Actor-director Ananth Mahadevan will pay tribute
to Satyajit Ray by adapting a short story of the
master filmmaker and megastar Amitabh Bachchan is top on his wish list to play the lead role.
Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro follows the sojourn of a man who after retirement is looking to keep himself engaged and is invited to be a storyteller for a rich businessman. It is a piquant situation he finds himself in and Ray springs two magnificent surprises in the narrative, says Mahadevan who was approached with the story by writer friend Tapobrati Das Sammaddar.
“It set my adrenaline pumping. A tribute to Ray was a rare opportunity and after hearing the charming story he had penned, I wrote to (son) Sandip Ray for permissions,” he says. He was hoping that Sandip wouldn’t have any reservations. “After all, it’s better to keep the master’s story confined within the pages of a book rather than let it turn into a wrongly made film. But I guess my track record of 4 National awards for (biopic) ‘Mee Sindhutai Sapkal’ and my penchant for challenging subjects turned the tide in my favour,” Mahadevan told PTI. Sandip was “prompt and gracious in giving me the requisite permission” to film his father’s story.
Right now, Bachchan is top on Mahadevan’s wish list and he has written to him, detailing the project and is waiting to hear from the Big B. “I am waiting for Mr Bachchan to revert. He had voiced the commentary in Ray’s ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ and I am hoping that he would find this project inspiring enough to be involved with,” the filmmaker says. The film will be christened The Storyteller .
Mahadevan is working on the rest of the cast and crew. “Paresh Rawal was delighted with the story and evinced keen interest to be part of the film. I am in the process of locking in other names like Sreekar Prasad for edit, Resul Pookutty for sound design and the maestro L Subramaniam for the score. Tarini Khuro or Tarini uncle is a fictional character created by Ray and is central to about 15 stories written by master filmmaker. (PTI)