The Golden Fortress (সোনার কেল্লা)

Listen, listen, are you listening?

Again, again...

Alas, what has happened to our child?

He's not sleeping and never smiles anymore.

Son, aren't you going to sleep tonight? Everyone is sleeping, won't you?

I'm drawing pictures.

Ok, but draw them in the morning, you'll catch cold at night.

I'm drawing a peacock.

I have seen a peacock before.

This is a camel. We used to have camels at our house.

This is my house. I am standing in front of my house.

This is a picture of a war. I have seen that war.

And this is the golden fort.

SONAR KELLA

Soumitra Chattopadhaya.

Sidhartha Chatterjee, Kushal Chackraborty, Shantanu Bagchi.

Shantosh Dutta.

Camera: Soumendu Roy.

Editor: Dulal Dutta.

Art Direction: Ashoke Bose.

Produced by West Bengal Government.

Story, Screenplay, Music & Direction: Satyajit Ray.

Alright, when did you first notice this problem?

Since the last two or three months.

Did you notice if this occurrence happens at a specific time?

His mind is always somewhere else.

I can't seem to send him to school, and his mind is never on his studies.

He's always thinking and drawing pictures of where he claims he was born.

Have you seen these specific forts, mountains, camels etc, of which he speaks?

I used to be there.

Do you remember when you were there?

And this war, bows, arrows and swords... did you see all this?

I saw it.

Did you fight in the war yourself?

I was a child then.

And, when you grew up?

I have not grown up.

What was your father? A King?

The King was someone else.

So... your Dad?

I used to have a ring on my finger.

A ring, like this?

I have seen stones.

Stones? What kind of stones?

Red, blue, yellow... all kinds of them.

Were they expensive stones? Did they shine and sparkle?

Yes, they did.

These are new things he's saying.

Where were these stones? At your house?

Yes.

Were you rich? Did you have a big house?

No, a small house.

Where were these stones kept? In a safe?

Or were they secretly underground?

I don't think he remembers everything.

Sometimes he remembers certain things and he says them.

Is he ok with Dr. Hajra taking him to Rajasthan?

Why don't you ask him?

Do you want to go with the Doctor to Rajasthan?

I want to see the golden fort.

Doctor Uncle will show it to me.

Say cheese.

Why?

Smile... if you smile the picture will be better.

I do not feel like smiling.

There is no doubt that all of the precious

stones that Mukul speaks of were secretly kept in his house.

Hello... Hello?!

Hold on Mister.

HELLO? HELLO?

This is Mr. Bose speaking.

What is this concerning?

Did you read the newspaper this morning?

Why?

You should read it.

What's in it?

On the last page, towards the end.

It's a good opportunity, if we can invest wisely, we'll get rich.

Tell me in detail.

You read it, and I'll call you after 10 minutes.

And listen, you should not shout like this, it's a public telephone.

It's been 20 minutes already.

Hold on Mister. You should not be impatient in this matter.

It's a golden opportunity.

Get out the picture... get it out.

Similar forehead... nose... hair.

Hey kid, turn your face towards us more...

Darn it!

Mukul, look at that kite... there it is!

Could you tell us where 7 Jatindas Lane is?

7? That's the Phatik Family's house.

Could you show us where it is?

We're from Beluchisthan, we're unfamiliar with Calcutta's streets.

Ok, Let's go.

Hello, does Prodosh Mitra live here?

Yes, do come in.

Please sit down.

He's here.

You have to wait another three and a half minutes.

What is this? Why are you in such a hurry? Go slow, otherwise you'll choke!

You see? He did not finish his milk.

He thinks that Phelu's clients are also his clients.

Does that make any sense? God knows what these two are up to now.

Our family is filled with adventurous people.

I've never seen you be adventurous.

I'm the black sheep of the family... but think

of my two elder brothers.

The middle one could take out baby foxes from their holes

with his bare hand... when he was only 10.

It is not a surprise that his son, is Phelu.

But I'm worried about his schooling and education.

Is there a teacher like Phelu at that school, though?

Greetings, you are...?

Yes, please be seated.

My name is Sudeep Dhar.

I own a bookstore on College Street.

Kailash Chowdhury is a frequent buyer and had good things to say about you.

He referred me your name.

On what matter?

The matter being... have you seen this article?

Yes, I noticed... Is Mukul your...?

Yes, he's my youngest son.

He's very famous now. Is all of what he's saying true?

Can he really remember his past life?

We don't understand it very much, but Dr. Hajra says...

This Dr. Hajra... you mean, Dr. H. Hajra the parapsychologist

who just came back from Canada?

We met at the store.

He has talked about going to Rajasthan?

Oh yes, they already left.

Left already?

They left yesterday morning by train, staying over one day in Delhi.

Do you think they went to Jodhpur?

Yes, exactly!

Yes, Jodhpur is a possibility, because it has forts and sand.

Yes, researching parapsychology with Mukul along

one may come to know about many things.

Well, since you're in the book business,

you don't have any specific picture books on Rajasthan?

It may be possible that by looking at those picture books, your child is

imagining his drawing and making up a story about a past life.

In a child's mind, they can have some strange ways of imagining.

Yes, I understand all that. But I cannot understand

why he draws pictures in the middle of the night.

In the middle of the night?

Yes, even at 2 or 3 AM! And the minute Dr. Hajra

proposed to show him the golden fort, he agreed!

The same little boy who is so attached to his parents

in a second agreed to go off with a stranger.

In fact, we're sad to say that during the last couple months,

we do not even know who he is anymore.

He did not used to be like this, he was very normal.

Do you think he's not normal anymore?

No, no no! Our problem is different it has become so severe

that we've lost sleep over this.

Is that related to the treasure he mentioned?

Yes, you're exactly right. Printing it in the paper has made it worse.

He gave a statement to the paper about the treasure though.

Yes, he did report the treasure was in his own home.

But the paintings of the houses are very ordinary.

Ok, go on.

Another problem is that in our neighbourhood there is another child

named Mukul who is my son's age and he was kidnapped yesterday.

Inside the neighborhood?

Yes and they returned him just this morning.

So you're afraid that they will kidnap the real Mukul.

Yes.

Did this other Mukul tell the kidnappers where your son has gone?

I'm not sure. When they returned the child, he was unconscious

and a newspaper boy recognized him and notified his parents.

When I heard the news,

I came immediately to you.

I know that this is probably outrageous for an ordinary man like me

to come to a person like you,

but if you're willing to go there, I'll pay for your costs.

Do you have a telephone?

Yes, in my bookstore.

If you call me after 10:00 AM, you can reach me.

Ok, I will let you know by this afternoon.

How can I thank you?

I haven't decided yet, so don't say anything.

Even telling you my story makes me grateful.

Tufan Express will leave from Platform 8 at 9:35 PM.

Ok, our names are listed... Mr. M. Bose and A. N. Barman.

The study of parapsychology deals with

understanding the abstract thinking of human mind.

Suppose, you are thinking of an old friend

and immediately you receive a phone call, and it's from him.

People will say it's an accident,

but a parapsychologist would explain it as telepathy.

It is because of mental telepathy that your friend has called you.

Understood?

Yes.

If you're thinking that we're going to Rajasthan on this case,

and that you can get out of school for this, you're wrong.

You will definitely take this case.

How do you know?

Telepathy.

Oh... smart aleck, do you even know how much work there is?

First of all, we have to create a small budget.