Sonar Kella

Sonar Kella
Sonar Kella
	File:Dvd sonar kella ray.jpg DVD cover art
Directed by	Satyajit Ray
Produced by	Government of West Bengal
Written by	Satyajit Ray
Starring	Soumitra Chatterjee,; Santosh Dutta,; Siddartha Chatterjee,; Kushal Chakraborty
Music by	Feluda Theme by Satyajit Ray
Release date	27 December 1974
Country	India
Language	Bengali
Budget	Rs 7 lakhs
Box office	Rs 13 lakhs

Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress)
	File:Sonar Kella book front cover.jpg First edition
Author	Satyajit Ray
Cover artist	Satyajit Ray
Country	India
Language	Bengali
Genre	Detective fiction
Publisher	Ananda Publishers
Publication date	1971
Media type	Print
Preceded by	Gangtokey Gondogol
Followed by	Baksho Rahashya

Sonar Kella (Bengali: সোনার কেল্লা), also Shonar Kella is a 1971 mystery novel^[1] by Bengali writer and filmmaker Satyajit Ray.^[2] In 1974, Ray directed a film adaption of the book, also named Sonar Kella, starring Soumitra Chatterjee, Santosh Dutta, Siddartha Chatterjee and Kushal Chakraborty.^[2] The movie was released in the United States as The Golden Fortress. It is the first film adaptation of Ray's famous sleuth Feluda and was followed by Joi Baba Felunath.

Plot[edit]

The film begins with a school-boy Mukul Dhar (played by Kushal Chakraborty), who is said to be able to remember events of his previous life, and soon receives media attention. Dr. Hemanga Hajra (Sailen Mukherjee), a parapsychologist, offers his help, believing it might help him in his own research. Mukul always remains sombre and paints peacocks, forts and scenes of battle at midnight; he mentions that he lived in the Golden Fortress [Sonar Kella] and that their house had many gems. Dr. Hajra decides to take Mukul on a trip to Rajasthan, famous for forts, historical importance and desert landscape. Two seasoned fraudsters, Amiyanath Burman and Mandar Bose, plan to kidnap Mukul to capture the treasure. Their first attempt at the kidnapping fails when they pick up another boy, also named Mukul (Santanu Bagchi), from the same neighborhood. Alarmed by this, Mukul's father engages Feluda (Soumitra Chatterjee), a private investigator, to protect his son. Feluda leaves for Rajasthan along with Topshe or Tapesh (Siddartha Chatterjee), following Dr Hajra. On their way, they meet Lalmohan Ganguly, a.k.a. Jatayu (Santosh Dutta), a popular thriller-writer.

Meanwhile, Burman and Bose kidnap Mukul and push off Dr. Hajra off a cliff at the Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur. Burman impersonates as Dr. Hajra and Mandar Bose as a globe-trotter. Dr. Hajra survives the fall and begins to pursue them. Feluda arrives in Jodhpur Circuit House and meets Burman, thinking him to be Dr. Hajra. Feluda begins to suspect Mandar Bose based on his clothes and his accent. Feluda even suspects "Dr. Hajra's" conduct as he appears lackadaisical in his research. Mukul keeps saying he is followed by a "bad man". Burman hypnotizes Mukul, who says that the Golden Fortress is in Jaisalmer. Dr. Hajra reaches the same conclusion by learning about the history of the Fort of Jaisalmer from a police inspector. Feluda learns that the Jaisalmer fort is made of yellow limestone, giving it a golden glow. Mandar Bose tells Feluda that Burman has already left with Mukul for Barmer. Feluda suspects foul play but cannot be sure. By chance, his eye falls upon the card of Dr Hajra; an idea flashes in his mind and he rushes to check the register of the circuit house and finds that it is signed as 'Hazra' not 'Hajra'. He is now sure about the man masquerading as Dr Hajra, and leaves for Jaisalmer by car. Mandar Bose strands Feluda, Topshe, and Jatayu on the highway. Feluda takes a camel caravan to the nearest train station, from which he takes the next train to Jaisalmer. At night, In the train, Mandar Bose tries to stab Feluda, who anticipated the attack and almost nabbed him; eventually, Mandar Bose falls out of the train. The three reach Jaisalmer along with Dr. Hajra. They rush to the fort, where they find Burman and Mukul searching for the treasure. Feluda confronts and captures Burman, telling him that there never was any treasure. They find that Mukul is cured, and return to Kolkata.

Characters[edit]

Prodosh Chandra Mitter aka. Feluda
Tapesh Ranjan Mitter aka. Topshe
Lalmohan Ganguly aka. Jatayu
Sidhu Jyatha
Mukul Dhar
Mandar Bose
Amiyanath Burman
Dr. Hemanga Hajra
Dibbhojuthi Paul
Binay Mitra

Cast in the film[edit]

Soumitra Chatterjee as Feluda
Siddartha Chatterjee as Topshe
Santosh Dutta as Jatayu
Kushal Chakraborty as Mukul Dhar
Shailen Mukherjee as Dr. Hemanga Hajra
Ajoy Banerjee as Amiyanath Burman/Bhavananda/fake Dr Hemanga Hazra.
Kamu Mukherjee as Mandar Bose
Harindranath Chattopadhyay as Sidhu Jyatha
Bishnupada Rudrapaul as Dibbhojuthi Paul
Haradhan Banerjee as Binay Mitra
Santanu Bagchi as another boy named Mukul
Bimal Chatterjee as the grandfather of the another boy named Mukul
Ashok Mukherjee as the Journalist^[3]

Crew[edit]

Satyajit Ray - Director, Screenplay, Music Score (composer)
Soumendu Roy - Cinematography
Dulal Dutta - Editor
Mangesh Deshai - Sound Mixing Engineer (Re recording)
J.D Irani - Dubbing Sound Recordist
Anil Talukdar - Guide Track Sound recordist
Ashoke Bose - Production Designer
Debayan Roy - Production Basic

Awards[edit]

National Film Awards for Best Screenplay & Best Direction(1974)

Best Film, Direction and Screenplay, Government of West Bengal, 1974

Best Feature Film for Children and Young Adults, Tehran, 1975

National Film Award for Best Cinematography (1974)

National Film Award for Best Child Artist (1974)

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali (1974)

References[edit]

↑ Pinaki Roy (1 January 2008). The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Cultural Rereading of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories. Sarup & Sons. pp. 111–. ISBN 978-81-7625-849-4. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Andrew Robinson (17 March 1992). Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye. University of California Press. pp. 359–. ISBN 978-0-520-06946-6. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
↑ The Golden Fortress (1974) - IMDb, retrieved 23 September 2019

External links[edit]

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[Roy2008-1] Pinaki Roy (1 January 2008). The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Cultural Rereading of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories. Sarup & Sons. pp. 111–. ISBN 978-81-7625-849-4. Retrieved 19 October 2012.

[Robinson1992-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Andrew Robinson (17 March 1992). Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye. University of California Press. pp. 359–. ISBN 978-0-520-06946-6. Retrieved 19 October 2012.

[3] The Golden Fortress (1974) - IMDb, retrieved 23 September 2019

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