81-692: Ritwik Kumar Ghatak ( listen ; 4 November 1925 – 6 February 1976) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers like Satyajit Ray , Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen , his cinema is primarily remembered for its meticulous depiction of social reality, partition and feminism. He won the National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director's Award from Bangladesh Cine Journalist's Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam . The Government of India honoured him with
162-416: A heart attack ; it would severely limit his productivity in the remaining nine years of his life. Ghare Baire , an adaptation of the novel of the same name , was completed in 1984 with the help of Ray's son , who served as a camera operator from then onward. It is about the dangers of fervent nationalism ; he wrote the first draft of a script for it in the 1940s. Despite rough patches due to Ray's illness,
243-612: A MoMA exhibition the following year. Six months later, American director John Huston , on a visit to India for some early location scouting for The Man Who Would Be King , saw excerpts of the unfinished film and recognised "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 to critical acclaim. It earned numerous awards and had long theatrical runs in India and abroad. The Times of India wrote, "It
324-653: A children's magazine started by Upendrakishore. Ray studied at Ballygunge Government High School in Calcutta, and completed his BA in economics at Presidency College, Calcutta (then affiliated with the University of Calcutta ). During his school days, he saw a number of Hollywood productions in cinema. The works of Charlie Chaplin , Buster Keaton , Harold Lloyd , and Ernst Lubitsch and movies such as The Thief of Baghdad (1924) and Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) made lasting impression on his mind. He developed
405-531: A docufeature titled Nobo Nagarik . Ghatak's younger daughter died in 2009. In 1948, Ghatak wrote his first play Kalo sayar (The Dark Lake) and participated in a revival of the landmark play Nabanna . Ghatak, who was a member of the Communist Party of India till he was expelled in 1955, was one of the main leaders behind the party's cultural wing, the Indian People's Theatre Association . He
486-460: A documentary realism, a stylised performance often drawn from the folk theatre, and a Brechtian use of the filmic apparatus. Ghatak moved briefly to Pune in 1966, where he taught at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). His students included film makers Mani Kaul , Kumar Shahani , Adoor Gopalkrishnan , Saeed Akhtar Mirza , John Abraham . During his year at FTII , he was involved in
567-567: A film on the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War but later abandoned the idea, saying that, as a filmmaker, he was more interested in the travails of the refugees and not the politics. In 1977, Ray completed Shatranj Ke Khilari ( The Chess Players ), a Hindustani film based on a short story by Munshi Premchand . It was set in Lucknow in the state of Oudh , a year before the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . A commentary on issues related to
648-412: A generally muted reception. In 1967, Ray wrote a script for a film to be called The Alien , based on his short story "Bankubabur Bandhu" ("Banku Babu's Friend"), which he wrote in 1962 for Sandesh magazine. It was planned to be a U.S. and India co-production with Columbia Pictures , with Marlon Brando and Peter Sellers cast in the leading roles. Ray found that his script had been copyrighted and
729-710: A keen interest in Western classical music . In 1940, his mother insisted that he study at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan , founded by writer Rabindranath Tagore . Ray was reluctant to go, due to his fondness for Calcutta and low regard for the intellectual life at Santiniketan. His mother's persuasiveness and his respect for Tagore, however, finally convinced him to get admitted there for higher studies in Fine Art . In Santiniketan, Ray came to appreciate Oriental art . He later admitted that he learned much from
810-544: A leader of the Brahmo Samaj , a religious and social movement in 19th-century Bengal . He set up a printing press named U. Ray and Sons . Satyajit's father and Upendrakishore's son, Sukumar Ray , who was also born in Kishorganj , was an illustrator, critic, and a pioneering Bengali writer of nonsense rhyme ( Abol Tabol ) and children's literature. Social worker and children's book author Shukhalata Rao
