There’ll never be another Feluda for me: Sreenanda on Soumitra Chatterjee

Sreenanda Shankar, who got to work with Soumitra Chatterjee in Suman Ghosh’s

Basu Paribaar

, feels that it will be an experience she will cherish forever. “I have never been someone who has grown up watching a lot of Bengali movies, but I always knew who

Feluda

was. Sonar Kella has always been one of my

favourite films

and I can’t count how many times I have watched it, only because of Soumitra Chatterjee. My meetings with him happened in different stages of my life. I remember Soumitra jethu coming for a dinner at my house with Rabi Ghosh and Shatrughan Sinha. He also did the film

Hemanter Pakhi

with ma (

Tanushree Shankar

),” recalled Sreenanda, adding, “I consider myself lucky that even I got to work with him in Basu Paribaar, where he played my father-in-law. It was unbelievable to me. We spent 11 days on location for this shoot. He was the warmest and down to earth superstar I have ever come across. He made me feel really comfortable because I was nervous before my first shot with him. He distracted me with small talks, reminding me of the dinner he attended to our place. After the shooting was over, Soumitra jethu made a call to my mother mentioning that I worked very well and had a bright future. He really didn’t need to do that, but the fact that he did, bowled me over. There will never be another Feluda for me. There will never be another classy legend like Soumitra Chatterjee. He will be missed. Yet he will always be with us.”