Satyajit Ray

Born: 1921-05-02

Satyajit Ray (2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian filmmaker, widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Ray was born in the city of Calcutta into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature. Starting his career as a commercial artist, Ray was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing Vittorio De Sica's Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) during a visit to London. Ray directed 36 films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. He was also a fiction writer, publisher, illustrator, calligrapher, music composer, graphic designer and film critic. He authored several short stories and novels, primarily aimed at children and adolescents. Feluda, the sleuth, and Professor Shonku, the scientist in his science fiction stories, are popular fictional characters created by him. He was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford University. Ray's first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. This film, along with Aparajito (1956), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959) form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. The Government of India honored him with the Bharat Ratna in 1992.


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The Music of Satyajit Ray

as Self
Released: 1984-11-06

Based on interviews with Ray himself, and packed with clips from his films, as well as...

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Feluda: 50 Years of Ray's Detective

as Self (archival footage)
Released: 2019-06-07

A documentary exploring the 50-year legacy of Bengali fictional detective Feluda, created by...

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Rabindranath Tagore

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1961-01-01

Docudrama about the life of Rabindranath Tagore, Indian polymath—poet, writer, playwright,...

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Creative Artists of India: Satyajit Ray

as Self
Released: 1974-01-01

Documentary about Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray

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Satyajit Ray

as Self
Released: 1985-10-01

Documentary on director Satyajit Ray, featuring an extensive interview and clips from his films,...

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Sikkim

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1971-04-01

Satyajit Ray's poetic documentary was commissioned by the Chogyal (King) of Sikkim at a time...

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The Creative Person: Satyajit Ray

as Self
Released: 1967-01-01

In 1967, Canadian documentarian James Beveridge traveled to Kolkata to film director Satyajit...

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Manik da: The Mystique of Pather Panchali

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2021-03-09

A biographical documentary film about the legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, to...

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The Inner Eye

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1972-01-01

At the age of 54, Binode Bihari Mukherjee, an accomplished painter, lost his sight following an...

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Spécial cinéma

as Self
First aired: 1974-09-25

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