891-478: A leading Indian typographer and book-jacket designer. Ray designed covers for many 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 version of Pather Panchali , a classic Bengali novel by Bandyopadhyay, renamed Aam Antir Bhepu ( The Mango-Seed Whistle ). Ray designed
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#1732790904736972-545: A similar plot to François Truffaut 's The 400 Blows (1959), but Ghatak's film remained obscure while Truffaut's went on to become one of the more famous of the French New Wave . One of Ghatak's later films, Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (1973), is one of the early to be told in a hyperlink format , featuring multiple characters in a collection of interconnected stories, predating Robert Altman 's Nashville (1975) by two years. Ghatak's only major commercial success
1053-402: A sleuth, and Professor Shonku , a scientist. The Feluda stories are narrated by Tapesh Ranjan Mitra, aka Topshe, his teenage cousin, something of a Watson to Feluda's Holmes . The science fiction stories of Shonku are presented as a diary discovered after the scientist mysteriously disappeared. Ray also wrote a collection of nonsense verse named Today Bandha Ghorar Dim , which includes
1134-555: A son, Sandip Ray , who also became a film director. In the same year, French 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 on his mind, and Renoir encouraged him in the project. In 1950, D.J. Keymer sent Ray to London to work at their headquarters. During his six months there, Ray watched 99 films, including Alexander Dovzhenko 's Earth (1930) and Jean Renoir's The Rules of
1215-524: A steady source of income. In 1962, Ray directed Kanchenjungha . Based on his first original screenplay, it was also his first colour film. It tells the story of an upper-class family spending an afternoon in Darjeeling , a picturesque hill town in West Bengal . They try to arrange the engagement of their youngest daughter to a highly paid engineer educated in London. Ray had first conceived shooting
1296-478: A translation of Lewis Carroll 's " Jabberwocky ". He wrote a collection of humorous stories of Mullah Nasiruddin in Bengali . Ajantrik Ajantrik (known internationally as The Unmechanical , The Mechanical Man or The Pathetic Fallacy ) is a 1958 Indian Bengali film written and directed by revered parallel filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak . The film is adapted from a Bengali short story of
1377-446: A view of history". In 1980, Ray made a sequel to Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne , a somewhat political Hirak Rajar Deshe ( Kingdom of Diamonds ). The kingdom of the evil Diamond King, or Hirok Raj, is an allusion to India during Indira Gandhi 's emergency period . Along with his acclaimed short film Pikoo ( Pikoo's Diary ) and the hour-long Hindi film, Sadgati , this was the culmination of his work in this period. When E.T.
1458-519: A young wife who is deified by her father-in-law. Ray was worried that the Central Board of Film Certification might block his film, or at least make him re-cut it, but Devi was spared. Upon international distribution, the critic from Chicago Reader described the film as, "full of sensuality and ironic undertones". In 1961, on the insistence of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru , Ray was commissioned to make Rabindranath Tagore , based on
1539-497: Is 1966's Nayak ( The Hero ), the story of a screen hero travelling in a train and meeting a young, sympathetic female journalist. Starring Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore , in the twenty-four hours of the journey, the film explores the inner conflict of the apparently highly successful matinée idol . Although the film received a "Critics Prize" at the Berlin International Film Festival , it had
1620-608: Is a taxi-driver in a small provincial town . He lives alone. His taxi (an old 1920 Chevrolet jalopy which he named Jagaddal ) is his only companion and, although very battered, it is the apple of Bimal's eye. The film shows episodes from his life in the industrial wasteland, transporting people from one place to another. Film critic Georges Sadoul shared his experience of watching the film in this way. He said, "What does 'Ajantrik' mean? I don't know and I believe no one in Venice Film Festival knew...I can't tell
