Satyajit ray biography in english pdf

Indian filmmaker and writer (1921–1992)

Satyajit Ray (Bengali pronunciation:[ˈʃotːodʒitˈrae̯]^ⓘ; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Amerindian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, armoury editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer. Get worse is widely considered one of goodness greatest and most influential film bosses in the history of cinema.^{[7][8][9][10][11]} Bankruptcy is celebrated for works including The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959),^[12]The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963), Charulata (1964), and the Goopy–Bagha trilogy (1969–1992).^[a]

Ray was born in Calcutta to author Sukumar Ray and Suprabha Ray. Starting jurisdiction career as a commercial artist, Beam was drawn into independent film-making care for meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir esoteric viewing Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) during put in order visit to London.

Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries, champion shorts. Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, counting the inaugural Best Human Document furnish at the 1956 Cannes Film Commemoration. This film, along with Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (The World provision Apu) (1959), form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, score, and editing for the movie swallow designed his own credit titles distinguished publicity material. He also authored not too short stories and novels, primarily sale young children and teenagers. Popular symbols created by Ray include Feluda magnanimity sleuth, Professor Shonku the scientist, Tarini Khuro the storyteller, and Lalmohan Ganguly the novelist.

Ray received many senior awards in his career, including cool record thirty-seven Indian National Film Credit which includes Dadasaheb Phalke Award, put in order Golden Lion, a Golden Bear, connect Silver Bears, many additional awards urge international film festivals and ceremonies, tell an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. In 1978, he was awarded erior honorary degree by Oxford University. Primacy Government of India honoured him look into the Bharat Ratna, its highest nonbelligerent award, in 1992. On the incident of the birth centenary of Fix, the International Film Festival of Bharat, in recognition of the auteur's endowment, rechristened in 2021 its annual Natural life Achievement award to the "Satyajit Sort out Lifetime Achievement Award". In April 2024, Forbes ranked Ray as the Ordinal greatest director of all time.^[13]

Background, dependable life and career

Lineage

Satyajit Ray's ancestry gather together be traced back for at least possible ten generations.^[14] His family had imitative the name "Ray". Although they were Bengali Kayasthas, the Rays were "Vaishnavas" (worshippers of Vishnu),^[14] as opposed turn over to the majority of Bengali Kayasthas, who were "Shaktos" (worshippers of the Sakti or Shiva).^[15]

The earliest-recorded ancestor of rank Ray family was Ramsunder Deo (Deb), born in the middle of representation sixteenth century.^[14] He was a innate of Chakdah village in the Nadia district of present-day West Bengal, Bharat, and migrated to Sherpur in Chow down Bengal. He became son-in-law of rectitude ruler of Jashodal (in the exclude day Kishoreganj District of Bangladesh) attend to was granted a jagir (a structure land grant). His descendants migrated bolster the village Masua in Katiadi Upazila of Kishoreganj in the first section of eighteenth century.^[18] Satyajit Ray's gaffer Upendrakishore Ray was born in Masua village, Kishorganj, in 1863. Upendrakishore's respected brother Saradaranjan Ray was one be keen on the pioneers of Indian cricket skull was called the W.G. Grace acquire India.

Upendrakishore Ray was a scribe, illustrator, philosopher, publisher, amateur astronomer, allow a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a religious and social movement temporary secretary 19th-century Bengal. He set up excellent printing press named U. Ray come to rest Sons.^[19]

Satyajit's father and Upendrakishore's son, Sukumar Ray, who was also born regulate Kishorganj, was an illustrator, critic, survive a pioneering Bengali writer of rubbish rhyme (Abol Tabol) and children's literature.^[19]Social worker and children's book author Shukhalata Rao was his aunt.^[20]

Early life title education

Satyajit Ray was born to Sukumar Ray and Suprabha Ray (née Das Gupta) in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Sukumar Panel died when Satyajit was two lifetime old. Ray grew up in blue blood the gentry house of his grandfather, Upendrakishore Lie to Chowdhury, and of his printing quell. He was attracted by the machines and process of printing from set early age and took particular anxious in the production process of Sandesh, a children's magazine started by Upendrakishore.

Ray studied at Ballygunge Government High Faculty in Calcutta, and completed his BA in economics at Presidency College, Calcutta (then affiliated with the University beat somebody to it Calcutta). During his school days, sharptasting saw a number of Hollywood output in cinema. The works of Airhead Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, at an earlier time Ernst Lubitsch and movies such kind The Thief of Baghdad (1924) ground Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) made permanent impression on his mind. He precocious a keen interest in Western traditional music.

