Home
search
more | tips
IMDb > Sonar Kella (1974)

Sonar Kella (1974) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   255 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 34% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Satyajit Ray
Writer:
Satyajit Ray (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Golden Fortress on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
27 December 1974 (India) more
Genre:
Adventure | Family more
Awards:
2 wins more
User Comments:
Another example of Ray's versatility. more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Santanu Bagchi ... Mukul 2
Ajoy Banerjee ... Amiyanath Burman
Haradhan Bannerjee ... Tapesh's father
Kushal Chakravarti ... Mukul Dhar
Bimal Chatterjee ... Advocate
Rekha Chatterjee ... Tapesh's mother
Siddharta Chatterjee ... Tapesh (Topshe)
Soumitra Chatterjee ... Prodosh Mitra (Feluda)
Harindranath Chattopadhyay ... Uncle Sidhu
Santosh Dutta ... Lalmohan Ganguly (Jatayu)
Ashok Mukherjee ... Journalist
Kamu Mukherjee ... Mandar Bose
Shailen Mukherjee ... Dr. Hemanga Hajra
Shiuli Mukherjee ... Mukul's mother
Sunil Sarkar ... Mukul's father
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Golden Fortress (USA)
more
Runtime:
120 min | India:136 min
Country:
India
Language:
Bengali
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Sound Mix:
Mono

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The title means "The Golden Fortress", a reference to the fort at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India, which is built of a kind of sandstone that resembles gold. more
Movie Connections:
Followed by Tintorettor Jishu (2008) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful:-
Another example of Ray's versatility., 2 September 2005
8/10
Author: shanfloyd from India

First of all, I think I'll add a short introduction to Feluda stories. Among over two-hundred novels and stories Ray had written especially for teenagers, the detective stories of Feluda are by far the most popular. With calculated amounts of wit, suspense, action and humor, the stories are considered classics of modern Bengali literature. So it was not surprising that he would make one of them for the screen.

As a book, "Sonar Kella" is one of the all-time bestsellers. Now I have seen the film about ten times and what fascinated me is how Ray changed the whole structure of the book while making this film. The novel is a fantastic detection story with sharp plot twists. But Ray thought the concept of detection as a theme in this film will not make the viewers see it more than once. So he makes it more like a modern thriller -- he showed the crime and criminals at first and now the theme becomes how Feluda unfolds it. That's why crime and detection is not the only theme of this film. There is plenty of humor and excellent visionary of Rajasthan too. Ray primarily directed the film to his readers but also made sure it satisfies all kinds of audience.

Another point I want to make: if the viewer doesn't know Bengali and relies on subtitles, he/she misses a good percentage of its fun. That part lies on its extremely witty screenplay where often Ray literally played with the words. Among the actors, Soumitra Chatterjee is quite good as Feluda, at least he was the best for this part in that time. Santosh Dutta virtually created the character of Jatayu. It became his trademark role. And one must mention the flamboyant and passionate performance of Kamu Mukherjee as the villain Mandar Bose.

The film features all of Ray's trademark styles -- in artwork, in script, in the camera angles and original music. And it remains an all-time family classic in the history of Indian cinema.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Sonar Kella (1974)

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Joi Baba Felunath Coraline The Great Mouse Detective Nancy Drew Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
IMDb Adventure section IMDb India section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.