Satyajit Ray’s short story to be made into a Hindi film

Only Ray has turned his stories into films. When I approached his son, film-maker Sandip Ray for permission, he granted it willingly

–Ananth Mahadevan, director

Ananth Mahadevan has selected Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro, a short story written by the late legendary Bangla film-maker Satyajit Ray to make into a feature film.

When contacted the actor-director confirmed the news and added that Golpo .. is one of the original stories penned by Ray and it is also the first story to be made into a film by an outside film-maker. "Only Ray himself has turned his stories into films. Nobody else has attempted to make a film out of his stories. Hence I approached his son Bangla film-maker Sandip Ray for the permission which he willingly granted," says Mahadevan who is presently working on the screenplay of the film titled The Storyteller.

The director is in the process of casting Amitabh Bachchan to play the lead role. "I have written him an email and am waiting for a nod from him," says Mahadevan who also has Paresh Rawal on his wish list to play the role of the other man. Talking about the story, he says, "Ray has written a fable, about human characters in the most beautiful yet subtle way. It is a very engaging look at the two characters that the story focuses on." It follows the sojourn of a man who, after retirement, wants to keep himself busy and is invited to be a storyteller for a rich businessman. Mahadevan, who wants to start shooting in March next year, is also finalising the other cast and crew. Even after repeated attempts, Sandip Ray, however, remained unavailable for comment

Presently he is completing the work on his third biopic, Gour Hari Dastan after Mee Sindhutai Sakpal that bagged four National Awards and Staying Alive, which was based on late screenwriter Sujit Sen's life. While the shooting for Gour Hari Dastan is complete, Resul Pookutty is working on its sound design and the maestro L Subramaniam on the music score. Before its theatrical release, Mahadevan wants to screen the film at the Cannes film festival next year.

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