What you don’t know about Satyajit Ray

A file photo of Satyajit Ray in his study at his Bishop Lefroy Road home in Kolkata.

Renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray was born on May 2, 1921 in Kolkata. In addition to mastering the act of filmmaking, he was a gifted screenwriter, author, lyricist, graphic designer and calligrapher. Today, on his 102nd birth anniversary, we take a close-up look and learn more about the cinematic genius.

Ray started his career at a British-run advertising agency, DJ Keyer, in 1943 where he worked as a junior visualiser. His creative mind introduced to several fonts, including Bengali into the world of advertising. The cinematic legend founded Kolkata's first movie club in 1947. Battleship Potemkin was the first film to be screened at the club. Ray had a keen interest in cinema, and started contributing articles on film in The Statesman, and developed screenplays. This proved to be a precursor to filmmaking.

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In addition to his articles on cinema, Ray was an author of Bengali novels and short stories. His work spanned a range of genres, from mystery and science to fantasy and adventure. In 1961, Ray revived Sandesh--a children's magazine founded by his grandfather - and continued to contribute stories and illustrations to it throughout his lifetime. His ground breaking films including the ‘Apu Trilogy' were celebrated across the globe. In 1956, ‘Pather Panchali' won the Best Human Document award at Cannes. In 1987, Ray was awarded the Legion of Honour by the President of France. The French film festival is scheduled to pay a retrospective tribute to the filmmaker in 2022 by showcasing his films.

Satyajit Ray put Indian cinema on the map. Western audiences had not been witness to nuanced stories from the hinterland before. After ‘Pather Panchali', his film ‘Aparajito' won the Gold Lion award in Venice in 1957. On October 21, 2022, 'Pather Panchali' was named the best Indian film of all time in a poll conducted by FIPRESCI-India (The Indian chapter of International Federation of Film Critics).