A Goopy-Bagha movie in the offing?

There’s no Robot yet in Bengal and Satyajit Ray never made The Alien. But does that mean we can’t do our sci-fi?

Prof Shonku

is packing his bags to travel from Giridih to Tollywood with boxes full of Miracurall — that miracle cure for all ailments, including those that show up at the box office almost every other Friday. But there’s more in the pipeline.

Mainak Bhowmick

’s Happy Pill is close to the finishing line despite a legal notice from the producer and Soukarya Ghosal is ready with Rainbow Jelly, minus any such controversy. Now, I hear, meetings are taking place at a south Kolkata theatre to bring back that most celebrated screen pair of Satyajit Ray’s fantasymusical — Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. Speculation is rife that

Anindya Chattopadhyay

, making his third film, is in talks with Arijit Dutta, exhibitor and distributor, for a movie on the famous story by Upendrakishore Raychaudhuri. Incidentally, Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne was produced by Nepal Dutta, grandfather of Arijit and proprietor of Purnima Pictures. The next two instalments of the franchise —

Hirak Rajar Deshe

and Goopy Bagha Phire Elo — were funded by the Bengal government. In fact, Goopy Bagha Phire Elo was directed by Sandip Ray, while the screenplay was by his father. After the third film, Sandip Ray was inundated with offers to make a fourth, but he turned those down, saying, “A Goopy-Bagha movie without Tapen and Rabi is unthinkable. The only way I can do a fourth is by taking the story forward and introducing Goopy and Bagha’s sons.”

Now, I don’t know what’s on Anindya’s mind, but he is taking the project as seriously as music. A musical might be up his street, but making a film with a Ray connect is always a tricky proposition in Bengal that prides in its past.