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EntertainmentPosted at: Apr 23 2016 4:11PM


Satyajit Ray: a polymath-author & face changer of Indian cinema remembered on death anniversary

By Shalini Sajwan
New Delhi, Apr 24 (UNI) In the Twentieth Century(1921) Indian cinema was not aware about a child blooming in the street of (Calcutta) Kolkata, he was exceptional and was born to change the face of Indian cinema..,..the time flew and the child grown up as the maestro Satyajit Ray.
Satyajit was a polymath – artist, ad designer, author, film-maker and thinker, he himself became the new era of cinema, his humanistic approach to films is considered unmatched to this day also. He made his films mostly in Bengali -- highlighting relationships, emotions, conflicts, joys and sorrows, yet they are of universal interest.
From today 24 years back, global cinema lost the legend, who revived the Indian film industry with his art, he always considered script writing to be an integral part of direction and never made films in any language other than Bengali. For his two non-Bengali feature films, he wrote He was controlled, precise, meticulous, and yet, evoked deep emotional response from the audience. His films depict a fine sensitivity without using melodrama or dramatic excess. He evolved a cinematic style that is almost invisible. He strongly believed "the best technique is the one that's not noticeable.
Ray debut as a director in the industry with his first film, "Pather Panchali" (1955) which made him as a major film director -- winning numerous awards including Best Human Document at the Cannes (1956). It is the first film of the Apu trilogy.
His later films include "Jalsaghar"(1958), "Devi"(1960), "Tin Kanya"(1961), "Charulata"(1964), "Nayak" (1966), "Asani Sanket" (1973), "Shatranj Ke Khiladi" (1977), "Ghare Baire" (1984), "Ganashatru" (1989) and "Shakha Prashakha" (1991). "Agantuk" (1991) was his last film.
Ray directly controlled many aspects of filmmaking. He wrote the screenplays for all his films, several of which were based on his own stories. He designed the sets and costumes; operated the camera since "Charulata" (1964); composed music for all his films since 1961 and designed the publicity posters. He even designed a new typeface. In 1961, he revived and continued to publish the Bengali children's magazine 'Sandesh', which was founded by his grandfather Upendrakishore Ray.
In 1978, the organising committee of the Berlin Film Festival ranked Ray as one of the three all-time best directors. In 1992, Ray received the honorary Academy Award -- Lifetime Achievement -- "In recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures and for his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world." Other honours include Legion d'Honneur (from France) and Bharat Ratna.
Being from an authors family it is but natural that Ray would inherit a few of these genes. He did, and created one of the most popular sleuths ever created in a regional language – Felu-da (“da” means elder brother in Bengali). Felu-da, aka Pradosh Chandra Mittir is a Indian version of Sherlock Holmes (Ray repeatedly admitted the influence of Holmes in creating this character – in one particular story, Ray also takes Felu to London where he stands in front of 221B Baker Street and pays homage to Holmes).
Ray also pen down many famous books -- 'Professor Shonku' (1965), 'Our Films, Their Films'(1976), 'My Years With Apu'(1994), 'The Royal Bengal Mystery', 'Incident On The Kalka Mail', and many others.
Remembering his days when he worked with the legendary director, veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan today on his Twitter handle, wrote, "T 2234 - Satyajit Ray death anniversary .. had the great privilege of giving my voice in one of his films .. SKK" Known Sand Artist Sudarsan Pattnaik also paid tribute to the legend and tweeted along with a photograph, "Remembering the Greatest Filmmaker #SatyajitRay on his DeathAnni today. My SandArt at Cannes FilmFestival in 2014"
The Tweets also gave tribute to Ray!!
One Annie Paul wrote, "EPIC! Satyajit Ray, Antonioni and Kurosawa at the Taj Mahal. In Random Inane Observations how handsome Ray was!" Gautam Purohit ‏@gautam4news, "Satyajit Ray - 'the man himself' (23 April 1992) was Writer, Director, Composer, Producer, Lyricist, Screenwriter"
Beth Loves Bollywood ‏@bethlovesbolly, "@Skunkola I'm almost wondering if it's Satyajit Ray's Nayak, which is primarily about a man (but not entirely). Bengali film."
Anubhav ‏@AnubhavGaur2, "Remembering Satyajit Ray on his death anniversary. Difficult to decide but my favorite "Shantranj Ke Khiladi"#YunHi"
Raj ‏@rajkashana, "Once Doordarshan was showing Satyajit Ray movies at night. It was exam time. I barely passed the exams but did not miss a single movie. :)"
S M S ‏@BookLuster, "World Book Day and birthdays of Shakespeare & Satyajit Ray all being on the same day calls for insane amounts of reading today!
Ray is no more between us, but his soul, his work, books, movie and his stories will stay forever.
UNI SHS SS
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