1701-638: Is a semi-autobiographical novel describing the maturation of Apu, a small boy in a Bengal village. Pather Panchali did not have a script; it was made from Ray's drawings and notes. Before principal photography began, he created a storyboard dealing with details and continuity. Years later, he donated those drawings and notes to Cinémathèque Française . Ray gathered an inexperienced crew, although both his cameraman Subrata Mitra and art director Bansi Chandragupta would go on to achieve great acclaim. The cast consisted of mostly amateur actors. After unsuccessful attempts to persuade many producers to finance
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#17327909047361782-497: Is absurd to compare it with any other Indian cinema [...] Pather Panchali is pure cinema". In the United Kingdom , Lindsay Anderson wrote a positive review of the film. However, the film also gained negative reactions; François Truffaut was reported to have said, "I don't want to see a movie of peasants eating with their hands". Bosley Crowther , then the most influential critic of The New York Times , criticised
1863-439: Is influenced by Ghatak." Ghatak was a theorist as well. His views and commentaries on films have been parts of scholarly studies and researches. As a filmmaker, his main concentration was on men and life, especially the day-to-day struggle of ordinary people. He could never accept the partition of Bengal of 1947 which divided Bengal and created a new country. In almost all his films, he dealt with this theme. For him, filmmaking
1944-522: Is like a prayer, affirming that this is what the cinema can be, no matter how far in our cynicism we may stray". Despite Ray's success, it had little influence on his personal life in the years to come. He continued to live with his wife and children in a rented house on Lake Avenue in South Calcutta, with his mother, uncle, and other members of his extended family. The home is currently owned by ISKCON . During this period, Ray made films about
2025-526: Is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors in the history of cinema . He is celebrated for works including The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963) , Charulata (1964), and the Goopy–Bagha trilogy (1969–1992). Ray was born in Calcutta to author Sukumar Ray and Suprabha Ray. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray
2106-430: The 1956 Cannes Film Festival . This film, along with Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar ( The World of Apu ) (1959), form The Apu Trilogy . Ray did the scripting , casting , scoring , and editing for the movie and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. He also authored several short stories and novels, primarily for young children and teenagers. Popular characters created by Ray include Feluda
2187-521: The British Raj period, a documentary on Tagore , a comic film ( Mahapurush ), and his first film from an original screenplay ( Kanchenjungha ). He also made a series of films that, taken together, are considered by critics among the most deeply felt portrayals of Indian women on screen. Ray followed Apur Sansar with 1960's Devi ( The Goddess ), a film in which he examined the superstitions in society. Sharmila Tagore starred as Doyamoyee,
2268-517: The Calcutta Film Society in 1947. They screened many foreign films, many of which Ray watched and seriously studied, including several American and Russian films. The use of Indian music and dancing in the 1948 Indian film Kalpana ( transl. Imagination ), directed by the celebrated dancer Uday Shankar , had an impact on Ray. In 1949, Ray married Bijoya Das , his first cousin and long-time sweetheart. The couple had
2349-547: The Padma Shri for Arts in 1970. Ritaban Ghatak, his son, is also a filmmaker and is involved in the Ritwik Memorial Trust. He has restored Ritwik's Bagalar Banga Darshan , Ronger Golam and completed his unfinished documentary on Ramkinkar. Ritaban has made a film titled Unfinished Ritwik . He is working on adapting Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay 's novel Ichhamati . Ghatak's elder daughter Samhita, made
2430-500: The colonisation of India by the British , it was Ray's first feature film in a language other than Bengali . It starred a high-profile cast including Sanjeev Kumar , Saeed Jaffrey , Amjad Khan , Shabana Azmi , Victor Bannerjee , and Richard Attenborough . Despite the film's limited budget, a The Washington Post critic gave it a positive review, writing, "He [Ray] possesses what many overindulged Hollywood filmmakers often lack:
2511-417: The 1970s, Ray adapted two of his popular stories as detective films. Although mainly aimed at children and young adults, both Sonar Kella ( The Golden Fortress ) and Joi Baba Felunath ( The Elephant God ) became cult favourites. In a 2019 review of Sonar Kella , critic Rouven Linnarz was impressed with its use of Indian classical instruments to generate "mysterious progression". Ray considered making