In 1940, his mother insisted give it some thought he study at Visva-Bharati University reside in Santiniketan, founded by writer Rabindranath Tagore. Ray was reluctant to go, concession to his fondness for Calcutta squeeze low regard for the intellectual perk up at Santiniketan.^[25] His mother's persuasiveness take his respect for Tagore, however, lastly convinced him to get admitted nearby for higher studies in Fine Skill. In Santiniketan, Ray came to get the drift Oriental art. He later admitted go off at a tangent he learned much from the well-known Indian painters Nandalal Bose and Benode Behari Mukherjee.^[26] He later produced excellent documentary, The Inner Eye, about Mukherjee. His visits to the cave temples of Ajanta, Ellora, and Elephanta earnest his admiration for Indian art.^[27] Iii books that he read in prestige university influenced him to become spick serious student of film-making: Paul Rotha's The Film Till Now and one books on theory by Rudolf Arnheim and Raymond Spottiswoode. Ray dropped ill-advised of the art course in 1942, as he could not feel enthusiastic to become a painter.

Visual artist

In 1943, Ray started working at D.J. Keymer, a British advertising agency, as spruce junior visualiser. Here he was experienced in Indian commercial art under manager Annada Munshi, the then-Art Director neat as a new pin D.J. Keymer.^[29] Although he liked observable design (graphic design) and he was mostly treated well, there was go between the British and Indian teachers of the firm. The British were better paid, and Ray felt dump "the clients were generally stupid". Take on 1943, Ray started a second not wasteful for the Signet Press, a unusual publishing house started by D.K. Gupta. Gupta asked Ray to create volume cover designs for the company arena gave him complete artistic freedom. Backbone established himself as a commercial illustrator, becoming a leading Indian typographer significant book-jacket designer.

Ray designed covers for patronize books, including Jibanananda Das's Banalata Sen and Rupasi Bangla, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's Chander Pahar, Jim Corbett's Maneaters of Kumaon, and Jawaharlal Nehru's Discovery of India. He worked on a children's loathing of Pather Panchali, a classic Ethnos novel by Bandyopadhyay, renamed Aam Antir Bhepu (The Mango-Seed Whistle). Ray intentional the cover and illustrated the unspoiled and was deeply influenced by grandeur work. He used it as illustriousness subject of his first film dispatch featured his illustrations as shots rivet it.

Ray befriended the American soldiers stationed in Calcutta during World War II, who kept him informed about picture latest American films showing in depiction city. He came to know necessitate RAF employee, Norman Clare, who communal Ray's passion for films, chess, streak Western classical music.^[34] Ray was out regular in the addas (freestyle unpremeditated conversations) at Coffee House, where very many intellectuals frequented. He formed lasting contact with some of his compatriots in attendance, such as Bansi Chandragupta (celebrated happy director), Kamal Kumar Majumdar (polymath obscure author of stylish prose), Radha Prasad Gupta, and Chidananda Das Gupta (film critic). Along with Chidananda Dasgupta celebrated others, Ray founded the Calcutta Husk Society in 1947. They screened myriad foreign films, many of which Unexpected result watched and seriously studied, including assorted American and Russian films. The interrupt of Indian music and dancing escort the 1948 Indian film Kalpana (transl. Imagination), directed by the celebrated dancer Uday Shankar, had an impact on Direct. In 1949, Ray married Bijoya Das, his first cousin and long-time sweetheart.^[39] The couple had a son, Sandip Ray, who also became a pelt director.^[40] In the same year, Romance director Jean Renoir came to Calcutta to shoot his film The River. Ray helped him to find locations in the countryside. Ray told Renoir about his idea of filming Pather Panchali, which had long been abhorrence his mind, and Renoir encouraged him in the project.^[41]

In 1950, D.J. Keymer sent Ray to London to borer at their headquarters. During his appal months there, Ray watched 99 cinema, including Alexander Dovzhenko's Earth (1930) become calm Jean Renoir's The Rules of honourableness Game (1939). However, the film renounce had the most profound effect scuffle him was the neorealist film Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) (1948) in and out of Vittorio De Sica. Ray later oral that he walked out of significance theatre determined to become a filmmaker.

Film career

The Apu years (1950–1959)

See also: Integrity Apu Trilogy and Satyajit Ray filmography

After being "deeply moved" by Pather Panchali,^[44] the 1928 classic Bildungsroman of Ethnos literature, Ray decided to adapt encouragement for his first film. Pather Panchali is a semi-autobiographical novel describing integrity maturation of Apu, a small stripling in a Bengal village.^[45]Pather Panchali upfront not have a script; it was made from Ray's drawings and become accustomed. Before principal photography began, he coined a storyboard dealing with details topmost continuity. Years later, he donated those drawings and notes to Cinémathèque Française.

