The first episode of an animated series on ‘Abol Tabol’ rhymes recited by legendary Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee was released on YouTube on Saturday. The recitation was done before he was hospitalised. The collection of 53 rhymes, a timeless creation of filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s father and children’s fiction writer Sukumar Ray, was first published in 1923, reported news agency PTI.

The collection still appeals to a wide spectrum of Bengali readers irrespective of their age.

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“Soumitra Chattopadhyay had agreed to be part of the project once we approached him with our proposal during the nationwide lockdown,” PTI quoted Shiladitya Chaudhary, the director of the channel on which it was released, as saying.

“We had goosebumps during the recording session, which was completed in two consecutive days. Watching Soumitra babu recite the rhymes with great enthusiasm was an amazing experience,” Chaudhury added.

The first episode features rhymes like ‘Gnof Churi’, ‘Kath Buro’, ‘Khichudi’, ‘Sawt-Patro’ and ‘Ganer Gnuto’, among others.

The remaining three episodes will be released in the subsequent weeks, he said.

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Satyajit Ray’s filmmaker son Sandip Ray said about the launch, “It is an interesting project to bring the literary works of Sukumar Ray to the present generation through virtual media. I recall how much I loved the characters depicted by my late grandfather in ‘Abol Tabol’ in my childhood.” He also wished Chatterjee’s speedy recovery.

The condition of the 85-year-old thespian, who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital here since testing positive for COVID-19 on October 6, is still critical.

Chatterjee later tested negative for the infection but COVID-19 encephalopathy set in and various other complications surfaced.