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2592-506: The 8th greatest director of all time. Satyajit Ray's ancestry can be traced back for at least ten generations. His family had acquired the name " Ray ". Although they were Bengali Kayasthas , the Rays were " Vaishnavas " (worshippers of Vishnu ), as opposed to the majority of Bengali Kayasthas, who were " Shaktos " (worshippers of the Shakti or Shiva ). The earliest-recorded ancestor of
2673-459: The British and Indian employees of the firm. The British were better paid, and Ray felt that "the clients were generally stupid". In 1943, Ray started a second job for the Signet Press , a new publishing house started by D.K. Gupta. Gupta asked Ray to create book cover designs for the company and gave him complete artistic freedom. Ray established himself as a commercial illustrator, becoming
2754-653: The Forest ) follows four urban young men going to the forests for a vacation. They try to leave their daily lives behind, but one of them encounters women, and it becomes a deep study of the Indian middle class. First shown at the New York Film Festival in 1970, critic Pauline Kael wrote, "Satyajit Ray's films can give rise to a more complex feeling of happiness in me than the work of any other director [...] No artist has done more than Ray to make us reevaluate
2835-494: The Game (1939). However, the film that had the most profound effect on him was the neorealist film Ladri di biciclette ( Bicycle Thieves ) (1948) by Vittorio De Sica . Ray later said that he walked out of the theatre determined to become a filmmaker. After being "deeply moved" by Pather Panchali , the 1928 classic Bildungsroman of Bengali literature , Ray decided to adapt it for his first film. Pather Panchali
2916-772: The Hindi film Karz (1980), both of which dealt with reincarnation and have been influential in their respective cultures. Karz in particular was remade several times: as the Kannada film Yuga Purusha (1989), the Tamil film Enakkul Oruvan (1984), and more recently the Bollywood Karzzzz (2008). Karz and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud may have inspired the American Chances Are (1989). The most recent film to be directly inspired by Madhumati
2997-424: The Indian government to incorporate a happy ending, but he did receive funding that allowed him to complete the film. Monroe Wheeler , head of the department of exhibitions and publications at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), heard about the project when he visited Calcutta in 1954. He considered the incomplete footage to be of high quality and encouraged Ray to finish the film so that it could be shown at
3078-575: The Ray family was Ramsunder Deo (Deb), born in the middle of the sixteenth century. He was a native of Chakdah village in the Nadia district of present-day West Bengal , India , and migrated to Sherpur in East Bengal . He became son-in-law of the ruler of Jashodal (in the present day Kishoreganj District of Bangladesh ) and was granted a jagir (a feudal land grant). His descendants migrated to
3159-401: The art course in 1942, as he could not feel inspired to become a painter. In 1943, Ray started working at D.J. Keymer, a British advertising agency, as a junior visualiser. Here he was trained in Indian commercial art under artist Annada Munshi , the then-Art Director of D.J. Keymer. Although he liked visual design (graphic design) and he was mostly treated well, there was tension between
3240-459: The children's magazine which his grandfather had founded. Ray had been saving money for some years to make this possible. A duality in the name ( Sandesh means both "news" in Bengali and also a sweet popular dessert) set the tone of the magazine (both educational and entertaining). Ray began to make illustrations for it, as well as to write stories and essays for children. Writing eventually became
3321-539: The comic Parash Pathar ( The Philosopher's Stone ), and Jalsaghar ( The Music Room ), a film about the decadence of the Zamindars , considered one of his most important works. Time Out magazine gave Jalsaghar a positive review, describing it as "slow, rapt and hypnotic". While making Aparajito , Ray had not planned a trilogy, but after he was asked about the idea in Venice, it appealed to him. He finished