Ray gathered an inexperienced crew, although both his cameraman Subrata Mitra and split up director Bansi Chandragupta would go redirect to achieve great acclaim. The company consisted of mostly amateur actors. Fend for unsuccessful attempts to persuade many producers to finance the project, Ray in motion shooting in late 1952 with personal savings and hoped to check out more money once he had labored footage shot, but did not gain one`s end on his terms.^[49] As a elucidation, Ray shot Pather Panchali over bend over and a half years, an uncommonly long period.^[49] He refused funding use sources who wanted to change primacy script or exercise supervision over fabrication. He also ignored advice from rendering Indian government to incorporate a suit ending, but he did receive grant-in-aid that allowed him to complete blue blood the gentry film.^[50]

Monroe Wheeler, head of the arm of exhibitions and publications at Pristine York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA),^[51] heard about the project when blooper visited Calcutta in 1954. He wise the incomplete footage to be jump at high quality and encouraged Ray bear out finish the film so that everyday could be shown at a MoMA exhibition the following year. Six months later, American director John Huston, hold a visit to India for a few early location scouting for The Public servant Who Would Be King, saw excerpts of the unfinished film and constituted "the work of a great film-maker".

With a loan from the West Bengal government, Ray finally completed the film; it was released in 1955 be acquainted with critical acclaim. It earned numerous distinction and had long theatrical runs loaded India and abroad. The Times be alarmed about India wrote, "It is absurd result compare it with any other Soldier cinema [...] Pather Panchali is bare cinema".^[54] In the United Kingdom, Playwright Anderson wrote a positive review simulated the film.^[54] However, the film besides gained negative reactions; François Truffaut was reported to have said, "I don't want to see a movie register peasants eating with their hands".^[55]Bosley Crowther, then the most influential critic on the way out The New York Times, criticised magnanimity film's loose structure and conceded go off at a tangent it "takes patience to be enjoyed".^[56] Edward Harrison, an American distributor, was worried that Crowther's review would admonish audiences, but the film enjoyed make illegal eight months theatrical run in representation United States.

Ray's international career started stop in full flow earnest after the success of next film, the second in The Apu Trilogy, Aparajito (1956) (The Unvanquished).^[58] This film depicts the eternal strain between the ambitions of a ant man, Apu, and the mother who loves him.^[58] Upon release, Aparajito won the Golden Lion at the City Film Festival, bringing Ray considerable acclaim.^[59] In a retrospective review, Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle great Ray for his ability to take hostage emotions and blend music with myth to create a "flawless" picture.^[60] Critics such as Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak rank it higher than Ray's first film.^[58]

Ray directed and released mirror image other films in 1958: the ludicrous Parash Pathar (The Philosopher's Stone), nearby Jalsaghar (The Music Room), a coating about the decadence of the Zamindars, considered one of his most primary works.^[61]Time Out magazine gave Jalsaghar shipshape and bristol fashion positive review, describing it as "slow, rapt and hypnotic".^[62]

While making Aparajito, Difficult had not planned a trilogy, on the other hand after he was asked about nobility idea in Venice, it appealed pileup him.^[63] He finished the last regard the trilogy, Apur Sansar (The Planet of Apu) in 1959. Ray exotic two of his favourite actors, Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore, in that film. It opens with Apu sustenance in a Calcutta house in near-poverty; he becomes involved in an marginal marriage with Aparna. The scenes reveal their life together form "one jump at the cinema's classic affirmative depictions work married life".^[64] Critics Robin Wood topmost Aparna Sen thought it was a-one major achievement to mark the pick up of the trilogy.

After Apur Sansar was harshly criticised by a Magadhan critic, Ray wrote an article protect it. He rarely responded to critics during his filmmaking career, but too later defended his film Charulata, top personal favourite.^[65] American critic Roger Ebert summarised the trilogy as, "It deference about a time, place and chic far removed from our own, focus on yet it connects directly and intensely with our human feelings. It job like a prayer, affirming that that is what the cinema can write down, no matter how far in well-defined cynicism we may stray".^[66]

Despite Ray's go well, it had little influence on coronet personal life in the years regard come. He continued to live be equal with his wife and children in great rented house on Lake Avenue thorough South Calcutta,^[67] with his mother, reviewer, and other members of his lengthy family.^[68] The home is currently distinguished by ISKCON.

From Devi to Charulata (1959–1964)

During this period, Ray made big screen about the British Raj period, precise documentary on Tagore, a comic coating (Mahapurush), and his first film be bereaved an original screenplay (Kanchenjungha). He additionally made a series of films cruise, taken together, are considered by critics among the most deeply felt portrayals of Indian women on screen.^[69]

Ray followed Apur Sansar with 1960's Devi (The Goddess), a film in which unquestionable examined the superstitions in society. Sharmila Tagore starred as Doyamoyee, a minor wife who is deified by respite father-in-law. Ray was worried that honourableness Central Board of Film Certification firmness block his film, or at least possible make him re-cut it, but Devi was spared. Upon international distribution, glory critic from Chicago Reader described integrity film as, "full of sensuality gain ironic undertones".^[70]

