I had noticed in the past that our adventures often took totally-unexpected turns. When this happened, Feluda seldom lost his equanimity. In fact, I had always marvelled at his ability to keep calm while dealing with unforeseen complications. This time, however, what happened made him very cross. Before going to bed at night, we had decided to leave early in the morning to go back to the spot where we had heard that funny noise. It required investigation, Feluda said. So we rose at five o’clock and left the bungalow half an hour later after having a cup of tea. Feluda was up before us to replace his make-up. I remembered to maintain a right parting in my hair. Lalmohan Babu expressed the desire to make some change in his appearance as well, but Feluda said ‘No!’ so firmly that he had to desist. The caves were going to open for visitors as soon as the sun rose. We wanted to be the first, so we got there at 6 a.m. To our complete astonishment, we found the place crawling with people. A large number of cars and vans were parked outside. It was the sight of a reflector that told me what was going on. This was a film unit. They had arrived from Bombay to shoot a Hindi film, we learnt. The actors hadn’t yet arrived, but the rest of the crew were getting things ready. ‘Oh no!’ Feluda cried in dismay. ‘Why couldn’t they find some other place?’ A young man was bustling about, clutching a film magazine. Lalmohan Babu called him aside. ‘What is the name of this film, do you know?’ he asked. ‘Oh yes. Krorepati.’ ‘Who’s acting in it?’ ‘Three of the top stars. Today’s shots will include Rupa, Arjun Mehrotra and Balwant Chopra. The heroine, hero and the villain.’ The mention of Arjun Mehrotra made Lalmohan Babu grow round-eyed. ‘Will there be songs?’ he asked. ‘No, no. We’ve come to shoot fights. Stuntmen, doubles and the fight director are all here. The hero will chase the villain from a cave into the main temple.’ ‘And the heroine?’ ‘She’ll stay in the cave. The villain has imprisoned her in there, you see. But now the hero’s here, so the villain has to run for his life. The climax takes place on the spire.’ ‘The spire?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Who’s the director?’ ‘Mohan Sharma. But these shots today will be taken by the fight director, Appa Rao.’ ‘How long do you think the whole thing will take?’ ‘Well . . . that’s difficult to say. We hope to start by ten o’clock. Then we should finish by one.’

That meant they would occupy the whole complex virtually the whole day. ‘I don’t believe this!’ Feluda said through clenched teeth. ‘How did they get permission to take the whole place over?’ Since we couldn’t get into the temple, we decided to climb over it, just as we had done the previous night. But even the hills around the