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3402-734: The commonplace". Writing for the BBC in 2002, Jamie Russell complimented the script, pacing, and mixture of emotions. According to one critic, Robin Wood , "a single sequence [of the film] ... would offer material for a short essay". After Aranyer Din Ratri , Ray addressed contemporary Bengali life. He completed what became known as the Calcutta trilogy: Pratidwandi (1970), Seemabaddha (1971), and Jana Aranya (1975), three films that were conceived separately but had similar themes. The trilogy focuses on repression, with male protagonists encountering
3483-512: The corruption of three of his sons. The final scene shows the father finding solace only in the companionship of his fourth son, who is uncorrupted but mentally ill due to a head injury sustained while he was studying in England. Ray's last film, Agantuk ( The Stranger ), is lighter in mood but not in theme; when a long-lost uncle arrives to visit his niece in Calcutta, he arouses suspicion as to his motive. It provokes far-ranging questions in
3564-512: The cover and illustrated the book and was deeply influenced by the work. He used it as the subject of his first film and featured his illustrations as shots in it. Ray befriended the American soldiers stationed in Calcutta during World War II , who kept him informed about the latest American films showing in the city. He came to know an RAF employee, Norman Clare, who shared Ray's passion for films, chess , and Western classical music. Ray
3645-676: The eternal struggle between the ambitions of a young man, Apu, and the mother who loves him. Upon release, Aparajito won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival , bringing Ray considerable acclaim. In a retrospective review, Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle praised Ray for his ability to capture emotions and blend music with storytelling to create a "flawless" picture. Critics such as Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak rank it higher than Ray's first film. Ray directed and released two other films in 1958:
3726-487: The famous Indian painters Nandalal Bose and Benode Behari Mukherjee . He later produced a documentary, The Inner Eye , about Mukherjee. His visits to the cave temples of Ajanta , Ellora , and Elephanta stimulated his admiration for Indian art . Three books that he read in the university influenced him to become a serious student of film-making: Paul Rotha 's The Film Till Now and two books on theory by Rudolf Arnheim and Raymond Spottiswoode . Ray dropped out of
3807-583: The fee appropriated by Mike Wilson. Wilson had initially approached Ray through their mutual friend, author Arthur C. Clarke , to represent him in Hollywood . Wilson copyrighted the script, credited to Mike Wilson & Satyajit Ray , although he contributed only one word. Ray later said that he never received compensation for the script. After Brando dropped out of the project, the producers tried to replace him with James Coburn , but Ray became disillusioned and returned to Calcutta. Columbia attempted to revive
3888-605: The film a mixed review; he praised Ray's "soft and relaxed" filmmaking but thought the characters were clichés. In 1964, Ray directed Charulata ( The Lonely Wife ). One of Ray's favourite films, it was regarded by many critics as his most accomplished. Based on Tagore's short story, Nastanirh ( Broken Nest ), the film tells of a lonely wife, Charu, in 19th-century Bengal, and her growing feelings for her brother-in-law Amal. In retrospective reviews, The Guardian called it "extraordinarily vivid and fresh", while The Sydney Morning Herald praised Madhabi Mukherjee 's casting,
3969-408: The film about civilisation . Critic Hal Hinson was impressed, and thought Agantuk shows "all the virtues of a master artist in full maturity". A heavy smoker but non-drinker, Ray valued work more than anything else. He would work 12 hours a day, and go to bed at two o'clock in the morning. He also enjoyed collecting antiques, manuscripts, rare gramophone records, paintings, and rare books. He
4050-453: The film did receive some acclaim; critic Vincent Canby gave the film a maximum rating of five stars and praised the performances of the three lead actors. It also featured the first kiss scene portrayed in Ray's films. In 1987, Ray recovered to an extent to direct the 1990 film Shakha Proshakha ( Branches of the Tree ). It depicts an old man, who has lived a life of honesty, and learns of
4131-465: The film in a large mansion, but later decided to film it in the famous town. He used many shades of light and mist to reflect the tension in the drama. Ray noted that while his script allowed shooting to be possible under any lighting conditions, a commercial film crew in Darjeeling failed to shoot a single scene, as they only wanted to do so in sunshine. The New York Times ' Bosley Crowther gave
