Sandip Ray’s Tintorettor Jishu is a competent and enjoyable adaption of the original novel by Satyajit Ray. The film opens in Sandip’s trademark style: A pet golden retriever is murdered before the opening scroll rolls in, and the event sets in motion a few others that finally bring Feluda to the sprawling palace-like residence of the Neyogis at Baikunthapur. Once there, he senses the mystery surrounding an original artwork by the famous Italian painter Tintoretto and resolves to crack it.
The original story was a whodunit, which is no longer considered suitable by thriller directors of our time. Sandip’s last two Feluda numbers—Bombaiyer Bombetey and Kailashe Kelenkari—had altered the original format to one where viewers got all clues that the sleuth perceived and hence, made them a part of the crime detection process.
The process was relatively easier in the last two; both had linear, one-dimensional plots with one prime suspect. But Tintorettor Jishu is a tad too complicated; central to the plot is a Tintoretto painting that's lying almost unnoticed in Chandrashekhar Neyogi’s studio, who left home for Italy years ago to pursue serious art education, and no one in the Neyogi clan looks updated on his whereabouts now. An English magazine publishes an article that estimates its market price, triggering intrigues to procure it.
The story hints at a couple of stakeholders to this set-up. There is one who kills the dog and claims to be the son of late Chandra Shekhar. Another introduces himself as a journalist. There is a broker, Hiralal Somani, who, when refused by the Neyogis on his offer to buy the painting, tries to slip it out. And there is a rich art collector in Hong Kong, ready with a chequebook. All of them have their quotas of mystery that contribute to the main plot, throwing a tough challenge to the scriptwriter intending to change the story-format-- whether or not to disclose their real identities in the beginning!
The screenplay of Tintorettor Jishu clearly shows the director walking tightrope between the two options. And the result is an open format thriller that holds secrets about two important characters—Rudrashekhar Neyogi and Rabin Chowdhury. The story unfolds only too well, with a nice distribution of screen-time among the cast, and picks up a pace that takes you halfway through the movie without almost letting you know about it. But it suffers a jolt way before the climax in Hong Kong as the identities of the two are disclosed—for they create subplots that smoothly carry the story this far, and take away a part of audience’s attention from the main storyline as well.
The screenplay is aptly supported by a camera work (Barun Raha, Shashanko Palit) no less than international standards. The night sequences, at both Baikunthapur and Hong Kong, will leave you searching for parallels. Editing (Subroto Ray) is smooth, especially in the first half. Action is realistic and controlled. For the first time, Sandip’s Feluda has tasted musical liberty, with plenty of textural and tonal variations on the original Feluda theme.
Despite age, Sabyasachi Chakrobarty as the detective looks fit to continue for two more exploits. He dissolves the sleuth in himself quite effectively. Parambrata, as Topse, doesn’t have much to do. Bibhu Bhattacharya tried his bit to be Jatayu, but still requires a lot of refinement. Bhaskar Banerjee’s Nabakumar Neyogi is not credible enough; you wouldn’t expect a rich and suave young businessman with a taste for vintage cars to pronounce flim or Podosh Mitro. But there are two to specially watch out for. Biswajit Chakrobarty’s Hiralal Somani is surprisingly intense. It wouldn’t be unfair to expect a Maganlal Meghraj of him in future. And Tota Roychoudhury’s portrayal of Rabin Chudhury only shows how eagerly this talented and handsome actor has been waiting for a good role and a sensible director.
Overall, Tintorettor Jishu is a major improvement over Sandip’s last project—it's smarter, crisper and brisker. Bollywood unleashed a mighty Shah Rukh Khan starrer on Friday. But Bengal’s good old sleuth looks all set to take him on.