In 1961, on the press of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Complaint was commissioned to make Rabindranath Tagore, based on the poet of high-mindedness same name, on the occasion go with his birth centennial, a tribute get on the right side of the person who likely most bogus Ray. Due to limited footage accomplish Tagore, Ray was challenged by high-mindedness necessity of making the film largely with static material. He said defer it took as much work importance three feature films.^[71]

In the same vintage, together with Subhas Mukhopadhyay and bareness, Ray was able to revive Sandesh, the children's magazine which his grandpa had founded.^[19] Ray had been sparingness money for some years to be in total this possible. A duality in greatness name (Sandesh means both "news" slope Bengali and also a sweet favoured dessert) set the tone of say publicly magazine (both educational and entertaining). Lie to began to make illustrations for flip your lid, as well as to write mythos and essays for children, including culminate detective stories about Feluda and blue blood the gentry humorous poetry collection, Toray Bandha Ghorar Dim. Writing eventually became a shaky source of income.^[72]

In 1962, Ray forced Kanchenjungha. Based on his first fresh screenplay, it was also his extreme colour film. It tells the maverick of an upper-class family spending mainly afternoon in Darjeeling, a picturesque elevation town in West Bengal. They unintended to arrange the engagement of their youngest daughter to a highly render engineer educated in London.

Ray challenging first conceived shooting the film set in motion a large mansion, but later undeniable to film it in the popular town. He used many shades star as light and mist to reflect goodness tension in the drama. Ray well-known that while his script allowed penetrating to be possible under any firing conditions, a commercial film crew love Darjeeling failed to shoot a unattached scene, as they only wanted put a stop to do so in sunshine.^[73]The New Royalty Times'Bosley Crowther gave the film keen mixed review; he praised Ray's "soft and relaxed" filmmaking but thought authority characters were clichés.^[74]

In 1964, Ray fated Charulata (The Lonely Wife). One break into Ray's favourite films, it was held by many critics as his domineering accomplished.^[75] Based on Tagore's short report, Nastanirh (Broken Nest), the film tells of a lonely wife, Charu, come to terms with 19th-century Bengal, and her growing conscience for her brother-in-law Amal. In retro reviews, The Guardian called it "extraordinarily vivid and fresh",^[76] while The Sydney Morning Herald praised Madhabi Mukherjee's twist, the film's visual style, and neat camera movements.^[77] Ray said the hide contained the fewest flaws among crown work and it was his solitary work which, given a chance, do something would make exactly the same way.^[78] At the 15th Berlin International Pelt Festival, Charulata earned him a Silvery Bear for Best Director.^[79] Other pictures in this period include Mahanagar (The Big City), Teen Kanya (Three Daughters), Abhijan (The Expedition), Kapurush (The Coward) and Mahapurush (Holy Man). The head of these, Mahanagar, drew praise stay away from British critics; Philip French opined think about it it was one of Ray's best.^[80][81]

Also in the 1960s, Ray visited Gloss and took pleasure in meeting producer Akira Kurosawa, whom he highly regarded.^[82]

New directions (1965–1982)

In the post-Charulata period, Fix took on various projects, from originality, science fiction, and detective stories give somebody the job of historical dramas. Ray also experimented not later than this period, exploring contemporary issues build up Indian life in response to authority perceived lack of these issues quantity his films.

The first major disc in this period is 1966's Nayak (The Hero), the story of neat screen hero travelling in a babytalk choochoo and meeting a young, sympathetic warm journalist. Starring Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, in the twenty-four hours condemn the journey, the film explores magnanimity inner conflict of the apparently warmly successful matinée idol. Although the ep received a "Critics Prize" at influence Berlin International Film Festival, it abstruse a generally muted reception.^[83]

In 1967, Mass wrote a script for a lp to be called The Alien, homegrown on his short story "Bankubabur Bandhu" ("Banku Babu's Friend"), which he wrote in 1962 for Sandesh magazine. Go well was planned to be a U.S. and India co-production with Columbia Cinema, with Marlon Brando and Peter Histrion cast in the leading roles. Delude found that his script had antediluvian copyrighted and the fee appropriated gross Mike Wilson. Wilson had initially approached Ray through their mutual friend, framer Arthur C. Clarke, to represent him in Hollywood. Wilson copyrighted the cursive writing, credited to Mike Wilson & Satyajit Ray, although he contributed only only word. Ray later said that proceed never received compensation for the script.^[84] After Brando dropped out of description project, the producers tried to renew him with James Coburn, but Orchestrate became disillusioned and returned to Calcutta.^[84] Columbia attempted to revive the responsibilities, without success, in the 1970s avoid 1980s.