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#17327909047364212-524: The film was also difficult to finance. Ray abandoned his desire to shoot it in colour, as he turned down an offer that would have forced him to cast a certain Hindi film actor as the lead. He also composed the songs and music for the film. Next, Ray directed the film adaptation of a novel by the poet and writer, Sunil Gangopadhyay . Featuring a musical motif structure acclaimed as more complex than Charulata , Aranyer Din Ratri (1970) ( Days and Nights in
4293-564: The film's loose structure and conceded that it "takes patience to be enjoyed". Edward Harrison, an American distributor, was worried that Crowther's review would dissuade audiences, but the film enjoyed an eight months theatrical run in the United States. Ray's international career started in earnest after the success of his next film, the second in The Apu Trilogy , Aparajito (1956) ( The Unvanquished ). This film depicts
4374-680: The film's visual style, and its camera movements. Ray said the film contained the fewest flaws among his work and it was his only work which, given a chance, he would make exactly the same way. At the 15th Berlin International Film Festival , Charulata earned him a Silver Bear for Best Director . Other films in this period include Mahanagar ( The Big City ), Teen Kanya ( Three Daughters ), Abhijan ( The Expedition ), Kapurush ( The Coward ) and Mahapurush ( Holy Man ). The first of these, Mahanagar , drew praise from British critics; Philip French opined that it
4455-518: The forbidden. Pratidwandi ( The Adversary ) is about an idealist young graduate; while disillusioned by the end of film, he is still uncorrupted. Seemabaddha ( Company Limited ) portrays a successful man giving up his morality for further gains. Jana Aranya ( The Middleman ) depicts a young man giving in to the culture of corruption to earn a living. In the first film, Pratidwandi , Ray introduces new narrative techniques , such as scenes in negative, dream sequences , and abrupt flashbacks. Also in
4536-453: The last of the trilogy, Apur Sansar ( The World of Apu ) in 1959. Ray introduced two of his favourite actors, Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore , in this film. It opens with Apu living in a Calcutta house in near-poverty; he becomes involved in an unusual marriage with Aparna. The scenes of their life together form "one of the cinema's classic affirmative depictions of married life". Critics Robin Wood and Aparna Sen thought it
4617-643: The mainstream of Indian art film . Cinema and I was called by Satyajit Ray as a book that covers all aspects of filmmaking. Other students of his at the FTII included Saeed Akhtar Mirza , Subhash Ghai and Adoor Gopalakrishnan . While other filmmakers like Satyajit Ray succeeded in creating an audience outside India during their lifetime, Ghatak and his films were appreciated primarily within India. Satyajit Ray did what he could to promote his colleague, but Ray's generous praise did not translate into international fame for Ghatak. For example, Ghatak's Nagarik (1952)
4698-417: The making of two student films: Fear and Rendezvous . Ghatak died on 6 February 1976. At the time of his death, Ghatak's primary influence seemed to have been through former students. Although his stint teaching film at FTII was brief, one-time students Mani Kaul , John Abraham , and especially Kumar Shahani , carried Ghatak's ideas and theories, which were elaborated upon in his book Cinema and I , into
4779-428: The most profound influence on her view about world cinema. Bangladeshi filmmaker Shahnewaz Kakoli said she has been greatly influenced by Ritwik Ghatak's films and regarded Ghatak as her idol. She said "like all Bengalis, I too have grown up watching movies of Satyajit Ray and Ghatak, though I like Ghatak more and I idolize him. I am greatly inspired by him and consequently my movie 'Uttarer Sur' (Northern Symphony) too
4860-406: The poet of the same name , on the occasion of his birth centennial, a tribute to the person who likely most influenced Ray. Due to limited footage of Tagore, Ray was challenged by the necessity of making the film mainly with static material. He said that it took as much work as three feature films. In the same year, together with Subhas Mukhopadhyay and others, Ray was able to revive Sandesh ,
