Statesmen:Satyajit Ray

Standing Tall,One of the greatest filmmaker of all time ,all, over the world...The name needs no introduction to everyone who loves Cinema...Yet for those who are ignorant, he is a master storyteller,Satyajit Ray belongs to the highest echelons of world cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Ray mastered the craft of storytelling through simple yet emotive narration. Despite being made in a vernacular language, Satyajit Ray's films appeal to a universal audience with their subtle depictions of the spectrum of human emotions and relationships

Satyajit Ray was born into an illustrious family in Calcutta in 1921. His grandfather, Upendra Kishore Ray-Chaudhary, was a publisher, musician and the creator of children’s literature in Bengali. His father, Sukumar Ray, was a noted satirist and India's first writer of nonsense rhymes, akin to the nonsense verse of Edward Lear. Later in life, Satyajit Ray made a documentary of his father's life.

Ray's debut film ,"Pather Panchali" (song of the road) , whose financing presented Ray with immense monetary problems, compelling him even to pawn his wife’s jewelry, he brought the neo-realist movement in film to India.The film is notable for the way the most mundane of occurences have been creatively captured through the eyes of child protagonist Apu. Ray later wrote, "I chose Pather Panchali for the qualities that made it a great book; its humanism; its lyricism; and its ring of truth . . . . The script had to retain some of the rambling quality of the novel because that in itself contained a clue to the feel of authenticity; life in a poor Bengali village does ramble." Little could anyone have imagined that this first film would launch Ray on one of the most brilliant careers in the history of cinema, leading eventually not only to dozens of international awards, India’s highest honor, and a lifetime achievement Oscar from Hollywood, but the unusual accolade of being voted by members of the British Film Institute as one of the three greatest directors in world cinema.
'Aparajito' and 'Apur Sansar', the other two films of 'Apu trilogy', also received rave reviews from critics and viewers alike.

Ray's later films treated more contemporary themes like the new urban culture (Nayak in 1966, Pratidwandi in 1970, Seemabaddha in 1971, Jana Aranya in 1975). With his film Shatranj Ke Khiladi ("The Chess Players", 1977), based on a short story by the famous Hindi writer Premchand, Ray broke new ground. Here he ventured into the terrain of mid-nineteenth century India, the expansion of British rule, and what (to use a cliché) might be termed the ‘clash of cultures’.

Satyajit Ray is also known for his contributions to Bengali literature. "Detective Feluda" and "Professor Shanku" are two of his popular literary creations.

Ray was a prolific short story writer, with over a dozen volumes to his credit; and he contributed regularly to the children's journal "Sandesh", which he also edited. The exploits of his fictional character Feluda, first introduced in a series of detective stories, were avidly followed by the public, and the much-beloved Feluda was later featured in a couple of his movies. Ray, who had first worked in the advertising industry, was a major graphic designer, and designed hundreds of book jackets; he also illustrated his own books, besides those of many others.

He scored the music for some of his films (though the music for the Apu Trilogy was composed by Ravi Shankar, and for Jalsaghar by the incomparable Vilayat Khan). Not surprisingly, then, his fellow Bengalis at least thought of him as a "Renaissance Man", and he was hailed as the successor of Rabindranath Tagore.
Ray had a tendency, evident as much in an early film like Devi (1960) as in Ganashatru ("An Enemy of the People", after Ibsen’s play of the same title), completed nearly thirty years later, to oppose modernity to tradition, rationality to superstition, and science to faith – and all this in an embarrassingly simplistic fashion, at least on occasion. Ray was unequivocally clear that he stood for science and modernity, and consequently he was incapable, as Ganashatru amply showed, of showing tradition as anything but superstition. Ray belongs to the great tradition of humanism, doubtless ennobling but, in some respects, acutely shortsighted.

Satyajit Ray was no alien to awards. Ray's virtuosity in the art of filmmaking fetched him awards and laurels aplenty. From 'Pather Panchali' to 'Charulata', all his masterpieces bagged honors in prestigious film festivals.Ray received 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India, in addition to awards at international film festivals. At the Berlin Film Festival, he was one of only three filmmakers to win the Silver Bear for Best Director twice and holds the record for the most Golden Bear nominations (seven times). At the Venice Film Festival, where he had previously won a Golden Lion for Aparajito (1956), he was awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award in 1982. That same year, he received an honorary "Hommage à Satyajit Ray" award at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

Ray is the second film personality after Chaplin to have been awarded honorary doctorates by Oxford University.

What is also distinctive in Ray's work is that the rhythm in his films seems almost meditative. There is a contemplative quality in the magnificent flow of images and sounds that evokes an attitude of acceptance and detachment, which is profoundly Indian. His compassionate work arises from a philosophical tradition that brings detachment and freedom from fear, celebrates joy in birth and life and accepts death with grace. This perspective attempts to create the whole out of a fineness of detail. Ray succeeded in making Indian cinema, for the first time in its history, something to be taken seriously, and in so doing, created a body of work of distinct range and richness.

Apart from being a master filmmaker, Satyajit Ray was also a versatile litterateur known for his eloquent verse. Literature was another avenue for the expression of his creative talents. Be it detective fictions or film anthology, Ray's literary works bore the hallmark of the powerful pen he wielded.

The world will always remember this legendary,who take birth once in a millenium. Let us salute Mr. Satyajit Ray, who has made significant contributions not only to the fim industry but also has innumerable credits in the field of literature to his name.