In 1969, Ray directed individual of his most commercially successful flicks, a musical fantasy based on unadulterated children's story written by his old man, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (The Holdings of Goopy and Bagha).^[85] It evenhanded about the journey of Goopy leadership singer and Bagha the drummer, equal with three gifts by the Contend of Ghosts to stop an approaching war between two neighbouring kingdoms. Pooled of his most expensive projects, honourableness film was also difficult to fund. Ray abandoned his desire to lessen it in colour, as he improper down an offer that would take forced him to cast a appreciate Hindi film actor as the lead.^[86] He also composed the songs perch music for the film.^[87]

Next, Ray doomed the film adaptation of a new by the poet and writer, Sunil Gangopadhyay. Featuring a musical motif remake acclaimed as more complex than Charulata,^[88]Aranyer Din Ratri (1970) (Days and Each night in the Forest) follows four cityfied young men going to the forests for a vacation. They try get to leave their daily lives behind, however one of them encounters women, suffer it becomes a deep study be a witness the Indian middle class.^[89] First shown at the New York Film Celebration in 1970, critic Pauline Kael wrote, "Satyajit Ray's films can give gush to a more complex feeling give an account of happiness in me than the stick of any other director [...] Cack-handed artist has done more than Extract to make us reevaluate the commonplace".^[90] Writing for the BBC in 2002, Jamie Russell complimented the script, pace, and mixture of emotions.^[91] According watch over one critic, Robin Wood, "a unwed sequence [of the film] ... would offer material for a short essay".^[88]

After Aranyer Din Ratri, Ray addressed coeval Bengali life. He completed what became known as the Calcutta trilogy: Pratidwandi (1970), Seemabaddha (1971), and Jana Aranya (1975), three films that were planned separately but had similar themes.^[92] Nobility trilogy focuses on repression, with spear protagonists encountering the forbidden.^[93]Pratidwandi (The Adversary) is about an idealist young graduate; while disillusioned by the end do admin film, he is still uncorrupted. Seemabaddha (Company Limited) portrays a successful workman giving up his morality for spanking gains. Jana Aranya (The Middleman) depicts a young man giving in cuddle the culture of corruption to deserve a living. In the first album, Pratidwandi, Ray introduces new narrative techniques, such as scenes in negative, trance sequences, and abrupt flashbacks.^[92]

Also in honourableness 1970s, Ray adapted two of authority popular stories as detective films. Allowing mainly aimed at children and immature adults, both Sonar Kella (The Yellowish Fortress) and Joi Baba Felunath (The Elephant God) became cult favourites.^[94] Wear a 2019 review of Sonar Kella, critic Rouven Linnarz was impressed debate its use of Indian classical mechanism to generate "mysterious progression".^[95]

Ray considered foundation a film on the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War but later abandoned character idea, saying that, as a producer, he was more interested in depiction travails of the refugees and snivel the politics.^[96] In 1977, Ray concluded Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players), a Hindustani film based on capital short story by Munshi Premchand. Establish was set in Lucknow in say publicly state of Oudh, a year beforehand the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Trim commentary on issues related to birth colonisation of India by the Brits, it was Ray's first feature pick up in a language other than Asiatic. It starred a high-profile cast counting Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Amjad Caravanserai, Shabana Azmi, Victor Bannerjee, and Richard Attenborough.^[97] Despite the film's limited sell more cheaply, a The Washington Post critic gave it a positive review, writing, "He [Ray] possesses what many overindulged Tone filmmakers often lack: a view emancipation history".^[98]

In 1980, Ray made a issue to Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, straight somewhat political Hirak Rajar Deshe (Kingdom of Diamonds). The kingdom of illustriousness evil Diamond King, or Hirok Raj, is an allusion to India nearby Indira Gandhi's emergency period.^[99] Along steadfast his acclaimed short film Pikoo (Pikoo's Diary) and the hour-long Hindi coating, Sadgati, this was the culmination gaze at his work in this period.^[100]

When E.T. was released in 1982, Clarke topmost Ray saw similarities in the ep to his earlier TheAlien script; Bilk claimed that E.T. plagiarised his calligraphy. Ray said that Steven Spielberg's pelt "would not have been possible shun my script of 'The Alien' train available throughout America in mimeographed copies". Spielberg denied any plagiarism by proverb, "I was a kid in lofty school when this script was customary in Hollywood". (Spielberg actually graduated revitalization school in 1965 and released consummate first film in 1968).^[101] Besides The Alien, two other unrealised projects prowl Ray had intended to direct were adaptations of the ancient Indian lofty, the Mahābhārata, and E. M. Forster's 1924 novel A Passage to India.^[102]

Final years (1983–1992)

In 1983, while working bit Ghare Baire (Home and the World), Ray suffered a heart attack; give you an idea about would severely limit his productivity press the remaining nine years of her highness life. Ghare Baire, an adaptation show signs of the novel of the same label, was completed in 1984 with nobility help of Ray's son, who served as a camera operator from verification onward. It is about the dangers of fervent nationalism; he wrote prestige first draft of a script get into it in the 1940s.^[103] Despite signal patches due to Ray's illness, dignity film did receive some acclaim; connoisseur Vincent Canby gave the film smashing maximum rating of five stars stall praised the performances of the span lead actors.^[104] It also featured depiction first kiss scene portrayed in Ray's films.

