Yellow cigarette packet. A woolen sheet over a Punjabi. Long, slender face, intelligence in his eyes and mouth, a glimmer of knowledge. Yes, Bengali emotion, Bengali pride, above all. We are talking about Bengali's 'intellect icon,' Pradosh Chandra Mitra, alias Feluda, the private detective, who, with his nephew Topas, merges with Bengali emotion. Satyajit Ray created Feluda in such a way that it evokes the style of every Bengali again and again. His movements, speech, smoking style, and practicing the art of magic—everything seems to be something that the middle-class Bengali always wants to imitate. However, Joy Baba Feluda Nath's Maganlal Meghraj, i.e., the legendary actor and playwright Utpal Dutt, did not like this detective at all. Although he was captured by Feluda on screen, in reality, he was a harsh critic of Feluda. Behind the scenes, however, the actor made a strong statement.

Why did Utpal Dutt once criticize Satyajit Ray's Feluda?

Let us explain the matter in detail. Utpal Dutt's entire life revolved around the theater. Even though he acted on the silver screen, Utpal's passion was the theater stage. For him, theater was not just a means of entertainment, it was a tool for changing the world. Where the class struggle emerged. Utpal Dutta also judged Satyajit's Feluda character by the criteria of this class struggle. According to Utpal, the kind of life of a middle-class Bengali cannot produce such a flawless detective. To him, Feluda is actually a form of a Western detective in the guise of a Bengali. In Utpal Dutta's words, detective characters like Sherlock Holmes are created in the bourgeois empire, where detective work is a luxury profession. That is why mysteries can be solved with a long coat and a pipe in the mouth. Because Holmes' grandfather was a high-ranking employee of a British company. His clients were that wealthy.

According to Utpal Dutt, the time when the character of Feluda emerged was when middle-class youths were desperately looking for jobs. They spent their whole day worrying about their livelihood. Being a spy was just a big-time hobby then. Also, how did Feluda's family run? Not all his clients were like Kailash Chowdhury or Dinanath Lahiri! At that time, Kolkata was full of people dressed in shabby clothes like Sudhir Dhar, the father of Mukul Dhar of the Golden Fort! This is exactly where Utpal Dutt had objections with Satyajit's character of Feluda. To him, Feluda the detective was a creature in a state of chaos.

Along with criticizing Feluda, Utpal Dutt also clarified another reason for Satyajit's creation of Feluda. According to Utpal Dutt, through Feluda, Satyajit wanted to break out of the monotony of middle-class Bengali life, which is why, for Utpal Dutt, Feluda was not a private detective, but rather the hero of a mystery thriller