^{Satyajit Ray - The Spiritual Child of Bengali Renaissance}

"Someday I'll make a great film!" remarked Satyajit ray in 1948 to his friend Chidananda Das Gupta. Das Gupta laughed. He thought Ray was joking. But, in fact, Ray was in deadly earnest though he had not begun his first film, Pather Panchali. It would take five years work and only be completed in the summer of 1955. Created against a background of tremendous difficulties, Pather Panchali was to bring the unknown Satyajit Ray international acclaim and fame.

A Short Biography

Born: May 2, 1921, Calcutta, India

Died: April 23, 1992, Calcutta, India

Education: Presidency College, The University of Calcutta (science, economics); Bisva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, West Bengal.(art history)

Occupation: Film director, screenwriter, producer Satyajit Ray was born into a family prominent in Bengali arts and science for several generations. His father, Sukumar Ray, was an eminent poet and writer in the history of Bengali literature. His grandfather, Upendrakishore Roychowdhury was also a distinguished writer. In 1940, after receiving his degree in Science and Economics from The Calcutta University, he attended Rabindranath Tagore's Visva-Bharati University at Shantiniketan. Tagore, one of the most prominent figures in India's cultural renaissance, had a strong influence on Satyajit Ray, whose humanist films reaffirm his Bengali culture and heritage within the modern concept. At Shantiniketan, he met Binode Behari Mukherjee, who happened to be his art teacher for the next two years.

In 1942, he returned to Calcutta and joined a British-run advertising agency as an artist and art director. In 1947, Ray co-founded Calcutta's first film societywith Chidananda Dasgupta and wrote articles calling for new cinema. After an influential encounter with Jean Renoir in Calcutta in 1949 and a business trip to London in 1950, where he saw Vittorico De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief(1949)" , he set out to script and direct Pather Panchali. With absolutely no experience in movie-making, Ray collected a group of youngmen to work as technician and , like Nimai Ghosh, selected group of non-professionals and also one professional actor. The result was stupendous, giving him a place among the world's living best. "Pather Panchali" (1955) won several International awards and set Ray as a world-class director.

Photo album

1.Satyajit Ray in action

2. With Indira Gandhi(the then prime minister

2. A sketch by Satyajit Ray of his wife Bijoya devi