Every year on legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s birth anniversary, Goregaon-based visual artist Aniket Mitra tries to celebrate his childhood icon in his own way. A couple of years ago, it was a set of witty minimalist posters of Ray’s films; last year, it was a lively sketch of a selfie of the bossman with some of his illustrious colleagues. But this year — Ray’s birth centenary — with all that’s going on around us, Mitra, a storyboard consultant who’s worked on hits like Dil Bechara, was in no mindspace to celebrate. “I lost my father in late 2020, and have been devastated with the current state of affairs,” shares the Kolkata native who’s been helping coordinate Covid-19 relief work.

Satyajit Ray