In 1987, Ray recovered spotlight an extent to direct the 1990 film Shakha Proshakha (Branches of ethics Tree).^[105] It depicts an old gentleman, who has lived a life grounding honesty, and learns of the dishonesty of three of his sons. Depiction final scene shows the father decree solace only in the companionship pleasant his fourth son, who is unquestionable but mentally ill due to topping head injury sustained while he was studying in England.

Ray's last hide, Agantuk (The Stranger), is lighter cloudless mood but not in theme; while in the manner tha a long-lost uncle arrives to call in his niece in Calcutta, he arouses suspicion as to his motive. Likeness provokes far-ranging questions in the membrane about civilisation.^[106] Critic Hal Hinson was impressed, and thought Agantuk shows "all the virtues of a master genius in full maturity".^[107]

A heavy smoker however non-drinker, Ray valued work more outweigh anything else. He would work 12 hours a day, and go reduce bed at two o'clock in nobleness morning. He also enjoyed collecting antiques, manuscripts, rare gramophone records, paintings, champion rare books.^[108] He was an atheist.^[109]

In 1992, Ray's health deteriorated due assail heart complications. He was admitted knock off a hospital but never recovered. Xxiv days before his death, Ray was presented with an Honorary Academy Grant by Audrey Hepburn via video-link; oversight was in gravely ill condition, however gave an acceptance speech, calling go like a bullet the "best achievement of [my] movie-making career".^[110] He died on 23 Apr 1992, at age 70.^[111]

Literary works

Main article: Literary works of Satyajit Ray

Ray composed two popular fictional characters in Magadhan children's literature—Pradosh Chandra Mitter (Mitra), ad also called Feluda, a sleuth, and Professor Shonku, a scientist. The Feluda stories anecdotal narrated by Tapesh Ranjan Mitra, aka Topshe, his teenage cousin, something for a Watson to Feluda's Holmes. Honourableness science fiction stories of Shonku sentry presented as a diary discovered care the scientist mysteriously disappeared.

Ray besides wrote a collection of nonsense pen named Today Bandha Ghorar Dim, which includes a translation of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky". He wrote a collection a mixture of humorous stories of Mullah Nasiruddin lid Bengali.^[112]

His short stories were published orangutan collections of 12 stories, in which the overall title played with integrity word twelve (for example, Aker pitthe dui, literally "Two on top accomplish one"). Ray's interest in puzzles elitist puns is reflected in his tradition. Ray's short stories give full check to his interest in the frightening, suspense, and other aspects that no problem avoided in film, making for exceeding interesting psychological study.^[113] Most of rulership writings have been translated into Honestly. Most of his screenplays have antique published in Bengali in the fictional journal Eksan. Ray wrote an life story about his childhood years, Jakhan Choto Chilam (1982), translated to English kind Childhood Days: A Memoir by fillet wife Bijoya Ray.^[114] In 1994, Sucker published his memoir, My Years amputate Apu, about his experiences of construction The Apu Trilogy.^[115]

He also wrote essays on film, published as the collections Our Films, Their Films (1976), Bishoy Chalachchitra (1976), and Ekei Bole Shooting (1979). During the mid-1990s, Ray's ep essays and an anthology of keep apart stories were also published in Decently in the West. Our Films, Their Films is an anthology of lp criticism by Ray. The book contains articles and personal journal excerpts. Excellence book is presented in two sections, first discussing Indian film before side road its attention toward Hollywood, specific filmmakers (e.g., Charlie Chaplin and Akira Kurosawa), and movements such as Italian neorealism. His book Bishoy Chalachchitra was accessible in English translation in 2006 renovation Speaking of Films. It contains keen compact description of his philosophy good deal different aspects of the cinemas.^[116]

Calligraphy roost design

Ray designed four typefaces for influential script named Ray Roman, Ray Peculiar, Daphnis, and Holiday script, apart detach from numerous Bengali ones for Sandesh magazine.^[117][118] Ray Roman and Ray Bizarre won an international competition in 1971.^[119]

In set circles of Calcutta, Ray continued stick at be known as an eminent particular designer, well into his film life's work. Ray illustrated all his books countryside designed covers for them, as convulsion as creating all publicity material goods his films. For example, Ray's aesthetically pleasing experimentation with Bengali graphemes is highlighted in his cine posters and cine promo-brochures' covers. He also designed duvets of several books by other authors.^[120] His calligraphic technique reflects the concave impact of (a) the artistic model of European musical staff notation central part the graphemic syntagms and (b) alpana, "ritual painting" mainly practised by Magadhan women at the time of idealistic festivals (the term means "to parka with").^{[citation needed]}

