Jungle book and jatayu

The cast of ‘Royal Bengal Rahasya’ got candid with CT on the film, their dream characters and, of course, Bibhu Bhattacharya
BHASWAR CHATTERJEE Sandip Ray, the captain of the ship, is the Royal Bengal Rahasya. Royal because this film is based on his father’s work, Bengal because it is a Bengali film and Rahasya because only he knows what happens in the end! This is my first film with Babuda and he is an awesome director to work with.But that apart, what makes the film memorable is the fact that all through the film I got to wear a watch that was Satyajit Ray’s. I have told Babuda, ‘Ota kauke deben na. Ota ami I nebo’.
SABYASACHI CHAKRABARTY I’m a huge Feluda fan and an ardent follower of the series. There is a write-up on Feluda and his mannerisms by Debasish Mukhopadhyay — you can call it a thesis on Feluda — I have that by-heart! However, my son, Gaurav, is more into Feluda than I am. He knows every plot, situation and dialogue of all Feluda stories. I have read every Feluda book three-four times over and the ones I have acted in, well, I have lost count the number of times I’ve flipped through the pages.
BASUDEB MUKHERJEE I still cannot get over the memories of the the way Lolita (Sandip Ray’s wife) treated us — with warmth and tremendous care. I remember having an intense backache. Lolita made sure that the hot-water bag reached me on time. This kind of hospitality and that too while on an outdoor shoot, is rare. I was touched by her affection.
BIPLAB CHATTERJEE When he first took up the role of Jatayu, Bibhu was very sad and was doubtful if he could live upto peoples’ expectations. As far as memories are concerned, I still remember when India won the World Cup, Bibhu came running down the stairs in excitement. He was taken ill after that and we were very scared. But thankfully, he had recovered.
DEBESH ROY CHOWDHURY Thanks to Sabyasachi — who can be easily called the King of the Jungle, since he knows every nook and corner of almost every forest instinctively — we could enter certain restricted area of the forests where we were shooting. Remembering the time we spent at the watch towers at night still sends a chill down my spine. Thus, every memory associated with ‘RBR’ is special.
PARAN BANDOPADHYAY I was Bibhu’s roommate. To be honest, I’ve never met a caring and generous man like Bibhu. I last saw him during the shoot, as my co-actor and roommate. I refuse to believe that he’s passed away. To me, Bibhu still lives. He was extremely passionate about eating and those memories still haunt me. Bibhu, you are immortal.
SHAHEB BHATTACHERJEE My favourite character from the Feluda series is Maganlal Meghraj. I believe that he’s the ultimate villain. He made sure that even Feluda’s magojastro failed to show spark. The best sequence from a Feluda film for me would definitely be the knife-throwing sequence from ‘Joy Baba Felunath’. And, of course, Topshe is an all-time favourite too. I don’t want to sound overconfident but I believe that no one else could have played Topshe like me! However, to play Topshe itself requires a great deal of hard work. That, coupled with support from seniors like Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Sandip Ray and the production house, Shree Venkatesh Films, made sure that I could play a very convincing Topshe.
Compiled by Ruman Ganguly, Roshni Mukherjee & Deblina Chakravorty