“জানার কোনো শেষ নাই, জানার চেষ্টা বৃথা তাই” (There is no end to knowing, so trying to know is futile) – Hirak Rajar Deshey

“মানুষ কি চায় — উন্নতি, না আনন্দ?” (What does a man want – progress, or joy?)- Aparajito

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Welcome to the world of Ray’s visual masterpieces where films transcend mere entertainment and become the soulful window to visually striking aesthetics, characterised by the essence of human experiences and the complexities of human emotions and social dynamics.

Whether you are Gen Z or Generation Alpha, kids of today are growing up with fast-paced and global storytelling. In today’s world, where infinite reels and scrolls have become the content norm, the name Satyajit Ray is that eternal flame in the world of cinema, whose storytelling lights the human soul even now. He was the man who exposed us to Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s world of Apu, the child who wasn’t afraid to run after trains and his dream, and Feluda, who was for generations above and beyond the neighbourhood detective who gave us the taste of crime, thrill and wit. Satyajit Ray’s films put Indian cinema on the global map that portrayed profound truth, helping viewers lean into the world of rural India where emotion, sound and silence weaved stories by using the camera as the thread.

Born on 2 May 1921, in the cradle of a home that boasted art patrons and social reformists, his paternal grandfather Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, was a prominent leader of the Brahmo Samaj, and his father Sukumar Ray was the master of nonsense verse. His grandfather is also credited with the legacy of the Sandesh magazine, which at one point in time, went out of print due to financial constraints. However, Satyajit Ray revived the magazine in 1961 and remained closely associated with it until his death on 23 April 1992.

Completing his graduation from Presidency College, Satyajit Ray entered a turning point in his life when he enrolled at the Visva Bharati University in Shantiniketan. Under the tutelage of Nandalal Bose and Benode Bihari Mukherjee, Satyajit Ray explored the depths of lines, shades and forms, which would later on become the founding stones of his career as an illustrator and filmmaker. Joining as an art director at a British-owned advertising agency, and then later joining as a commercial illustrator at a publishing house, it was there that Satyajit Ray came across Pather Panchali by Bibhuti Bhushan Banerjee that intrigued and gave rise to the endless possibilities that he would later explore as a filmmaker.

Growing up watching Hollywood films made by directors John Ford, Charlie Chaplin, and Billy Wilder, he had a great admiration for the French director Jean Renoir as well, with whom he had an association in 1951 where he had assisted the director in the shooting of his film The River. It was in 1950 while travelling to London while working as a graphic designer for Signet Press that he came across Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neorealist-influenced film Bicycle Thieves, which fueled his artistic vision and passion for visual storytelling further.

A self-funded passion project, Satyajit Ray had to sell all his possessions to make his first film owing to the fact that he was unable to find producers. With first-time actors and an amateur crew, the making of the film faced several obstacles until the Government of West Bengal stepped in to fund the project. Released in 1955, Pather Panchali gained momentum with screening at Cannes in 1956 and later receiving awards, it unfolded history, taking viewers inside a world that felt humanistic, real as if it never belonged in a reel world. Akira Kurosawa had famously stated, “Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.” What followed Pather Panchali were two films of the trilogy Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959).

A revolution began with Ray’s cinematic offering. From Charulata, Jalsaghar, Mahanagar, and Ghare Baire to Kanchenjungha (his first colour film), his films dazzled us with raw, unadulterated human emotions, empathy, showing that beauty was not in the grandeur but in the small joys, silences, struggles that we as humans experienced in our mundane lives every day. His masterful storytelling ability and intricate portrayal of the human nuances ultimately led him to being honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Honorary Academy Award (Oscar) in 1992.

However, you would be mistaken if you thought this stalwart who initiated discourse on Indian cinema was just a filmmaker, he was a cultural titan who excelled at everything from being an author, illustrator, lyricist to a magazine editor. Among his magnum opus works, Feluda, Professor Shonku, and Tarinikhuro will always and forever be a part of one’s Bengali childhood.