Satyajit Ray : May 2, 1921 – April 23, 1992
The man who took the Indian films abroad and brought back a world class honour of Oscar privilege is none other then Sir Satyajit Ray. He was a film director, music composer, illustrator, short story writer, even award-winning singer of typefaces – Satyajit Ray was a complete Renaissance Man. He was a man of equal dignity with other film makers like, Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa.
“Before Elvis, there was nothing,” said pop idol John Lennon. One could say the same thing about Ray and Indian Cinema. Though other filmmakers, notably Chetan Anand for Heecha Nagar (1946) bagged international awards before Ray arrived, but the truth is that Indian cinema burst into global consciousness only after Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955) won the best human documentary prize at Cannes. Though most of Ray’s films are in the regional Language (Bengali), yet he earned a national and international dignity. The making of Pather Panchali was as stirring as the movie itself. To finance his debut feature, Ray pawned his books, his collection of western music and even his wife’s jewellery. It wasn’t enough. Finally West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mr. B C Ray stepped in. he sanctioned some state government funds.
Ray was Six & four feet tall but his work truly earn him such height in the world of cinema that no man after him had reached his level. For about three and a half decades he crafted some of the extraordinary films on a variety of subjects which include fantasies, drama, detective and even thrillers. If Charulata was like a stethoscope monitoring the emotional complex heart of a repressed wife, then Jalsaghar was an examination of decadence and loneliness. If Jana Aranya was a moral fable on capitalism and integrity, then the historical Shatranj ke khiladi – his first feature film in Hindi – showed how personal and private apathies paved the way for colonial rule.
“Before Elvis, there was nothing,” said pop idol John Lennon. One could say the same thing about Ray and Indian Cinema. Though other filmmakers, notably Chetan Anand for Heecha Nagar (1946) bagged international awards before Ray arrived, but the truth is that Indian cinema burst into global consciousness only after Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955) won the best human documentary prize at Cannes. Though most of Ray’s films are in the regional Language (Bengali), yet he earned a national and international dignity. The making of Pather Panchali was as stirring as the movie itself. To finance his debut feature, Ray pawned his books, his collection of western music and even his wife’s jewellery. It wasn’t enough. Finally West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mr. B C Ray stepped in. he sanctioned some state government funds.
Ray was Six & four feet tall but his work truly earn him such height in the world of cinema that no man after him had reached his level. For about three and a half decades he crafted some of the extraordinary films on a variety of subjects which include fantasies, drama, detective and even thrillers. If Charulata was like a stethoscope monitoring the emotional complex heart of a repressed wife, then Jalsaghar was an examination of decadence and loneliness. If Jana Aranya was a moral fable on capitalism and integrity, then the historical Shatranj ke khiladi – his first feature film in Hindi – showed how personal and private apathies paved the way for colonial rule.
“Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun and the moon…”
- AKIRA KUROSAWA
- AKIRA KUROSAWA
Source : TOI 15th AUG, 2007
thank you for all this information... at a glance
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