People know a lot about Ray’s biography on bioscope. In this edition of Statesmen let’s read into early life of Ray. How was Ray made?
Ray had three great influences: His ancestry, the Bengal culture and his mother. Ray’s grandfather was a great person of his time. He was Upendrakishore Ray. He was a legendary leader and philosopher of Brahmo Samaj, a great writer and publisher, an illustrator and an amateur astronomer. He published a magazine for children named Sandesh. Ray, later in his life revived the magazine and filled the void of a quality magazine in the segment.
Ray’s father and Upendrakishore Ray’s son was Sukumar Ray. He stood with the repute of a great father. Sukumar Ray was a reputed illustrator, writer and critic. He was a legend as he championed a very complex segment of nonsense rhyme and children literature. Sukumar Ray expired when Satyajit was three years old.
Bengal had a great influence on Ray. He was brought up there and honed his skills there. His passion towards writing and fine arts was largely due to parental genes and the culture-friendly environment of Bengal. Literature of Bengal, rich by any standard, became the base of Ray’s works.
The third influence was the most prominent. His mother Suprabha Ray. After death of Ray’s father, she managed her house with little income she had. However that had little influence on Ray’s education. In Bengal, education is a top priority. Ray studied economics in the Presidency College. After his education at Presidency, his mother sends him to Vishwabharati in Shantiniketan. Ray was reluctant but his resistance was overcome by his mother’s insistence and great respect for Rabindranath Tagore. That decision reaped great yields in Ray’s life.
Love also had a positive influence on Ray’s life. Ray loved Bijoya Das and after a long era of romance married her in 1949. They had a son, Sandip Ray who followed the footsteps of his father and became a film maker.
In 1943, he left Shantiniketan and worked for a British advertising firm and also got involved with Signet Press. With the firm he learnt the skills of visual designer and with Signet he honed his skills as a graphic designer. At Signet he created covers for many books like Maneaters Of Kumaon and Discovery Of India. Meanwhile, he also worked on a children version of Pather Panchali. He loved the work and created the legend on celluloid.
His cinematic journey was begun in 1950 when he went to London at the head office of British firm. There in span of three months he watched ninety nine movies and decided to create the magic on his own. The movie that influenced him most was Bicycle Thieves. He returned and started working on his project Pather Panchali. It was difficult as he was short on funds and the progress of shooting depended on the money on stack. Great contribution of his manager Anil Chowdhury deserves a mention. Both suffered but didn’t compromise. Pather Panchali was released in ’55. Rest is history.
For The Reel; Written By: Ms. Souvika Das (Kolkata)
Ray had three great influences: His ancestry, the Bengal culture and his mother. Ray’s grandfather was a great person of his time. He was Upendrakishore Ray. He was a legendary leader and philosopher of Brahmo Samaj, a great writer and publisher, an illustrator and an amateur astronomer. He published a magazine for children named Sandesh. Ray, later in his life revived the magazine and filled the void of a quality magazine in the segment.
Ray’s father and Upendrakishore Ray’s son was Sukumar Ray. He stood with the repute of a great father. Sukumar Ray was a reputed illustrator, writer and critic. He was a legend as he championed a very complex segment of nonsense rhyme and children literature. Sukumar Ray expired when Satyajit was three years old.
Bengal had a great influence on Ray. He was brought up there and honed his skills there. His passion towards writing and fine arts was largely due to parental genes and the culture-friendly environment of Bengal. Literature of Bengal, rich by any standard, became the base of Ray’s works.
The third influence was the most prominent. His mother Suprabha Ray. After death of Ray’s father, she managed her house with little income she had. However that had little influence on Ray’s education. In Bengal, education is a top priority. Ray studied economics in the Presidency College. After his education at Presidency, his mother sends him to Vishwabharati in Shantiniketan. Ray was reluctant but his resistance was overcome by his mother’s insistence and great respect for Rabindranath Tagore. That decision reaped great yields in Ray’s life.
Love also had a positive influence on Ray’s life. Ray loved Bijoya Das and after a long era of romance married her in 1949. They had a son, Sandip Ray who followed the footsteps of his father and became a film maker.
In 1943, he left Shantiniketan and worked for a British advertising firm and also got involved with Signet Press. With the firm he learnt the skills of visual designer and with Signet he honed his skills as a graphic designer. At Signet he created covers for many books like Maneaters Of Kumaon and Discovery Of India. Meanwhile, he also worked on a children version of Pather Panchali. He loved the work and created the legend on celluloid.
His cinematic journey was begun in 1950 when he went to London at the head office of British firm. There in span of three months he watched ninety nine movies and decided to create the magic on his own. The movie that influenced him most was Bicycle Thieves. He returned and started working on his project Pather Panchali. It was difficult as he was short on funds and the progress of shooting depended on the money on stack. Great contribution of his manager Anil Chowdhury deserves a mention. Both suffered but didn’t compromise. Pather Panchali was released in ’55. Rest is history.
For The Reel; Written By: Ms. Souvika Das (Kolkata)
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