On Satyajit Ray’s birth anniversary, a glimpse of some of his must-read books

Satyajit Ray

It is difficult to introduce Satyajit Ray. His achievements are too many and no one description can ever do justice to his consummate talents.

Born on May 2, 1921 in Kolkata, the legend went on to don multiple hats: filmmaker, screenwriter, author, lyricist, graphic designer and calligrapher. He started his career at a British-run advertising agency, DJ Keyer, in 1943 where he worked as a junior visualiser. His advertising fonts and designs are something to be cherished as well. Kolkata's famous movie theatre and culture hub, Nandan, owes its logo to Ray. He brought four fonts, Ray Roman, Ray Bizarre, Daphnis and Holiday Script, into the world of advertising. He also created some Bengali fonts as well.

While the world remembers him as a master storyteller for such films as ‘Jalsaghar' (1958) and ‘Charulata' (1964), Ray also wrote many books, in both English and Bengali. His books have also been translated in several languages. On the occasion of his 103rd birth anniversary, we list six of his must-read books.

The Complete Adventures of Feluda

While Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular fictional detectives, Ray's Feluda can give him tough competition when it comes to intellect and solving crimes. ‘The Complete Adventures' is a book comprising fascinating and enthralling suspense stories written by Ray. It focuses on detective Feluda as he solves complicated crime cases. In his adventures, Feluda is accompanied his cousin Topshe and crime writer Jatayu. Each story has a gripping plot and keeps the reader on the edge till the end. It was translated from the Bengali by Gopa Majumdar.

My Years with Apu: A Memoir

The Apu Trilogy movies -- ‘Pather Panchali' (1955), ‘Aparajito' (1956) and ‘Apur Sansar' (‘The World of Apu', 1959) - are synonymous with Ray. The series has inspired filmmakers all around the world. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese in a tribute written for Indian Express in 2020 has expressed that "the trilogy was just the beginning of one of the greatest bodies of work in the history of cinema." It is the journey of Apu - from boyhood, adolescence to manhood. In this memoir, the Academy Award winner describes his involvement and thoughts during the making of the acclaimed Trilogy movies. The book narrates the incredible story of how one of the greatest filmmakers started his career.

Indigo

Ray's master storytelling was spread across genres. ‘Indigo' is a collection of stories that range from the supernatural to the peculiar and the mysterious. These include selected tales of horror, fantasy and adventure along with pleasing humourous stories about conventional people in unusual situations. It is translated from the Bengali by the author and Gopa Majumdar.

Our Films, Their Films

This 1976 anthology of English essays by Ray is a textbook for anyone interested in film criticism. It includes personal experiences and commentaries on ‘our films', that is filmmaking from India including Ray's own, and ‘their films' or the cinema of international greats such as Kurosawa, John Ford, Charlie Chaplin and Francois Truffaut. "The originality of Ray appears here in an indirect manner: whilst talking about others, he offers us a subtle self-portrait," a review in Cinematographe noted.

Childhood Days

This book gives readers a peek into Ray's early life. It presents the lesser-known side of Ray -the man he was in his personal life was different from the filmmaker most knew. Ray writes about his attempts to understand photography, his experience of tasting ice cream for the first time, and his experiences during the shooting of ‘Pather Panchali', his iconic debut movie. The book is filled with incredible anecdotes.

The Incredible Adventures of Professor Shonku

Fictitious scientist professor Shonku is another very popular creation by Ray. He is the protagonist of the science fiction series originally written in Bengali. Trilokeshwar Shonku is an eccentric and genius scientist who goes on many adventures across countries. Some of these short stories initially appeared in the children's periodical magazine, ‘Sandesh'. It was translated into English by Indrani Majumdar and the late author.