The Best of Satyajit Ray 2 by Satyajit Ray

Author:Satyajit Ray [Ray, Sandip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789354928826
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Published: 2022-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

Murder in the Mountains

ONE

‘Good news?’ Feluda asked Lalmohan Babu the minute he came I into the room. I didn’t notice anything special, but Feluda went on, ‘I knew from the way you rang the bell twice that you were eager to share some important news with us, though I couldn’t tell whether the news was good or bad. Now it’s obvious it’s good news.’

‘How did you guess?’ Lalmohan Babu asked. ‘I didn’t even smile.’

‘No, but there were a few things that gave you away. Number one, your appearance. You have taken extra care today. That yellow kurta you’re wearing is new, you used a new blade to shave and the whole room is already reeking with your aftershave. Besides, you don’t usually come here before nine. It is now seventeen minutes to nine o’clock.’

Lalmohan Babu laughed. ‘Yes, you’re absolutely right. I couldn’t rest in peace until I came and told you what had happened. Do you remember Pulak Ghoshal?’

‘The film director? The one who made a Hindi film based on your story, The Buccaneer of Bombay?’

‘It wasn’t just a film, Felu Babu, but a super-hit film. He had told me he wanted to make another film from one of my stories. We” he’s going to do it now.’

‘Which story is this?’

‘The one with all the action in Karakoram. But Karakoram has been dropped. The action’s now in Darjeeling.’

‘Darjeeling? How could Darjeeling ever compare with Karakoram?’

‘I know, I know. But something’s better than nothing, isn’t it? Apart from that, they’re going to pay me a lot more than last time. Forty thousand, no less.’

‘What! It takes me two years to earn that much!’

‘Well, their total budget is 5.6 million rupees. Forty thousand for the writer is nothing. Do you know how much their top stars get paid?’

‘Yes, I have some idea.’

‘Then why are you surprised? Rajen Raina will play the hero in this film. He will get more than a million. And the villain’s role has gone to Mahadev Verma. His rates are even higher. He’s done only five films so far, but all five have had silver jubilees.’

‘Really? Well then, if Pulak Ghoshal is a pal of yours, how come he hasn’t invited you up to Darjeeling?’

‘But he has! That’s what I came to tell you. He’s asked not just me, but all three of us. I did say to him there was no need for a formal invitation, we’d go on our own. What do you say, Felu Babu?’

I couldn’t remember when we were last in Darjeeling. All I could remember was that it was there that Feluda began his career as an investigator. I was only a young boy then, and he had to tick me off pretty frequently for my naivete and ignorance. Now he had started to introduce me as his assistant. If he had done that before, people would simply have laughed at him. Over the last few years, I had thought many times of going back to Darjeeling for a holiday, but Feluda had become so busy that there never seemed to be any time.

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