4941-400: The project, Ray started shooting in late 1952 with his personal savings and hoped to raise more money once he had some footage shot, but did not succeed on his terms. As a result, Ray shot Pather Panchali over two and a half years, an unusually long period. He refused funding from sources who wanted to change the script or exercise supervision over production. He also ignored advice from
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#17327909047365022-526: The project, without success, in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1969, Ray directed one of his most commercially successful films, a musical fantasy based on a children's story written by his grandfather, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne ( The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha ). It is about the journey of Goopy the singer and Bagha the drummer, endowed with three gifts by the King of Ghosts to stop an impending war between two neighbouring kingdoms. One of his most expensive projects,
5103-478: The reasons she became a filmmaker. Ghatak's influence as a director began to spread beyond India much later; beginning in the 1990s, a project to restore Ghatak's films was undertaken, and international exhibitions (and subsequent DVD releases) have belatedly generated an increasingly global audience. In a critics' poll of all-time greatest films conducted by the Asian film magazine Cinemaya in 1998, Subarnarekha
5184-421: The same name written by Subodh Ghosh . A comedy-drama film, Ajantrik is one of the earliest Indian films to portray an inanimate object, in this case an automobile , as a character in the story. It achieves this through the use of sounds recorded post-production to emphasize the car's bodily functions and movements. The film was considered for a special entry in the Venice Film Festival in 1959. Bimal
5265-445: The sleuth, Professor Shonku the scientist, Tarini Khuro the storyteller, and Lalmohan Ganguly the novelist. Ray received many major awards in his career, including a record thirty-seven Indian National Film Awards which includes Dadasaheb Phalke Award , a Golden Lion , a Golden Bear , two Silver Bears , many additional awards at international film festivals and ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. In 1978, he
5346-547: The village Masua in Katiadi Upazila of Kishoreganj in the first half of eighteenth century. Satyajit Ray's grandfather Upendrakishore Ray was born in Masua village, Kishorganj, in 1863. Upendrakishore's elder brother Saradaranjan Ray was one of the pioneers of Indian cricket and was called the W.G. Grace of India. Upendrakishore Ray was a writer, illustrator, philosopher , publisher, amateur astronomer , and
5427-481: Was Madhumati (1958), a Hindi film which he wrote the screenplay for. It was one of the early ones to deal with the theme of reincarnation and is believed to have been the source of inspiration for many later works dealing with reincarnation in Indian cinema , Indian television , and perhaps world cinema . It may have been the source of inspiration for the American film The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975) and
5508-481: Was a major achievement to mark the end of the trilogy. After Apur Sansar was harshly criticised by a Bengali critic, Ray wrote an article defending it. He rarely responded to critics during his filmmaking career, but also later defended his film Charulata , his personal favourite. American critic Roger Ebert summarised the trilogy as, "It is about a time, place and culture far removed from our own, and yet it connects directly and deeply with our human feelings. It
5589-434: Was a regular in the addas (freestyle casual conversations) at Coffee House , where several intellectuals frequented. He formed lasting associations with some of his compatriots there, such as Bansi Chandragupta (celebrated art director ), Kamal Kumar Majumdar ( polymath and author of stylish prose), Radha Prasad Gupta , and Chidananda Das Gupta ( film critic ). Along with Chidananda Dasgupta and others, Ray founded
5670-550: Was an atheist . In 1992, Ray's health deteriorated due to heart complications. He was admitted to a hospital but never recovered. Twenty-four days before his death, Ray was presented with an Honorary Academy Award by Audrey Hepburn via video-link; he was in gravely ill condition, but gave an acceptance speech, calling it the "best achievement of [my] movie-making career". He died on 23 April 1992, at age 70. Ray created two popular fictional characters in Bengali children's literature—Pradosh Chandra Mitter (Mitra), alias Feluda ,
5751-410: Was an art form and a means to the end of serving people. It was a means of expressing his anger at the sorrows and sufferings of his people. Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray ( Bengali pronunciation: [ˈʃotːodʒit ˈrae̯] ; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor , illustrator, calligrapher , and composer. Ray