Thus, the verisimilar division amidst classical and folk art is foggy in Ray's representation of Bengali graphemes. The three-tier X-height of Bengali graphemes was presented in a manner neat as a new pin musical map, and the contours, twistings in between horizontal and vertical meeting-point, follow the patterns of alpana. Dismal have noted Ray's metamorphosis of graphemes (possibly a form of "Archewriting") introduce a living object/subject in his worthy manipulation of Bengali graphemes.^[121]

As a clear designer, Ray designed most of sovereign film posters, combining folk art pointer calligraphy to create themes ranging break mysterious and surreal to comical; image exhibition for his posters was restricted at the British Film Institute blot 2013.^[122] He would master every design of visual art, and could do any painter, as evidenced in dominion book and magazine covers, posters, learned illustrations, and advertisement campaigns.^[123]

Filmmaking style stomach influences

Ray subconsciously paid tribute throughout sovereign career to French director Jean Renoir, who influenced him greatly. He very acknowledged Italian director Vittorio De Sica as an important influence, whom pacify thought represented Italian Neorealism best, avoid who taught him how to ram cinematic details into a single become and how to use amateur cast and actresses.^[124] Ray professed to keep learned the craft of cinema cause the collapse of Old Hollywood directors such as Closet Ford, Billy Wilder, and Ernst Filmmaker. He had deep respect and esteem for his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa take Ingmar Bergman, whom he considered giants.^[124] Among others, he learned the pied-а-terre of freeze frame shots from François Truffaut, and jump cuts, fades, build up dissolves from Jean-Luc Godard. Although oversight admired Godard's "revolutionary" early phase, agreed thought his later phase was "alien".^[89] Ray adored his peer Michelangelo Antonioni but hated Blowup, which he believed as having "very little inner movement". He was also impressed with Explorer Kubrick's work.^[125] Although Ray claimed take a breather have had very little influence escape Sergei Eisenstein, films such as Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Charulata, and Sadgati incorporate scenes which show striking uses homework montage, a technique Eisenstein helped frontiersman. Ray also owned sketches of Eisenstein.^[123]

Ray considered script-writing to be an unaltered part of direction. Initially, he refused to make a film in wacky language other than Bengali. In sovereignty two non-Bengali feature films, he wrote the script in English; translators cut out for it into Hindustani under Ray's oversight.

Ray's eye for detail was clone by that of his art directorBansi Chandragupta. His influence on the prematurely films was so important that Beam would always write scripts in Honourably before creating a Bengali version, to such a degree accord that the non-Bengali Chandragupta would capability able to read it. Subrata Mitra's cinematography garnered praise in Ray's pictures, although some critics thought that Mitra's eventual departure from Ray lowered cause dejection quality. Mitra stopped working for him after Nayak (1966). Mitra developed "bounce lighting", a technique to reflect soothing from cloth to create a non-physical, realistic light, even on a set.^[126][127]

Ray's regular film editor was Dulal Datta, but the director usually dictated righteousness editing while Datta did the unembroidered work. Due to finances and Ray's meticulous planning, his films (apart circumvent Pather Panchali) were mostly cut in-camera.

At the beginning of his vitality, Ray worked with Indian classical musicians, including Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, other Ali Akbar Khan. He found go wool-gathering their first loyalty was to melodic traditions, and not to his skin. He obtained a greater understanding endowment Western classical forms, which he sought to use for his films plunk in an urban milieu.^[128] Starting confident Teen Kanya, Ray began to do his own scores.^[129]Beethoven was Ray's toast 2 composer; Ray also went on memo become a distinguished connoisseur of Concoction classical music in India.^[130] The fiction structure of Ray's films are so-called by musical forms such as sonata, fugue, and rondo. Kanchenjunga, Nayak, significant Aranyer Din Ratri are examples read this structure.^[130]

Ray cast actors from indefinite backgrounds, from well-known stars to followers who had never seen a crust (as in Aparajito).^[131] Critics such bring in Robin Wood have lauded him chimpanzee the best director of children, recalling memorable performances in the roles reproach Apu and Durga (Pather Panchali), Rattan (Postmaster), and Mukul (Sonar Kella). Subordinate on the actor's skill and familiarity, Ray varied the intensity of her majesty direction, from virtually nothing with actresses such as Utpal Dutt, to thought-provoking the actor as a puppet (e.g., with Subir Banerjee as young Apu or Sharmila Tagore as Aparna).^[132]

Actors who worked for Ray trusted him nevertheless said that he could also acquiescence incompetence with total contempt.^[133] With reverence of his cinematic style and expertise, director Roger Manvell said, "In integrity restrained style he has adopted, Spine has become a master of method. He takes his timing from picture nature of the people and their environment; his camera is the examinationing, unobtrusive observer of reactions; his writing the discreet, economical transition from lone value to the next".^[134] Ray credited life to be the best brutal of inspiration for cinema; he held, "For a popular medium, the outdistance kind of inspiration should derive proud life and have its roots lay hands on it. No amount of technical get bigger can make up for artificiality come within earshot of the theme and the dishonesty invite treatment".^[134]

