I was reading some of the old Sherlock Holmes stories after a long time. As you may know Irene Adler from Scandal in Bohemia was the woman in Sherlock’s life.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Who was the woman in Feluda’s life? Did he never fall in love? Or was he completely obsessed with his profession?
One explanation is that even if he did have a girlfriend or fiancee, he hid it very well from Topshe. Or maybe Topshe was forbidden from writing about personal matters? In fact that there were cases that Feluda worked on that were too violent or racy for Topshe (as Satyajit Ray mentions in Noyon Rahasya).
This brings me to a second point. There are a lot of female fans of the sleuth in the real world but there are very few female characters in Feluda’s world. A very-well researched post in Calcutta Chromosome confirms and expands on the topic of female characters (or lack thereof) in Feluda’s world.
I highly recommend that you read the piece. This complements Lila Mazumdar’s spot-on observation on the dearth of major roles for any of the relatives of Feluda and Topshe in the series.
Until next time, keep reading.
Bingo! Hence my reticence/reservation with all things Ray, though a great fan of all things Ray too!!!
“All things Ray”???
Ray’s films defined the “strong woman” in Indian cinema. From Sarbajaya to Bimala to the characters in the self-explanatory ‘Teen Kanya’… The female characters in his films stood out starkly against their male counterparts, who were sometimes portrayed drastically differently than in mainstream films of that era.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Sreejata. It is a curious situation. On the one hand, he directed some very fine films such as Mahanagar and Charulata that had exceptionally strong female characters. On the other, there are the Feluda films such as Sonar Kella and Joi Baba Felunath that lack major female roles. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, the longest screen presence of female character in both films was that of the two folk singers.
No he didn’t fall in love with anyone.
Wow, thanks a lot for this link to Calcutta Chromosome. I’ve been a (female) fan of Feluda’s for years but it’s only recently that I started questionning the fact that there are no females in any of the plots. So i re-read Volume 2 of complete adventures of Feluda and could find just a couple.
But this doesn’t really answer the question why?
Not that it matters!
But your blogspot on Feluda is just great!
Thanks, Manorama. Have a nice day.
THE ABSENCE OF WOMEN FROM THE FELUDA SERIES DOESN`T REALLY HAMPER THE POPULARITY OF THE SERIES.IT REMAINS THE SAME,EVENTHOUGH IT MAKES IT ALL THE MORE UNIQUE AND SPECIAL.
The absence of women from the feluda series does’nt hamper it’s popularity,becoz I think single Feluda shall be more than stronger than the couple.it may hamper the seriousnes of Feluda.’charulata’ ‘mahanagar’ these film’s are based on completely different themes.so may be Mr. Ray does’nt feel such of value of women in ‘Feluda’ Series.
There are many parlor detective books which mention that it is essential for the hero-detective to remain single (and single-minded towards the solution of the crime). I am just curious why there aren’t any women even apart from romantic interests.
I am a big big big big fan(female) of Felua.I think Feluda is the xerox copy of Mr. Sattyajit Ray.Feluda’s Knowlage about ancient and modern Indian Art,History,Geography(Kailashe kelenkari,Goresthane sabdhan) and also about Numerology(samaddarer chabi),science fiction,Parapsycology(Nayan Rahasya,sonar kella),ancient puran which indicate the depth of knowlage as well as Mr.Roy
hi anirbansir
May be the author think that it help them to concentrate on the mystrey.so they keep their heroes single.
Have a nice day sir.and i’m also a great fan of you.your reaserch on Feluda is just brilliant,mindblowing
Hi Anirbaan sir
WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A VERY VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE.
Cheers
Subhamita
Satyajit ray started writing feluda when the industry was full of romantic stuffs .he wanted to prove that a story line,if good, can be made famous even without the help of female presence or a romantic plot.and i guess he had done it successfully.
Woman or no woman, Feluda is Feluda. Feluda will always rock. No matter woman chacters exist or not- Books or films- Feluda forever for life.
May be he…err…was gay? Think about it. LOLOLOLOL.
Jokes aside, you have to remember that Feluda, unlike for example Byomkesh, was an archetypal, stereotypically larger-than-life character, much in the same way as Holmes or Poirot. And Feluda being someone prominently intended for Kids, resides in a perfect, convenient world of his own where the irritations or pettiness of everyday real life doesn’t come in. If you’ve noticed, there are no overly violent, sadistic crimes or “crimes of passion” incorporated anywhere in the Feluda series. Criminals always remain within the invisible, yet defined limits and are not too suave or savvy. I think the major reason Ray avoided the inclusion of any women characters is because he wanted to prevent the stories from becoming, even a bit, racy. Although I don’t personally agree to his view; he could’ve easily made some of the main characters/villains as women without having any sexual angle in the actual crime plot.
Satyajit Ray brought and introduced the character of Feluda first in an one-off short story by the name of “Feludar Goendagiri”. At that juncture he did not have any intention to make a series on this character. He took upon the pen mainly to increase the sell of his family magazine by the name of “Sandesh”. He used to write many stories for the magazine. Similarly he wrote Feludar Goendagiri in such an attempt. However, the story turned out to be an instant favourite among readers and requests on making a series on this character came pouring in to Ray. Ray naturally obliged and subsequently wrote 35 stories in all up until his death. But the readers of the Sandesh magazine were primarily kids and teenagers. Naturally the target audience of Feluda were kids and teenagers. Ray didn’t introduce women characters because he didn’t want to write on adult themes like crimes of passion, deep relationships etc. as Ray probably didn’t feel comfortable incorporating them on Feluda stories and bounded the stories on themes that are saleable to kids and teenagers and adults alike. Two stories had women characters though and had significant roles. But overall women characters were made to stay away from the series. Still the series never had any complaints and never fell short on popularity. The stories are like tortoise bite. Once you start reading them, you can’t not finish them even without women characters. It is really strange for stories to be this much popular without women characters. The series is very unique in this regard. May be, had Ray survived and lived for a few more years, he would have wrote more stories and just maybe, he would have expected his young audience to be more matured as he probably did in one of his last sories in “Dr. Munsir Diary” which had a husband wife complicated relationship angle. Similarly he might have introduced fresh women characters with more mature storylines. But this is all guesswork in hindsight. The fact of the matter is this, whatever Ray has written down remains a goldmine. It will always find its place and space in the hearts of bengali audience. I for one have found enormous joy and pleasure throughtout my childhood and even in my years of growing adulthood through this Feluda series. Long live Feluda.
I want in Bengali version
I Think A Detective will be like goole looking for criminal
Tridibesh Majumder+OM JAY SHIVA
B.B.K.S.V
D.U.A.B
I love u Feluda
Most of the feluda stories have location outside kolkata.. Feluda travels a looot… There is no chance to incoporate a woman there… lalmohon babu makeup the absence…
That’s the different between feluda series and Bomkesh series.
I am a feluda’s fan .l am a femel
.
I Think Ray Felt Introducing female characters in Felu da Stories, may bring along a hint of romanticism in the plot, hence it was better not to endure such complications . It was suppose to be written for children , and the complications on reference to mysteries was enough. He Created many plots revolving around women, so thr was no need to introduce female characters. Despite It would have been irritating for felu da or topshe to give all details about there whereabouts and plans to their female counterparts and allow them to screw the crime solution Up. Kothay jacho ?? kno jacho ?? kobe firbe?? er pore ki holo ?? tar pore ki hobe ?? ekhon kthy ?? ki khele ?? kokhn shobe ?? kokhn uthbe ?? Ee Gulo toh hotoi !!