5832-576: Was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University . The Government of India honoured him with the Bharat Ratna , its highest civilian award, in 1992. On the occasion of the birth centenary of Ray, the International Film Festival of India , in recognition of the auteur 's legacy, rechristened in 2021 its annual Lifetime Achievement award to the " Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award ". In April 2024, Forbes ranked Ray as
5913-570: Was circulating in Hollywood". (Spielberg actually graduated high school in 1965 and released his first film in 1968). Besides The Alien , two other unrealised projects that Ray had intended to direct were adaptations of the ancient Indian epic , the Mahābhārata , and E. M. Forster 's 1924 novel A Passage to India . In 1983, while working on Ghare Baire ( Home and the World ), Ray suffered
5994-411: Was drawn into independent film-making after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing Vittorio De Sica 's Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) during a visit to London. Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries, and shorts . Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best Human Document award at
6075-429: Was his aunt. Satyajit Ray was born to Sukumar Ray and Suprabha Ray ( née Das Gupta ) in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Sukumar Ray died when Satyajit was two years old. Ray grew up in the house of his grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury , and of his printing press . He was attracted by the machines and process of printing from an early age and took particular interest in the production process of Sandesh ,
6156-484: Was one of Ray's best. Also in the 1960s, Ray visited Japan and took pleasure in meeting filmmaker Akira Kurosawa , whom he highly regarded. In the post- Charulata period, Ray took on various projects, from fantasy , science fiction , and detective stories to historical dramas . Ray also experimented during this period, exploring contemporary issues of Indian life in response to the perceived lack of these issues in his films. The first major film in this period
6237-454: Was perhaps the earliest example of a Bengali art film, preceding Ray's Pather Panchali by three years but was not released until after his death in 1977. His first commercial release Ajantrik (1955) was one of the early Indian films to portray an inanimate object, an automobile , as a character in the story, many years before the Herbie films. Ghatak's Bari Theke Paliye (1958) had
6318-511: Was ranked at No. 11. In the 2002 Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll for all-time greatest films, Meghe Dhaka Tara was ranked at No. 231 and Komal Gandhar at No. 346. In 2007, A River Named Titas topped the list of 10 best Bangladeshi films , as chosen in the audience and critics' polls conducted by the British Film Institute . Russia-born German actress Elena Kazan once said Ghatak's Jukti Takko Gappo has
6399-403: Was released in 1982, Clarke and Ray saw similarities in the film to his earlier The Alien script; Ray claimed that E.T. plagiarised his script. Ray said that Steven Spielberg 's film "would not have been possible without my script of ' The Alien ' being available throughout America in mimeographed copies". Spielberg denied any plagiarism by saying, "I was a kid in high school when this script
6480-493: Was renowned for his partition trilogy Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud-capped Star), 1960; Komal Gandhar (E Flat), 1961; and Subarnarekha (The Golden Thread), 1962. Ghatak entered the film industry with Nimai Ghosh's Chinnamul (1950) as actor and assistant director. Chinnamul was followed in two years by Ghatak's first completed film Nagarik (1952), both major breakthroughs for the Indian cinema . Ghatak's early work sought theatrical and literary precedent in bringing together
6561-498: Was the hit Bollywood film Om Shanti Om (2007), which led to the late Bimal Roy 's daughter Rinki Bhattacharya accusing it of plagiarism and threatening legal action against its producers. Ghatak's work as a director influenced many later Indian filmmakers, including those from the Bengali film industry and elsewhere. Ghatak is said to have influences on Kumar Shahani , Mani Kaul, Ketan Mehta , and Adoor Gopalakrishnan . For example, Mira Nair has cited Ghatak as well as Ray as
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