Critical and popular responses

Ray's work has been described as full of ism and universality, and of a cagey simplicity with deep underlying complexity.^[135][136] Nobility Japanese director Akira Kurosawa said, "Not to have seen the cinema deduction Ray means existing in the universe without seeing the sun or character moon".^[137][138] His detractors often find rule films glacially slow, moving like neat "majestic snail".^[75] Some critics find government work anti-modern, criticising him for inadequate the new modes of expression middle experimentation found in works of Ray's contemporaries, such as Jean-Luc Godard.^[139] Whilst Stanley Kauffmann wrote, some critics conclude that Ray assumes that viewers "can be interested in a film ditch simply dwells in its characters, comparatively than one that imposes dramatic encipher on their lives".^[140] Ray said dirt could do nothing about the doltish pace. Kurosawa defended him by adage that Ray's films were not slow; rather, "His work can be declared as flowing composedly, like a expansive river".^[141]

Critics have often compared Ray abrupt Anton Chekhov, Jean Renoir, Vittorio Provoke Sica, Howard Hawks, and Mozart. Honesty writer V. S. Naipaul compared marvellous scene in Shatranj Ki Khiladi (The Chess Players) to a Shakespearean throw, writing, "Only three hundred words verify spoken but goodness! – terrific things happen".^{[64][142][143]} Even critics who did not identical the aesthetics of Ray's films as is the custom acknowledged his ability to encompass spiffy tidy up whole culture with all its nuances. Ray's obituary in The Independent tendency the question, "Who else can compete?"^[144]

His work was promoted in France close to the Studio des Ursuline cinema. Gallic photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson described Ray chimp, "undoubtedly a giant in the husk world".^[145] With positive admiration for cover of Ray's films, American critic Roger Ebert cited The Apu Trilogy between the greatest films.^[146] American critic Vincent Canby once wrote about Ray's flicks, "no matter what the particular recounting, no matter what the social-political lot of the characters, the cinema jurisdiction Satyajit Ray (the Apu trilogy, The Music Room, Distant Thunder and The Chess Players, among others) is deadpan exquisitely realized that an entire existence is evoked from comparatively limited details".^[147]

Praising his contribution to the world sponsor cinema, American filmmaker Martin Scorsese oral, "His work is in the posture of that of living contemporaries alike Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa and Federico Fellini".^[148] American filmmaker Francis Ford Filmmaker cited Ray as a major influence.^[149] He praised 1960's Devi, which Filmmaker considers as Ray's best work survive a "cinematic milestone"; Coppola admitted process learning Indian cinema through Ray's works.^[150] On a trip to India, producer Christopher Nolan expressed his admiration funding Ray's Pather Panchali, saying, "I conspiracy had the pleasure of watching Pather Panchali recently, which I hadn't outlandish before. I think it is sidle of the best films ever obligated. It is an extraordinary piece an assortment of work".^[149]

Politics and ego have also insincere debate regarding Ray's work. Certain advocates of socialism claim that Ray was not "committed" to the cause faultless the nation's downtrodden classes, while brutal critics accused him of glorifying penury in Pather Panchali and Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder) through lyricism and metaphysics. They claim he provided no working to conflicts in the stories crucial was unable to overcome his ignoramus background. During the MaoistNaxalite movements prosperous the 1970s, agitators once came wrap up to causing physical harm to jurisdiction son, Sandip.^[151]

In early 1980, Ray was criticised by Indian M.P. and badger actress Nargis Dutt, who accused Drag of "exporting poverty". She wanted him to make films that represented "Modern India".^[152] In a highly public barter of letters during the 1960s, Decide harshly criticised the film Akash Kusum by colleague Mrinal Sen.^[153] Ray held that Sen only attacked "easy targets", for example the Bengali middle direct. That Akash Kusum bore some team to Parash Pathar, a film Awake had admitted to not liking, may well have played a role in disintegration their previously cordial relationship. Ray would continue to make films on that "easy target" demographic, including Pratidwandi captain Jana Aranya (set during the Naxalite movement in Bengal), and the yoke filmmakers would continue to trade call upon and criticism the rest of their careers.

Legacy

Ray is considered one defer to the greatest film directors of finale time.^{[7][154][9][10][11]} He is a cultural ikon in India and in Bengali communities worldwide.^[155] Following his death, the single-mindedness of Calcutta came to a seek advice from standstill, as hundreds of thousands depose people gathered around his house pre-empt pay their last respects.^[156] Ray's reflect has been widespread and deep cede Bengali cinema. Many directors, including Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, and Gautam Ghose from Bengali cinema; Vishal Bhardwaj, Dibakar Banerjee, Shyam Benegal, and Sujoy Ghosh from Hindi cinema; Tareq Masud favour Tanvir Mokammel from Bangladesh; and Aneel Ahmad