Ray, Satyajit (sätyä`jĭt rī, rā), 1921–92, Indian film director, b. Calcutta (now Kolkata). His subtle, austere, and delicately lyrical films made him one of the outstanding filmmakers of the 20th cent.; he was the first Indian director to win international acclaim. During his formative years he was profoundly influenced by the humanism of Rabindranath Tagore Tagore, Sir Rabindranath , 1861–1941, Indian author and guru, b. Calcutta (now Kolkata). Tagore came from a wealthy Bengali family. He went abroad in 1877 to study law in England but soon returned to India.
..... Click the link for more information. , at whose university he studied. Ray began his career as a layout artist, art director, and illustrator. His early reputation was built on a trilogy of luminous neorealist films that portrayed the everyday life of a Bengali family and the childhood, youth, and manhood of a character called Apu. Pather Panchali (1955), his first film, was an immediate success and a Grand Prix winner at the Cannes Festival. It was followed by Aparajito (1956) and The World of Apu (1959). The films of this "Apu Trilogy" remain his best known works.

Ray's recurrent themes—the life of Bengal's various social classes, the conflict of old and new values, and the effects of India's rapidly changing economic and political conditions—are evident throughout his oeuvre. His more than 30 films include The Music Room (1958), Charulata (1964), The Target (1972), Distant Thunder (1973), The Home and the World (1984), The Visitor (1991), and The Stranger (1992). Over the years, he received many prizes, including an Academy Award for lifetime achievement (1992). Ray was also a screenwriter, wrote the musical scores for many of his films, and was intimately involved with all the elements of their production.

Bibliography

See his essays, Our Films, Their Films (1995); M. Seton, Portrait of a Director: Satyajit Ray (1971); S. Benegal, Benegal on Ray (1988); B. Nyce, Satyajit Ray: A Study of His Films (1988); A. Robinson, Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye (1989); B. Sarkar, The World of Satyajit Ray (1992); and N. Ghosh, Satyajit Ray at 70 (1993).

Ray, Satyajit

Satyajit Ray.

(credit: Camera Press)

(born May 2, 1921, Calcutta, India—died April 23, 1992, Calcutta) Bengali-Indian film director. After studying with Rabindranath Tagore, he became art director of an ad agency and a book illustrator. He sold all his possessions to make his first film, Pather Panchali (1955), a story of village life. With Aparajito (1956) and The World of Apu (1959), he completed the brilliant Apu Trilogy and brought Indian cinema to world attention. He later won acclaim for Devi (1960), Two Daughters (1961), The Big City (1964), The Lonely Wife (1964), The Chess Players (1977), The Home and the World (1984), and The Visitor (1990). He wrote all his own screenplays, noted for their humanism and poetry, and often composed the music for his films, though his short stories and novellas became his main source of income.

Ray, Satyajit

Born May 2, 1921, in Calcutta. Indian film director.

Ray studied painting in Santiniketan. His world view was influenced by R. Tagore; in 1961, Ray directed a documentary about Tagore, combining film clips with actors. Ray’s most important work is the trilogy Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956), and The World of Apu (1959). These poetic films are marked by a sensitive understanding of human psychology and by a love for the common people and for the traditional forms of life in Ray’s native Bengal. His other films include The Philosopher’s Stone (1958), The Hero (1966), and the trilogy composed of Days and Nights in the Forest (1970), The Adversary (1971), and Company Limited (1972). Ray founded the Calcutta school of the cinema. He composed the music for many of his films and has also illustrated books.

REFERENCES

Sof’ian, A. “Mir i geroi Sat’iadzhita Reia.” Iskusstvo kino, 1975, no. 2.
Seton, M. Portrait of a Director: Satyajit Ray. London [1971].

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