For The Reel; Written By: Apoorv 'Don'

Statesmen: Early Influences and early life of Satyajit Ray

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)

Under Lens: Cinema Of Ray

How often do we face the brilliant confusion of not being able to tell the fiction from reality? Every time I watch Ray's films, I am faced with this bewilderment - never have I related so much of myself to one film maker's portrayals. I have grown up watching them, and each film, at different ages, has revealed something new to me. Satyajit Ray, as the cliché goes, ushered modernity into Indian cinema, from where it began to command respect as a form of artistic expression. Clearly, it was a breakthrough with a crucial shift to the inner world, or what we call psychological realism. Cinema, for Ray, was the representation in aesthetic terms, the spirit of the place and time, which however in the broader perspective came to imply much more. Each film is almost like a journey - an exploration of the relationship of the cinematic mode to fiction, history and time.

While his films are primarily set against the Bengali milieu, they cut across many cultures. Being a product of East-West fusion, we find in his films the refection of his 'plurality of selves', involving a curious struggle to make sense of his being there, in a post-colonial society. It is often said that Ray sums up the entire 19th century ethos of the place; certainly, there is nothing wrong in the claim. While his modern perspective was much due to him being brought up in a cosmopolitan culture, he was profoundly influenced by Italian neorealism, Renoir, Mozart, Bonnard and Cartier-Bresson. And one central theme in most of his films is the individual striving to define oneself in relation to the forces transforming the world and the way a composite culture is formed in its confrontation with modernity.

However, I personally feel it is the sheer authenticity of the characters and form which constitute the 'Rayness' of Ray. "The raw material of the cinema is life itself", Ray would say. He could bring out the best out of his actors. This exploration of the truth of human behavior and very, very subtle emotions is what makes us feel so strongly for Bishwambhar Roy of Jalshaghar, or Charu of Charulata or Apu of the Trilogy. The grief of Apu at one level becomes my very own, the sudden friendship in Nayak doesn't seem unfamiliar, the unease at the arrival of a stranger in Aguntuk is like a chapter from our daily life and we couldn't help relating ourselves to the four friends of Aranyer Din-Raatri. Ray's deep belief in his own culture wasn't exclusive; his characters are governed by certain things which are cross-cultural, wherein lay Ray's conviction of 'universal essence' of man within the context in which he lives. The portrayal of the subtle nuances of these fundamentals and other filaments of emotion make Siddhartha of Pratidwandi or Amitabha of Kaalpurush, who are defined in the end by a profound sense of loss and guilt, so compelling. But Ray refused to lose faith in man and his films are pervaded by this optimism, which sometimes go unnoticed. His characters, in some way or the other, eventually tend to turn inward from the 'public' to the 'private' space, which reinforces his belief in the triumph of integrity and justice.

The films are not only creative expressions of Ray, but also instances of how Ray represented the distinctive ethos of each film in person. He, while making each film, would be present as the 'other' character, which provided the major drive for the dynamism of his cinematic tone. He would do everything on his own - be it music, designing, editing and even the camera work (post-Charulata films) - in other words, each film was his genius, in every aspect, put together. By this virtue, "he became the film itself". Infact, it was this deep involvement of a Master in his work which would turn every minor object into a well defined character - the mirror in Pratidwandi, the Opra-glasses in Charulata, the Train in Nayak and so on. His films, in the last analysis, deal with Bengalis in particular, but when seen in a broader spectrum, questions some basic aspects faced by every human being while striving to live in a community.

For The Reel; Written By: Saumyashree Ghosh (student of History, UG- III, Jadavpur University) (www.theselfspeaks.blogspot.com)

Critique: The Apu Trilogy

The Apu Trilogy is the most celebrated series of Indian Cinema. The trilogy consists of three ageless movies in Bangla: Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansar based on works of Bangla writer Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. The movies and the man behind them- Satyajit Ray became legends of cinema-folklore. They won numerous National and International awards apart from exceptional critical acclaim putting the man at par with Akira Kurosawa, another legend.

Pather Panchali is story of young Apu who is born into a Brahmin family in Bengal. Though they belong to high caste, they are poor. This reflects the fact that poverty is not restricted to any caste or community. His father faces difficulties in maintaining family budget and when Apu’s sister Durga dies, the family decides to move to Benares. The influence of famed movie Bicycle Thieves is evident from Ray’s cinema.

Second movie, Aparajito continues from where Pather Panchali drew the curtains. Family finances are still dwindling and Apu’s father expires. Apu and his mother returns to rural Bengal. Nothing suits more than homeland. It highlights nostalgia of a Bengali commoner. Despite of tight economics at home front, Apu gets proper education which is a must in upper castes in Bengal. Fortunately, he proves to be a good student. However, he faces numerous issues at home and when his mother dies, everything ends… the issues with his mother and a support for growing Apu. He finally learns how to live alone.

The final story in the trilogy, Apur Sansar is unique in story telling and content. Apu gives a try to writing as a career and in course of events marry a girl. The girl is a strong character as before her marriage to Apu, she rejected a groom with ill mental state. Ray identifies the enlightened Bengali girls with this character. Life after marriage is beautiful but it doesn’t last long. She dies during child birth and in rage, Apu abandons his child. Finally, every thing falls at right place as Apu realizes that he is at mistake and accepts his responsibilities.

Without compromising on ethics, Ray created magic. The trilogy was supported by the West Bengal Government. He suffered many setbacks due to lack of funds and rejecting funding when the producer wanted a command on script. He began with amateur talent and many of them received acclaim of highest level. Example- Sharmila Tagore, Soumitra Chatterjee, Subrata Mitra (cameraman) and Bansi Chandragupta (art director). The music of the trilogy was created by Ravi Shankar.

Today, the trilogy is not rated as the best of Parallel Cinema or Indian Cinema… it is considered to be a part of the cream of Global Cinema. Apu’s influence and popularity can be judged by a small example- a character in American animated series The Simpsons is name Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

For The Reel; Written By: Sujoy Ghosh