A rare blend of intellect and emotion

Glimpses of Ray's creative world

--Akira Kurosawa, legendary Japanese film director

Satyajit Ray, an Indian filmmaker and among the dozen or so great masters of world cinema, is known for his humanistic approach to cinema. Although he made films in Bangla, his films are of universal interest. They are about different aspects of human race--relationships, emotions, struggle, conflicts, joys and sorrows.

The Master Storyteller
Satyajit Ray, the master storyteller, has left a cinematic heritage that belongs as much to India as to the world. His films demonstrate a remarkable humanism, elaborate observation and subtle handling of characters and situations through a rare blend of intellect and emotions. He is controlled, precise, meticulous, and yet, evokes deep emotional response from the audience. He evolved a cinematic style that is almost invisible. He strongly believed, 'The best technique is the one that's not noticeable.'

Impressive Oeuvre
His first film, Pather Panchali (Song of the little road, 1955) established his reputation as a major film director, winning numerous awards including Best Human Document at Cannes in 1956 and Best Film at Vancouver in '58. It is the first film of a trilogy--The Apu Trilogy--a three-part tale of a boy's life from birth through manhood. The other two films of this trilogy are Aparajito (The Unvanquished, 1956) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu, 1959).

His later films include Jalsaghar (The Music Room, 1958), Devi (The Goddess, 1960), Teen Kanya (Three Daughters, 1961), Charulata (The Lonely Wife, 1964), Nayak (The Hero, 1966), Asani Sanket (Distant Thunder, 1973), Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Ghare Baire (The Home and the World, 1984), Ganashatru (Enemy of the People, 1989) and Shakha Prashakha (Branches of the Tree, 1991). Agantuk (The Stranger, 1991) was his last film.

True Auteur
Ray directly controlled many aspects of filmmaking. He wrote all the screenplays of his films, many of which were based on his own stories.

He designed the sets and costumes, operated the camera since Charulata (1964), he composed the music for all his films since 1962 and designed the publicity posters for his new releases.

In addition to filmmaking, Ray was a composer, a writer and a graphic designer. He even designed a new typeface. In 1961, he revived and continued to publish the Bangla children's magazine Sandesh, founded by his father Sukumar Ray.

Awards
In 1978, the organising committee of the Berlin Film Festival ranked him as one of the three all-time best directors. In 1992, Satyajit Ray received the honorary Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement--'in recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures and for his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world.' Other honours include Lègion d'Honneur from France and Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India).

As part of the Tonatuni festival--a series of events to commemorate the achievements of the great Indian writer, artist and film maker Satyajit Ray--an exhibition of various books, photographs, memorabilia and some works of art was arranged at the National Museum in mid-September 2003.

On display were several portraits of Satyajit Ray, his father Sukumar Ray, and his grandfather Upendra Kishore Ray. It also displayed a few issues of Sandesh, several books illustrated and published by Ray. Paintings and sketches by Ray and his father and grandfather, illustrations for books, enlarged stills from some of Ray's most famous films including Pather Panchali, Charulata, Devi, and Shakha Proshakha were put on display. The most interesting items of the exhibition, however, were the costumes from Ray's films including the famous Gupi Gain-Bagha Bain series. Most of these costumes were designed by Ray. Besides, there were many interesting mementos--a page from his famous red diary called Kheror Khata with scores of music and other notes on it, Indian postage stamps of Rabindranath Tagore that he designed, a few old documents and an old pair of clap-sticks from the studio.

Compiled from the internet.