A touch of Satyajit Ray in New Town’s park

Kolkata: A slice of Satyajit Ray’s film “Sonar Kella” came to life at New Town. State municipal affairs and urban development minister Firhad Hakim inaugurated the Sonar Kella Park that is based on the theme of Ray’s work at BA Block in New Town on Saturday.

The minister had mooted the idea of developing the locality surrounding the park in the theme of Sonar Kella to officials of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) - that has developed the park. “We will hold NKDA board meeting shortly and will chalk out a plan of developing this area on the Sonar Kella theme and accordingly communicate it to the residents of the locality,” NKDA chairman Debashis Sen said.

An NKDA engineer appointed out that locals' consent was necessary since the colour of their buildings needed to be changed for developing the area on the theme. “Gen Y relates more to Chota Bheem and Harry Potter. Our efforts are to help them identify with Feluda ,” Mr Sen said.

The two gates leading to the park highlight feats of Ray’s sleuth Feluda, and his allies Jatayu and Topshe. At the centre are models of three camels with Feluda, Jatayu and Topshe on them.

In the film by Ray, there was a sequence where the three are able catch a train after chasing it on camels. Replicas of several articles like Feluda’s green diary, pistol etc. (as one can find in the novels are on display).