Director Sagnik Chatterjee on National Film Award for Best Debut Non-Feature Film of a Director for Feluda: 50 Years of Ray’s Detective: It feels really good to have reached out to people beyond Bengal with unknown facets of Ray

When it’s about genius filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Bengal finds a special connect with everything that the master has created. For director Sagnik Chatterjee, this sparked an idea that prompted him to make

Feluda

: 50 Years of Ray’s Detective. Despite some trying times during the making, it later won him much appreciation, including the National Film Award for Best Debut Non-Feature Film of a Director on Friday.
“If I have to dedicate this award to anyone then it’s definitely going to be the Feluda fans and my team of technicians who were with me through all the tough times. This would also not have been possible had Babuda (Sandip Ray) and his wife not come forward with all their support. It feels good to have reached out to people outside Bengal, who did not know much about the undisclosed side of Satyajit Ray — that he was also a painter and a writer. World over, he is recognised only as a genius filmmaker,” he said when we broke the news to him.
Since then, Sagnik’s phone has been flooded with congratulatory messages. Friends, family, relatives and colleagues have been trying to get in touch with him to share their happiness. Between all this, the ecstatic director also took time out to recall the difficulties he faced to make his film see the light of day. “I’ve got innumerable calls since the announcement. I was not even aware that the

National Film Awards

would be declared on Friday. Thanks to CT for the first call and also for the support they showed to the film all along. I received calls from Atanuda (Atanu Ghosh), my film editor, Sujoy Dutta Roy, and my sound designer, Nihar Samal of Piku, PK and Bajirao Mastani fame. Those who didn't get through to me left WhatsApp messages,” said Sagnik.
On Saturday, many from the industry called to congratulate him. This time, the phone calls were longer since the joyous feeling was finally beginning to sink in. “I received calls from Joy Sarkar, Srikanto Acharya, Lopamudra Mitra and Ritwick Chakraborty. They were all elated to hear about my achievement,” he said.
When asked if knowing the result and speaking to all his well-wishers were reassuring after all the sleepless nights of hard work and anxiety, Sagnik said, “I have a strict daily schedule because I go for early-morning swimming classes. But Friday was different. I slept late after attending to all the calls but still didn’t skip my swim on Saturday.”
It’s this discipline that has aided him in his professional life too. But this appreciation has not come in without a lot of struggle that the director and his team faced during the film’s making. But Sagnik is happy to have paid heed to his “inner call”. “I wanted to make the film and ensure that it gets released in theatres. I was able to convey this to my technicians and they resonated with the thought. I was working in the pre-production stage of a feature film when this idea struck me. After years of planning that began in 2008-09, the actual work started in 2014. When 50% of the work was done, my producer left the project. I had to complete it with all my savings,” he shared.
So, after all the toil, he and his team are surely up for some grand celebrations. “I definitely want all my technicians to join me in the celebrations. They were my constant support,” Sagnik signed off.