film watchers, made Pather Panchali, completed the Apu trilogy, added Charulata and Jalsaghar along the way to finish with five films worth talking about; his other films are just too embarrassing to be discussed, when there is "so much Bergman and Antonioni around". After watching The Middleman I was certain that there was more to Ray than you'd be allowed to believe. I have great respect for any film made about half a century ago which can still impress fresh viewers and Middleman was one such. More than anything, that film made it easier to have a look at other, more diverse works of the director. One such I got hold of was Sonar Kella (Golden Fortress). A boy's memory drifts into his past life and he inadvertently becomes target for a smart set of thieves. Only the legendary Feluda can save him. Ray used many elements that he commonly wrote about in his short stories: magic, detectives, parapsychology. The film is far from perfect, with the basic premise of the boy's past life seeming like an excuse for some indulgence. But it's the whole search angle which has a distinct stamp of authority. Feluda is like the other famous Bengali detective, Byomkesh Bakshi, cool, intelligent and enterprising. Unlike him, he smiles a lot less and doesn't indulge the novelist in the film the way Byomkesh would have. Why you end up liking the detective is because he is not just a detective from Bengal. He has a strong knowledge of the rest of India, it's history and geography, which is how he's aware of the deserts of Rajasthan. He solves problems in an intelligent way as if it were a mathematical problem. The joy of arriving at a solution is just the same. Ray's strength was his brilliant craftsmanship. He made films, drew storyboards, scored music and most importantly, wrote stories. Proper stories, not autobiographical reminiscences. He also had remarkable interest in varied fields just like a quiz buff would have. It means that if anyone is open to this vast source of knowledge, some of his lesser-known films become joyous experiences.
Review of Sonar Kella
