Gulte Special: 100 years of Satyajit Ray

“We all need to see the films of Satyajit Ray and re-see them, again and again. Taken all together, they’re one of our greatest treasures.” – Martin Scorsese

“Not to have seen Ray’s films is like living without seeing the sun or the moon.” – Akira Kurosawa.

These words of the eminent world-class filmmakers prove what a genius Satyajit Ray is. He is the first filmmaker from India who had influenced the cinematic world with his films. Today marks the birth centenary of Satyajit Ray. On this occasion, Gulte celebrates the works of the legendary filmmaker who ignited the passion called cinema in many, over the decades.

Ray was born and bought up in Kolkata. He was influenced by the works of Rabindranath Tagore right from his childhood. He was also a student of Tagore’s Shanti Niketan. Ray started off his career as a visualizer in an advertising firm.  It was Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 Italian film Bicycle Thieves that had influenced Ray to enter into films. He watched it in London when he went there for a trip.

“All through my stay in London, the lessons of Bicycle Thieves and neo-realist cinema stayed with me,” wrote Ray in his book ‘Our Films, Their Films.’ Soon, he started developing the story of Pather Panchali and finished the treatment of it on his return journey to India by ship.

Upon his return to India, Ray made Pather Panchali with a new cast and crew who had no experience of working in films. Ray chose the socio-realism narrative to make his films. It took Ray five years to complete this film. Finally, it had released in 1955. Pather Panchali competed for the prestigious Palme d’Or award at Cannes Film Festival. It won Best Human Document and an OCIC Award (Special Mention) at the festival. Thus, Ray made a mark in the world of cinema.  

Since then, all of Ray’s films reflected the socio-realistic elements of society. Pather Panchali is considered the first part of the famous Apu’s Trilogy and it was succeeded by Aparajito and Apur Sansar. The other films of Ray that made an impact on the cinematic world are Charulatha, Devi, Nayak, Aguntak, Ghanashatru, and Jalsaghar.

Ray made all of his films in the Bengali language. His only Hindi film was Shatranj Ke Khilari. Ray is known for his collaborations with the legendary Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee. Both of them worked together for 14 films.

Ray was awarded Padma Shri in 1958, Padma Bhushan in 1965, Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1984, Padma Vibhushan in 1976, and Bharat Ratna in 1992. Ray was also honored with Academy Honorary Award in 1991. He is the only Indian filmmaker to be honored with that award.

Ray also influenced various western filmmakers. American filmmaker Wes Anderson dedicated his feature film The Darjeeling Limited, to Ray. Tangerine and The Florida Project fame Sean Baker also revealed that Ray’s films have influenced him a lot. Many Indian filmmakers are also influenced by Ray’s films and his style of filmmaking. Ray passed away in 1992.

Though he is not amongst us right now, his legacy will remain forever in the history of Indian cinema.

Satyajit Ray lives on!

For those who wanted to watch Ray’s classics online, here is a Twitter thread compiled by a Netizen. Check it out.